HAPPENINGS AT THE GARDEN
The Gardens have been a little quiet over the past few months. With School Holidays and the festive season approaching, we feel that people have turned their attention to other activities. It has been quite warm as well. With the weather conditions as they have been, it may have turned people off.
We have setup a small worm farm. All is going well at this stage. We do have another worm farm donated by Jenny. Will get that established early in the New Year.
The summer season in the sub-tropics is not the best time to grow much in the way of vegetables. On the other hand, the established fruit trees have been producing well.
Future Plans
We are still interested in a native beehive set up. More research is to be carried out. Hopeful that we can get some local beekeepers to give us advice.
Near the garden waste section, there is a little plot that we intend building with good compost, soil etc. Our hope is to put small bushes such as Rosella as one suggestion. Perhaps we can put a Golden Gooseberry as ground cover.
Airlie Health Hub – Sponsors
Recently we have not had enough produce to provide in our basket at Airlie Health Hub. Our sponsors have been kind enough to donate various herbs.
During January, we will have further Rosella seedlings for you. We are grateful for any donations. As mentioned many times previously, the donations help us keep the gardens operational. Keeping in mind, we are a non-profit association and rely on your contributions. (Membership, Donations, Volunteering)
FEATURED PLANT
Okinawa Spinach
(Information by Kate Martignier, Permaculture Research Institute – permaculturenews.org)
Okinawa spinach is an edible leafy green that once established will last for years with only pruning (harvesting) for maintenance.
The tops of the leaves are dark green with a striking purple underside that forms a handsome, dense ground-cover. You could landscape your front yard or your sidewalk with this plant and no-one need know, unless you tell them, that it’s edible and nutritious. The best part is that the more you eat it, the better it looks.
Okinawa spinach is native to Southeastern Asia. Its common names include Hong tsoi, Okinawa lettuce, and Cholesterol spinach. Its scientific name is Gynura crepioides or Gynura bicolor (for the two-toned coloration of the leaves)
In frost-free climates it requires little, if any, maintenance other than pruning (harvesting) and will produce abundant greens year-round, for years on end. If you get frosts, you can grow Okinawa year round in containers.
So long as it gets adequate warmth and moisture, I find it to be (Okinawa) to be possibly the easiest, low-maintenance, perennial, leafy green vegetables to grow, in full sun or partial shade. It seems to be relatively pest-free, and so vigorous that what little pest damage it does suffer is inconsequential.
It grows well in containers, hanging baskets, or even on a windowsill so long as there is enough light.
If you’re using Okinawa spinach as a food plant you’re probably cutting off most of the long flowering stalks to encourage more leaf production, but it’s worth keeping a few flowers just for their little flash of orange amongst the green and purple.
Propagation
Okinawa spinach is easy to propagate with cuttings rooted in water or just laid into moist soil. Remove most of the leaves, leaving just a few small healthy ones, then bury the stem with the leaves poking out. Keep moist.
(Removing most of the leaves reduces stress on the cutting by reducing transpiration—moisture loss—from the leaves.)
The easiest way to propagate Okinawa spinach is as you see in the image above: harvest some long runners from an established patch. Cut off the tips and put them in a basket for the kitchen, remove most of the leaves from some of the runners that already have roots, and replant them somewhere else.
Nutrition
Okinawa spinach has a long history of use in East and Southeast Asia as a vegetable and as a medicinal herb.
It’s said to help lower cholesterol, hence one of its common names, “cholesterol spinach”.
Various internet references describe Okinawa as being rich in protein, iron, potassium, calcium, and vitamin A.
A scientific review of its compounds found it to be anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, supportive of healthy blood sugar balance, supportive of liver health, and may support the skin in defending itself from sun damage.