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Post by macmex on Feb 28, 2019 6:47:26 GMT -6
Well, Glen, down in Panama, has mentioned this crop in his okra thread. I do remember my father growing it, in NJ, when I was a boy, and I don't remember any objection to eating it. However, I am a person who generally likes almost everything. But living in Oklahoma has given me a new perspective on leafy greens. They're harder to grow here, on account of our extreme weather. In the middle of summer it gets so hot that Swiss chard dies in my garden. Forget about spinach unless you get it in early, and then by mid summer, it'll be dead. Glen mentioned that Malabar spinach thrives in heat. Panama is one place that probably surpasses Oklahoma's heat. So I found some on Amazon and ordered a packet of seed.
My memories of this plant are somewhat hazy, since I haven't personally grown it since around 1976. I know it climbs. I read that it can reach 8-10,' so I plan on growing mine on a cattle panel.
Here's an image of the red kind, Basella rubra. The regular green kind is called Basella alba.
DIY article on Malabar Spinach
I'm really looking forward to trying this plant. It may be a godsend for our climate.
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Post by john on Mar 6, 2019 18:44:12 GMT -6
I planted malabar in my garden about 5 years ago for the first time. It seeds itself and comes up every year in my garden. We don't really do much with it as far as eating goes. But it couldn't be any easier to grow and since I don't have to plant it I usually grow a row of it every year. I grow it on the ground and it spreads out covering lots of surface area. It looks great when no other greens will look good. It thrives in hot dry weather. It will stay nice looking long into the fall until the frost comes and kills it.
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Post by macmex on Mar 6, 2019 19:43:00 GMT -6
I'm excited to try it this year. My father grew it when I was a boy, but I have no experience, personally. Sounds ideal for Oklahoma summers!
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Post by glen on Mar 8, 2019 13:38:44 GMT -6
George, I think its a great idea for you to try this green. As everyone knows I live in Panama. Panama is one of the hottest and most humid places on the planet. We stay in the 90's every month of the year. The only thing that changes really for us is we have a cloudy, 6 month rainy season. Rainy season starts in May and Ends in December. The exact day it starts and ends is not the same of course. During the rainy season we have long stints of very cloudy sky's giving us our only relief from the extremely searing and powerful sun. The sun here can burn you in 30 minutes if you are outside during the dry season. Because of this we plant things that get shade or filtered sun. I have heard that Oklahoma has nice hot summers. I believe that Malabar spinach will grow for you George. Malabar spinach has become one of my most important crops. I cannot grow any type of crop that likes cool weather. I have to have tropicalized plants. Sounds like Malabar spinach will grow for you when everything else fails. That makes it useful. I still have Malabar spinach in the yard growing left over from last season. I will be experimenting with this. My question is this. Can I take cuttings off these 1 year old plants to start new plants for the 2019 season? I have always used new plants each year so this is a valid question and I have never seen anyone online address this. I will also plant seed this year and also buy a couple of young seedlings from the fair. This year I will have probably 9 or 10 pots full of Malabar spinach. It is so delicious when steamed with chopped celery that I plan to grow a big row of it. I will be using large quantity's of compost in the pots, about a third of the soil in the pots will be compost. I plan to use 6 gallon nursery pots.
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Post by glen on Mar 8, 2019 13:46:24 GMT -6
Malabar spinach likes lots of water and lots of drainage. It is important to keep the growing medium that they are in moist but at the same time they do not like to swim either. The high amount of compost in my potting soil will give the plants food plus drainage. They like fertilizer also but be careful about how much you use. Malabar spinach will look extremely green when its in top condition and the leaves grow real nice and big. If the vines get yellowish in color that usually means something is wrong. You can get root rot. You can have nematodes. I have 2 plants outside that are almost a year old that are full of nematodes now. The vines are yellow and you can see the cancerous growths at the base of the plant. Plants grow much slower. I will not use these plants for cuttings. They are obviously nematode resistant because they have survived this long with the nematodes. Lots of organic material impairs the nematodes ability to move around in the soil. Its the only weapon I have against them.
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Post by glen on Mar 8, 2019 13:52:27 GMT -6
To harvest malabar spinach. Just pick the big leaves and throw them in a big plastic container. Wash them thoroughly in water. Leave the smaller leaves on the vines to grow and cut them when they get bigger. The leaves should be super green and kind of rubbery in texture. I do not eat them raw. I am sure they are edible raw though. Bercy cuts up celery and throws all the greens in a big pot and boils it down with salt and spices she likes. When its done she likes to chop up the spinach. Thats optional. Cook it how long you like. Bercy cooks it until its the consistency of canned spinach. The end product looks like spinach and tastes like spinach. If you did not tell someone what it was they would just say it was spinach. This veggy is naturally low in calories and full of vitamins and minerals. I plan to grow a lot of it this year and eat a lot of it. It will go good on the table with steamed African okra which I eat a lot of also.
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Post by glen on Mar 8, 2019 13:54:04 GMT -6
This plant grows very fast. If conditions are right you will be over grown with spinach. When its ready, cut it for the kitchen. Eat it like crazy cause it will be ready to cut pretty soon. Its a very valuable green. The quality of this green rivals regular spinach if cooked steamed. Plus, you will get a lot of it.
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Post by glen on Mar 8, 2019 13:55:58 GMT -6
Oh, George, you mentioned that this plant is a climber. Nope. You can trellis it. But, it does not climb on its own. Its a sprawler. Which means it has these long vines that just sprawl along. It doesn't seek a fence to wrap around. I let it sprawl. When its time to cut around my pots I just move the pots, trim and then drag the plants back in place. A pain the arse. But, worth it.
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Post by glen on Mar 8, 2019 13:58:50 GMT -6
New plants can easily be started. Just cut some vines. Bury them in new soil. Very quickly they will root and a new cloned plant will be the result. Anywhere a vine touches the soil they can root. Also, towards the end of the season, if conditions are right, the plant will produce seed. You will see the seed shoots coming off the vines. The seeds will turn purplish in color. Pick the seeds and bring them indoors to finish drying. I have never tried freezing the seed.
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Post by glen on Mar 8, 2019 14:03:12 GMT -6
Growing Malabar spinach is a very rewarding project. A beautiful plant. Very nutritional food. Its common to see Malabar spinach in Bercy's hometown in the supermarket. We sometimes see it here in the super market. Not often. I am glad to see that there is some interest in growing this green in Oklahoma. You will find out that its very practical and very prolific. If no one else does, I will post photo's here of my greens later when I get them going. I grow the green variety. Although, both the green and purple variety are of equal value in the garden. The purple kind I think just changes color once cooked to the normal green spinach color.
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Post by macmex on Mar 9, 2019 7:51:17 GMT -6
This is the very best, most useful information I can imagine. Thanks Glen! There is no substitute for growing experience.
I'll grow mine in a row, without the cattle panel, but I'll grow it up close to the front of the garden, where I can water more regularly.
Ron, I wonder if this might not be a good candidate for plasticulture?
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Post by john on Mar 9, 2019 17:10:15 GMT -6
George I often grow mine over a hay mulch. Plastic might work too. The vines produce a very thick cover so some years I just hoe out in front of it as it grows. Weeds won't come up through it once it is thickly established in a spot.
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Post by glen on Mar 9, 2019 18:09:11 GMT -6
John, great information. Mine never gets as thick as you are talking about because Bercy is out there picking the leaves as soon as they are big enough to pick. You can just use your hands to pick the leaves or you can cut the vines. Bercy leaves the vines and just pulls off the leaves. The plants are pretty much denuded when she is thru with em. This will let the sun thru and the weeds will be able to start growing. We are brutal with the plants, stealing almost all the leaves. They grow right back though. You will be surprised how fast this plant grows. The weather needs to be warm though to induce fast regrowth. I think a mulch made of straw would be a nice idea. Now, if you do not eat much spinach then it would mulch itself of course. However, at my house the green is considered so delicious that we look forward to the next time we can clean the plants of all the leaves. The plants don't stand a chance. They do however seem to be able to handle really brutal stripping of the leaves. Just take all the big leaves. Leave only the small leaves. The plants will look very poverty stricken when you are done giving them a hair-cut. I think picking the leaves encourages new growth.
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Post by macmex on Mar 9, 2019 19:25:44 GMT -6
When we have greens I eat loads of them. If we have enough Malabar spinach we will not only freeze, but also try dehydrating it for winter use. This is great info. I'll be interested to see how it competes with Bermuda and Johnson grass.
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Post by glen on Mar 10, 2019 10:18:35 GMT -6
We never have enough to freeze or save. It all gets eaten quickly. But, our garden is small. This year, we plan to increase the amount of Malabar spinach we grow. There are a few good youtube video's on malabar spinach that might give you some idea's on production methods. My way of growing it is quite simple. I just use small pots and let it go. No fuss. I think its more work to pick and cook than collard greens or mustards though. Collards for example have those nice big leaves that are easy to cut and bring in. The advantage with the Malabar spinach is that it grows in the heat where collards for example will just give you fits. When I lived in Florida we grew collards during the so called winter time when it was cool. When summer came, we did not know what to plant. My Dad always told me that nothing grew during the Summer except black eyed peas. It certainly seemed that way. Now, I live in Panama where we have high heat and humidity every month of the year. If it grows in Panama you know its a heat loving plant.
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