My food garden continues to evolve. The first photo was two years ago, just before the first paw paw trees were planted, the second last October and the third today, about two months later.
We have just had our driest November for almost a hundred years but inspite of this weather the tropical plants such as okra, cassava, coco yam and taro continue to grow quickly with the increasing heat.
All these are new plantings for me and an experiment in `survival foods' for a changing planet.
The links I have used in this blog post I will be using to extend my knowledge of these plants and to assist with their growing, harvesting and cooking.
Below are two further tropical additions to my garden, African Spinach and Yacon.
It does feel quite confronting learning to grow and eat these new plants but they are tasty foods able to survive in an uncertain climate and provide a wide range of nutritional needs.
Yacon for example stores carbohydrates in the form of inulin rather glucose. This creates a food with a very low glycemic index and few calories that is great for both diabetic and dieters.
The Yacon Tubers also contains a balance of 20 amino acids, are high in potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron, and 0.4 to 2.2 percent protein. Dried yacon tubers provides a healthy alternative to potato chips.
It is a learning curve, but gradually am beginning to grow what I hope will be ongoing supply of healthy, nutritious and organic food for an uncertain climate.
