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It's been very dry here for most of the last 2 years now. Many of the wells are dry ... our's has a bit of water, but only about 1 gpm at this point. So we haven't watered much. Even so, there are areas of our property that have done well, stayed green. I've decided that most of our 6+ hectares of land are going to be planted in a similar way. We'll still have some greenhouses for the veggies that don't do well out in the open, but the rest is going to be more of a permaculture setup.
So we're planting a lot of trees lately, and trying to get interesting fruit trees/shrubs so we have a good variety and always have something to harbest. As we're on somewhat hilly land in most locations, I've decided to build a series of swales to plant the trees on. These are trenches/berms that follow contour, with the trench filled with organic matter like wood chips, branches, leaves, rice straw/hulls, etc.
This week we potted/planted Loquats, Kumquats, Coco Plum, Yellow Mangosteen, Yellow Pomegranate, Burmese Grapes, Brazillian Cherries, Cherry of Rio de Janeiro, Jackfruit, Kiatkiat, Grapefruit, Acerola, Jaboticaba, Cacao, Coffee, Ice Cream Bean. Also a seedless grape variety.
Lots of beans to serve as a groundcover and do some nitrogen fixing. Then stuff like various types of basil, purslane, and amaranth as they have been doing very well here. That gives us nice color variations and especially the lemon basil gives a nice fresh smell wherever it is.
Sunflowers are already sprouting. They grow very well here when it's dry.
We already had a lot of trees planted. Especially a lot of Malunggay, Madre Cacao, and Gmelina. We planted 2 Narra (Rosewood) trees near the house. We have about 20 Coconuts, a couple Star Apple, some Avocados, one ancient Acacia, and several other large native trees that I don't really know what they are or what they're for.
Have seeds/seedlings for Sapodilla, a few types of Passion Fruit, Acacia baileyana, Kiwi, Salak, Cashew, Pineapple Guava, Thai Tangerina, Ma-Prang Plum, Mulberry, Asian Persimmon, Cassia fistula, Jacaranda mimosifolia, Pomegranate (Red), African Fig, Thai Sapodilla, Cocona, a few types of Guava, Raspberry (not sure what kind, it's growing though, so probably the native type that's not really a raspberry), Meyer Lemon, Surinam Cherry, Yellow Passionfruit, a few varieties of Jade Vine, Rambutan, several types of wisteria, a few different varieties of Mucuna, Strawberry tree, a few varieties of Dragon fruit, and Goji.
I'm looking for other trees/bushes that will grow well in the tropics and are good eating and/or nitrogen fixing.
Katuk (Sauropus androgynus)
I got some Katuk seeds just today in the mail. It is a nitrogen fixing bush with edible shoots/leaves/flowers/fruits and looks nice too. The shoots and leaves supposedly taste a bit like peas, but can be dangerous if you eat too much of them. It's a common ingredient in SE Asian cuisine, and many people like to eat them straight off the tree for a snack.
Malunggay (Moringa oleifera)
We have lots of Malunggay (Moringa) that we've grown from seed and cuttings. We use it along our fencelines since the tree is prolific at making new poles which after you've cut them will generally just start growing once you put them in the ground. It's one of the more nutritious foods in the world, you can eat the roots (taste like horseradish), shoots, leaves, flowers, green seedpods, and mature seeds. I eat the leaves in soups, omelettes, salads, and it even can go well blended up in fruit shakes as the taste isn't that strong.
It flowers throughout the year if you keep pruning it on a regular schedule. The flowers attract a lot of bumblebees and look great too. Malunggay is not nitrogen fixing, perhaps the only drawbacks to it. Still brings a lot of nutrients up from deeper in the ground, and is one of the hardiest plants I've found. Even with little rain for the last 2 years, and generally planted on terrible soil it's been growing like crazy. It's also great for shade for many other plants as it grows so fast you can control the amount of shade at a given time of year very easily.
Ice Cream Bean (Inga edulis)
Ice Cream Bean is nitrogen fixing, and you can eat the pulp surrounding the bean. Some people say it taste like vanilla ice cream, though the taste can vary quite a bit from tree to tree ... and the texture isn't like ice cream at all.
Narra (Rosewood)
These are the Philippine national tree. It's difficult/impossible to get a permit to cut them, but the wood is very popular, so they still get logged illegally. They're doing very, very well, about 20' and almost as wide and it's not even 2 years. One of them even flowered on a couple branches so far, bright yellow flowers that sadly just last a day. Narra is nitrogen fixing.
Acacia baileyana
Nitrogen fixing and has profuse yellow flowers. Drought tolerant.
Jacaranda mimosifolia
Not nitrogen fixing, not edible, but it has beautiful purple flowers.
So we're planting a lot of trees lately, and trying to get interesting fruit trees/shrubs so we have a good variety and always have something to harbest. As we're on somewhat hilly land in most locations, I've decided to build a series of swales to plant the trees on. These are trenches/berms that follow contour, with the trench filled with organic matter like wood chips, branches, leaves, rice straw/hulls, etc.
This week we potted/planted Loquats, Kumquats, Coco Plum, Yellow Mangosteen, Yellow Pomegranate, Burmese Grapes, Brazillian Cherries, Cherry of Rio de Janeiro, Jackfruit, Kiatkiat, Grapefruit, Acerola, Jaboticaba, Cacao, Coffee, Ice Cream Bean. Also a seedless grape variety.
Lots of beans to serve as a groundcover and do some nitrogen fixing. Then stuff like various types of basil, purslane, and amaranth as they have been doing very well here. That gives us nice color variations and especially the lemon basil gives a nice fresh smell wherever it is.
Sunflowers are already sprouting. They grow very well here when it's dry.
We already had a lot of trees planted. Especially a lot of Malunggay, Madre Cacao, and Gmelina. We planted 2 Narra (Rosewood) trees near the house. We have about 20 Coconuts, a couple Star Apple, some Avocados, one ancient Acacia, and several other large native trees that I don't really know what they are or what they're for.
Have seeds/seedlings for Sapodilla, a few types of Passion Fruit, Acacia baileyana, Kiwi, Salak, Cashew, Pineapple Guava, Thai Tangerina, Ma-Prang Plum, Mulberry, Asian Persimmon, Cassia fistula, Jacaranda mimosifolia, Pomegranate (Red), African Fig, Thai Sapodilla, Cocona, a few types of Guava, Raspberry (not sure what kind, it's growing though, so probably the native type that's not really a raspberry), Meyer Lemon, Surinam Cherry, Yellow Passionfruit, a few varieties of Jade Vine, Rambutan, several types of wisteria, a few different varieties of Mucuna, Strawberry tree, a few varieties of Dragon fruit, and Goji.
I'm looking for other trees/bushes that will grow well in the tropics and are good eating and/or nitrogen fixing.
Katuk (Sauropus androgynus)
I got some Katuk seeds just today in the mail. It is a nitrogen fixing bush with edible shoots/leaves/flowers/fruits and looks nice too. The shoots and leaves supposedly taste a bit like peas, but can be dangerous if you eat too much of them. It's a common ingredient in SE Asian cuisine, and many people like to eat them straight off the tree for a snack.
Malunggay (Moringa oleifera)
We have lots of Malunggay (Moringa) that we've grown from seed and cuttings. We use it along our fencelines since the tree is prolific at making new poles which after you've cut them will generally just start growing once you put them in the ground. It's one of the more nutritious foods in the world, you can eat the roots (taste like horseradish), shoots, leaves, flowers, green seedpods, and mature seeds. I eat the leaves in soups, omelettes, salads, and it even can go well blended up in fruit shakes as the taste isn't that strong.
It flowers throughout the year if you keep pruning it on a regular schedule. The flowers attract a lot of bumblebees and look great too. Malunggay is not nitrogen fixing, perhaps the only drawbacks to it. Still brings a lot of nutrients up from deeper in the ground, and is one of the hardiest plants I've found. Even with little rain for the last 2 years, and generally planted on terrible soil it's been growing like crazy. It's also great for shade for many other plants as it grows so fast you can control the amount of shade at a given time of year very easily.
Ice Cream Bean (Inga edulis)
Ice Cream Bean is nitrogen fixing, and you can eat the pulp surrounding the bean. Some people say it taste like vanilla ice cream, though the taste can vary quite a bit from tree to tree ... and the texture isn't like ice cream at all.
Narra (Rosewood)
These are the Philippine national tree. It's difficult/impossible to get a permit to cut them, but the wood is very popular, so they still get logged illegally. They're doing very, very well, about 20' and almost as wide and it's not even 2 years. One of them even flowered on a couple branches so far, bright yellow flowers that sadly just last a day. Narra is nitrogen fixing.
Acacia baileyana
Nitrogen fixing and has profuse yellow flowers. Drought tolerant.
Jacaranda mimosifolia
Not nitrogen fixing, not edible, but it has beautiful purple flowers.
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