Josh Jamison shared this on Facebook.....such a reminder of how very hard that life can be for millions, but how permaculture can help so much with simple techniques. Even though Neem leaf tea cured me last year of Heliobacter pylori over growth, I was stunned to see it can help to treat malaria! Enjoy! John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=415&v=5AaYsZYz3VI

'Magenta Spreen' is growing like crazy in the humid heat, time to harvest a bunch of the leaves and boil for 10 minutes in water, salt and coconut oil to get out the calcium oxalate.

With all this rain my Raja Puri banana out front is bearing three more fruit clusters.

Very interesting plant indeed!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150622162031.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_science+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Science+News%29

This is what I used to call "African Yellow Yam" (D. cayanensis) that now is being attacked by Yam Beetle.....last year it got a lightly infestation in early fall. Tim and I got the aerials maybe eight years ago while hiking the Hillsborough River in Sulphur Springs. I wonder how bad the damage will get. Time to once again check my Purple Ubes for damage as last year Andy Firk had 4 varieties of edible yam infested. The beetle was released by the state to control Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera). John

When this state introduced beetle appeared in my yard late last summer it afflicted a African Yellow Yam in my south bed.....not too many though. This year however it has begun attacking vigorously the few Air Potatoes I have here after years of my fighting them. What worrisome is that last year they affected several of Andy Firk's edible yams, and one of my student's edible yams in Temple Terrace. Paul Zmoda has VERY similar damage (though he has not yet seen them in the act) on Passion Flower and Virginia Creepr, which is in the Grape Family...and Paul has a vineyard. I LOVE my edible yams and my three kinds of grapes....I sure hope this beetle (from Nepal I think) does NOT destroy crops other than Air Potato! John

Here are some of Jon and Debbies "EcoFarm Replicating Onions" that I got from them at the Twilight Market maybe 1.5 years ago. These were two single plants from my front yard that I planted in a back porch container garden about 5 months ago....I need to move them due to the avocado tree starting to shade them. They've multiplied well, and like both Jon and Debbie said they never die back and VERY rarely flower (mine have never bloomed), so I am divided both clumps into 15 plants and placed them in a container garden in the full sun south bed. Good onion flavor in the leaves. Thanks for my newest perennial allium for me here in south Tampa. John

As long as I've had it (1.5 years?) my Everbearing Mulberry was chronically afflicted with thousands of mealy bugs/scale, but I am pleased that cutting it down to stubs, treating them with neem leaf tea, and covering them oak leaves inside a drainage pipe has cured it. Now taller than me, ready to bear again, and free of pests!

Today I made my fourth ever (and biggest) batch of harissa based on this recipe, but I copied others and added some black pepper. I also used a LOT more garlic, plus added a yellow onion. To add sweetness, and to feed the fermenting bacteria, I added two frozen Raja Puri bananas. I used about 4 dozen "Filipino Mexican Tree Peppers" so this batch will be HOT! I used my Ninja blender to puree it all.

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsauces/r/harissa.htm

I discovered harissa last year at a local Lebanese restaurant.....love it on pita bread with Greek yogurt. Since I now have "Filipino Mexican Tree Peppers" coming out of my ears, today I will make my fourth batch. There are MANY recipes but here is a basic one. I make mine HOT!

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsauces/r/harissa.htm

At my house, 6 3/4 inch so far....LOTS of local flooding but my section of Paxton Avenue is okay but west of me it looks BAD ( a UPS truck BARELY made it through!) and Pearl Avenue behind me is flooded. I hope all are okay. But I bet most of our gardens are liking this deluge, with more to come! John

Moringa Hot Sauce: I started today something I thought of late last summer....a nutritious sauce based on moringa kimchi. Today I packed a quart jar with a mix of fresh moringa leaves, chopped raw onions and garlic, chopped "Filipino Mexican Tree Pepper" with some sea salt plus a little brown sugar to feed the bacteria, and put it in the fridge to take out a month from now. I'll put it in the blender, add some coconut oil and roasted sesame oil, blend then put back in the jar. I expect this nutritious sauce would be good in a Thai stir fry or as a dip for pita bread.

Excellent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=70&v=nMVOgYo0f5I

There are MANY studies showing that 2-3 cups a day of tea made from Jamaican Cranberries greatly reduce hypertension. I am so grateful to Mary Mac for getting me this bag yesterday at Sanwa Farmer's Market. I'm drinking three cups a day the next month to see if it helps me too. I love the taste....this hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariifa) is what gives Red Zinger its taste and color. This one pound bag was less than $5.

http://www.nature.com/jhh/journal/v23/n1/full/jhh2008100a.html

I don't like sweet stuff as a rule, but I love this delicately sweet smoothie I let sit in the fridge overnight to thicken up: 2 cans coconut milk, a few frozen Raja Puri bananas, a cup of Jamaican Cherries, a pinch (level teaspoon?) of brown sugar, quite a bit of chia seeds, and a level teaspoon each of food grade diatomaceous earth and di-calcium phosphate, and maybe a level teaspoon of turmeric. So thick I eat it by the spoonful.

In Denver the various chenopods grew like crazy in the wild and the garden and re-seeded like crazy but here I have always failed. Last spring at the ROOTS swap in St. Pete I got a few seeds of Magenta Spreen to try once again...one seedling THRIVED and got 5 feet tall and re-seeded big time. And just like Craig Hepworth (Gainesville?) told me, I have seedlings all over! Luckily they are easy to pull and the chickens love them. Here are two pics of seedlings plus last year's original plant...definitely a summer veggie. It has high levels of calcium oxalate so I boil the leaves in lightly salted water with butter or coconut oil for 10 minutes to dissolve it out. John

Last year the wild birds took the vast majority of my Jamaican Cherries, even after I hung up CDs on fishing line and strung shiny strips of Mylar from branches. But this year they are leaving nearly all for me, perhaps because I left up last year's distractions? This bowlful goes into my blender with coconut milk, turmeric, chia seeds, food grade diatomaceous earth and a little brown sugar. John

So much waste!!!

http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/food-waste-is-a-massive-problem-heres-how-to-fix-it/

I was mailed a lot of seeds this tropical annual some call 'Jamaican Cranberry' and since there is ample evidence that the tea consumed daily can lower blood pressure I will be growing some in Water Wise Container Gardens made from recycling bins in the all-new south bed. It's been years since I grew it. Both the leaves and the calyxes (source of color and tart taste of 'Red Zinger' tea) contain many beneficial compounds. John

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_tea