Discovering the "Lion's tooth" or Dandelion

Everything that grows in the garden have their own purpose for existing. There are lots of these in the lawn that others say should not be pulled from your plat since they can help repair the garden soil. Some of the more noticeable are dandelion, white clover, stinging nettle, purslane, melilot, knotgrass. etc.

One that really intrigued me was the Dandelion. By the way, the  name Dandelion  (taraxacum officinale), comes from medieval Arabic medical term, meaning, bitter herb or disturber. And from French words: dent de lion meaning, lion’s tooth, due to the tooth-like serration on its leaves.

 

The first time I saw a few of them growing within real grass made me think that they should not be in the lawn because we want a dense and pristine grass that is thick and vibrant. Therefore, dandelions are undesirable and  should be discarded.

 

However, before doing what I planned for the next few days, my eyes flickered seeing their golden-yellow flowers in bloom. Oh, my God! How can I be so cruel to destroy such a beauty made by you? So, I had to make an internet research for a second opinion.

 

From mister Google I learned that dandelions are a hardy perennial herbaceous plant in the daisy family (Asteraceae). It has long, narrow, lance-shaped leaves and jagged tooth-like lobes pointing backward toward the crown. Their golden-yellow flowers that occasionally fade to lighter yellow are tightly packed with up to 200 tiny individual ray florets. After blooming, the yellow head closes and matures into a spherical, white "puffball", made of dozens of seeds, each attached to a feathery, parachute-like structure called a pappus, designed to catch the wind. 

 

The leaves are edible and are highly nutrient dense, good source of fibre, calcium and potassium. They can also be included fresh in salads or sauteed and cooked in similar ways to spinach. They’re a good source of anti-oxidants, may help reduce cholesterol, regulate blood sugar and may boost immune system and reduce inflammation.

 

What more: The dandelion roots (that may grow 3 t0 15 feet into the ground), possess majority of its medicinal properties--the ability to support liver health, improve digestion and reduce water retention. It can also be roasted to make your caffeine-free coffee. 

 

Convinced of dandelion’s numerous benefits, I thought of not including it in my daily diet to satisfy my palate. 

 

Unfortunately, mister google revealed that consuming dandelions will do harm than good to oldies like me; because as a mild diuretic, dandelions contain high amounts of potassium and vitamin K. That means, it may negatively interact with the prescribed medicines for my high blood sugar and hypertension. 

 

Quite disappointed with such findings, I just consoled myself with the thought that anything in this world exists for specific purposes depending on God’s plans and provisions. 

 

Then another garden plant called comfrey, came to mind. As an organic gardener, David learned to use it as a green manure and liquid fertilizer for the other plants. Process he showed me was, soaking the leaves of the comfrey in a big container for about two weeks until they melt and become smelly liquid that can provide nutrients for the garden plants.

 

Comparing comfrey and dandelion, both plants have almost the same purpose for their existence as traditional medicines beneficial to human health. 

 

Conclusion: If comfrey can be something good for the garden, dandelion can also be one.  So, rather than disposing of the hard to control dandelion, I started adding it as another variety of liquid fertilizer for the vegetable garden. 

 

 

 

Chayote

DISCOVERING CHAYOTES 

I did not know much about chayotes when i was growing up in the province of a tropical country. Most of the veggies I grew up with in the farm were bitter melon, water gourds, squash, tomatoes, egglants and many more. 

When I moved and worked in the city, I learned about chayotes--(Sechium edule)-- a pear-shaped, bright green fruit from the gourd family. 

Employed by an aunty, as a vegetable retailer in the Divisoria market, I learned more about it. There was a strong supply of this chayote from the southern Tagalog region. Due to high supply and low demand, it was sold wholesale in sacks by traders for a cheap price. For consumers during those times, it was merely a substiture  for water gourd and green papaya so it was not that saleable. Luckily for producers, it has a long shelf life.

Anyway, there's another story when I arrived in New Zealand: green papayas (a necessity for one of my favorite dish--(chicken tinola), were so scarce and quite pricey. During the freezing cold weather, a hot consumme--chcken tinola, will be a comfort food so I had to make a search for its substitute. And as written in the Bible --"seek and you shall find", I finally found the chayotes in a market garden,and learned that it can be grown here in New Zealand. 

Thank God, one of my friends, knowing that I am also a gardener, handed me one left over chayote from her kitchen that was already sprouting. Thinking it was a tropical vegetable, I planted it in the hot house (green house). Hidden from the sun, it did struggle. Luckily, it gave me one fruit and with the plant's roots remaining, it slumbered in winter time. At spring time, sprouts appeared again, so I dug its remains and transplanted it outside peepin the sunlight. Thank God, that sole chayote from the hot house survived and gave me more sprouts and fruits in summer. God's graces are shared so the excesses were given away to delighted friends and neighbors. 

From then on, the oversupply of chayotes became a problem. The thinker in me urged that something productive must be done so as not to waste any of God's blessings from the garden. I did a search and found the recipe for one of my fellow Filipinos' favorite side dish--achara/pickled green papaya. Since the chayotes can be a substitute for the green papaya,I made an experiment of making achara using the chayote and everything available from the garden.

I think it was 'serendipity' that one day, the president of the Wairarapa Filipinos Society--Ryan Soriano, called by our place. I asked him to have a taste of my produce and I felt so delighted  hearing him say that he liked it and the taste was good. His words gave me the courage to make more of it. 

More surprising for me one day, was a phone call from somebody declaring herself as a television crew, saying that Ryan Soriano referred me as the representative of the Filipino community in the TV One program--The Neighbourhood. The role was to introduce the Filipino cuisine and culture to Kiwi audiences/viewers. I hesitated at first, but after consulting David and some friends, I was encouraged to say yes, why not? 

To make the long story short--David and I were iterviewed and with other Filipino ladies, I was made to present the process of making achara with ingredients from the garden in our cozy cottage kitchen. The story was featured on New Zealand TV One in November 2015. And the rest was history. I gained another hobby of making and selling achara in jars and earned a bit of money during summer.