Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🍈 What to do when you have too much of Jackfruit: make Jackfruit Apple Marmalade!

🍴 Jackfruit is delicious exotic treat, we are waiting so many months for it to ripen, but when when we finally have it - it's more than we can eat! Jackfruit is the biggest fruit grown on a tree, and even with one fruit crop you will have enough for both eating fresh and cooking!

🍎 Jackfruit Apple Marmalade

• 
  ✔️ Ripe jackfruit - 2 cups sliced arils
• ✔️ Apple pulp - 1 cup
• ✔️ Sugar - 3 cups

🍐 Cut the Jackfruit arils and remove the seeds. Finely slice the arils. Mix with apple pulp and cook until mixture thickens and marmalade sets. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

📚 From previous posts:

• • What is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world?
• • How to grow the biggest fruit on Earth.

🛒 Grow your own Jackfruit

#Recipes #Food_Forest

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Healthy breakfast, lunch or snack: Avocado sandwich

Avocado toast is creamy, crisp and so satisfying. It’s a delicious and simple breakfast, snack or light meal!

Ingredients (makes 1 toast):

• ◾️ 1 slice of bread (thick-sliced whole-grain or rye bread is the best)
• ◾️ ½ ripe avocado
• ◾️ Pinch of salt and black pepper

📝 Instructions:

• • Toast your slice of bread until golden and firm.
• • Remove the pit from your avocado. Use a big spoon to scoop out the flesh.
• • Spread avocado on top of your toast.
• • Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.

🍿 Enjoy!

🛒 Grow your own Avocado

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🍾 How to make exotic Passion Fruit Champagne Slush

• Halve passion fruits crosswise and scoop out pulp with seeds into a bowl.
• Sprinkle sugar over the pulp. Let sit at room temperature for an hour.
• Stir in lime juice and boiling-hot water. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
• Pour through a fine sieve, pressing on solids, then discard the seeds.
• Freeze in ice cube tray.
• Once frozen, add 1 cube per champagne flute, then slowly add the champagne.

Makes 6 cocktails:

• ✔️ 10 passion fruits
• ✔️ 1/2 cup sugar
• ✔️ 1 tbsp lime juice
• ✔️ 1/4 cup boiling hot water
• ✔️ 1 chilled bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine

📚 From previous posts:
• The truth about Passion flower and Passion fruit

🛒 Grow your own Passion fruit

#Recipes #Food_Forest

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🍲 How to make a zippy Papaya-Citrus Marinade

🍗 🍖 The Papaya enzyme papain makes this fruit especially suitable for tenderizing meat in marinades. Use this zippy marinade for beef or poultry.

• 
  ✔️ 1 cup papaya puree
• ✔️ 1 tbsp lime zest
• ✔️ 1/3 cup grapefruit juice
• ✔️ 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• ✔️ 1 tbsp honey
• ✔️ 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• ✔️ 1 tbsp coarse black pepper
• ✔️ 1/2 tsp basil leaves
• ✔️ 2 tbsp olive oil

🍊 Combine and mix all ingredients except olive oil, then gradually mix in olive oil. Marinade meat for 2-8 hrs and cook over grill.

📚 From previous posts:

• • How to have fresh Papaya fruit year around
• • Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties
• • The truth about Papaya

🛒 Get your own Papaya tree

#Recipes #Food_Forest

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🍹 How to make tasty Carambola Banana Whip

• ✔️ 1 ripe Carambola
• ✔️ 3 ripe Bananas
• ✔️ 1 tbsp Honey
• ✔️ 1/2 tsp Cocoa (optional)

Blend ingredients until smooth. Scoop into frosted mugs. Garnish with Carambola and Banana slices.

🍷 Enjoy while cold ❄️

📚 From previous posts:

• • Why Bananas? They are good for you and are fun to grow!
• • How to grow your own Carambola

🛒 Order Carambola and Banana trees

#Recipes #Food_Forest

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🔥 How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'.

ℹ️ Leafy Pepper plants - Pipers - are a source of black pepper and many other "peppery" flavors. These plants come from the Piperaceae family and are used as a spice for their pungent, peppery flavor. Don't confuse them with with Capsicum peppers, such as bell and chili peppers.

• 
  🔻Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot: it is eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes, or wrap meats and cook in oven or on stove or grill. It is used medicinally in India and SE Asia. The root is also chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. The leaves are used as food (food wraps) in Vietnam.
• 
  🔻 Piper nigrum - Black Pepper: While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention. Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one. Moderate growing vine that can be grown on a trellis. Prefers shade to semi-shade.
• 
  🔻 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava: close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava) and probably has some similar tonic effects. It is used for its spicy aromatic scent and flavor, liken to root beer, or to anise-clove. Huge leaves can grow over a foot long. The leaves are used for flavoring, as wrappings for meats and tamales.
• 
  🔻 Piper betle - Betel leaf: very popular Indian spice with medicinal properties. Chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. Great for wrapping food (similar to grape leaves).
• 
  🔻 Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Pepper: edible and medicinal plant used as spice and in traditional Chinese medicine. Fruit used as a spice and seasoning. It has sweeter and less pungent taste than Black pepper. Highly valued medicinal plant used to treat respiratory infections, stomachache, bronchitis, cough, and much more.

Learn more:
📚 Vietnamese Pepper - Lalot food wraps BBQ recipe
🎥 Growing Lalot Pepper

🛒 Shop pepper plants: Pipers

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Container_Garden #How_to


🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🔥 How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'.

ℹ️ Leafy Pepper plants - Pipers - are a source of black pepper and many other "peppery" flavors. These plants come from the Piperaceae family and are used as a spice for their pungent, peppery flavor. Don't confuse them with with Capsicum peppers, such as bell and chili peppers.

• 
  🔻Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot: it is eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes, or wrap meats and cook in oven or on stove or grill. It is used medicinally in India and SE Asia. The root is also chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. The leaves are used as food (food wraps) in Vietnam.
• 
  🔻 Piper nigrum - Black Pepper: While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention. Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one. Moderate growing vine that can be grown on a trellis. Prefers shade to semi-shade.
• 
  🔻 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava: close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava) and probably has some similar tonic effects. It is used for its spicy aromatic scent and flavor, liken to root beer, or to anise-clove. Huge leaves can grow over a foot long. The leaves are used for flavoring, as wrappings for meats and tamales.
• 
  🔻 Piper betle - Betel leaf: very popular Indian spice with medicinal properties. Chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. Great for wrapping food (similar to grape leaves).
• 
  🔻 Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Pepper: edible and medicinal plant used as spice and in traditional Chinese medicine. Fruit used as a spice and seasoning. It has sweeter and less pungent taste than Black pepper. Highly valued medicinal plant used to treat respiratory infections, stomachache, bronchitis, cough, and much more.

Learn more:
📚 Vietnamese Pepper - Lalot food wraps BBQ recipe
🎥 Growing Lalot Pepper

🛒 Shop pepper plants: Pipers

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Container_Garden #How_to


🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🔥 How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'.

ℹ️ Leafy Pepper plants - Pipers - are a source of black pepper and many other "peppery" flavors. These plants come from the Piperaceae family and are used as a spice for their pungent, peppery flavor. Don't confuse them with with Capsicum peppers, such as bell and chili peppers.

• 🔻Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot: it is eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes, or wrap meats and cook in oven or on stove or grill. It is used medicinally in India and SE Asia. The root is also chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. The leaves are used as food (food wraps) in Vietnam.
• 🔻 Piper nigrum - Black Pepper: While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention. Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one. Moderate growing vine that can be grown on a trellis. Prefers shade to semi-shade.
• 🔻 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava: close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava) and probably has some similar tonic effects. It is used for its spicy aromatic scent and flavor, liken to root beer, or to anise-clove. Huge leaves can grow over a foot long. The leaves are used for flavoring, as wrappings for meats and tamales.
• 🔻 Piper betle - Betel leaf: very popular Indian spice with medicinal properties. Chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. Great for wrapping food (similar to grape leaves).
• 🔻 Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Pepper: edible and medicinal plant used as spice and in traditional Chinese medicine. Fruit used as a spice and seasoning. It has sweeter and less pungent taste than Black pepper. Highly valued medicinal plant used to treat respiratory infections, stomachache, bronchitis, cough, and much more.

Learn more:
📚 Vietnamese Pepper - Lalot food wraps BBQ recipe
🎥 Growing Lalot Pepper

🛒 Shop pepper plants: Pipers

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Container_Garden #How_to


🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

☕️ How to grow your own tea? Where does the tea come from? From Camellia!

• 🍃 Did you know that tea comes from a Camellia plant?

Camellia sinensis - Tea Leaf Tree - is the plant used to make all types of true tea: green, black, white, and oolong.
• 🍃Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, after water.
• 🍃Green tea is rich in antioxidants, which help protect your cells from damage.
• 🍃Drinking tea can boost your immune system, help fight off infections, improve oral health by reducing the growth of bacteria.
• 🍃Regular tea consumption is linked to improved bone health and reduced risk of osteoporosis. It can aid in weight loss by boosting metabolism and help reduce the risk of heart disease.
• 🍃Tea contains caffeine, which can improve mental alertness and focus. On the other hand, tea contains L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes relaxation and reduces stress.
• 🍃The plant is very slow growing, can be grown in container or in the ground in frost-free areas. Takes sun to semi-shade.

📚 Instructions how to make tea from tea leaves (PDF)

🛒 Plant your own Tea Tree

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Recipes

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