Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🌱 Why do the Chinese drink tea?

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  🍃 It actually has to do with the Chinese theory of the five elements - wood, metal, fire, water, and earth:

木 金 火 水 土

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  🍃 Tea comes from a plant - Camellia sinensis - the Tea Leaf Tree - that is used to make all true teas: green, black, white, and oolong. The Tea Tree contains the element of wood (木) 🌳
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  🍃 When it's roasted in a cast-iron pan, it gains the element of metal (金)
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  🍃 Then it's dried over fire, adding the element of fire (火) 🔥
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  🍃 When it's brewed with boiling water, the element of water enters (水) 💦
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  🍃 Finally, tea is poured into a clay vessel, symbolizing the element of earth (土) 🍯
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  🍃 In this way, all five elements - wood, metal, fire, water, and earth - come together in a single cup.
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  🍃 The plant grows slowly and can thrive in containers or frost-free gardens with sun to semi-shade.

🛒 Grow your own tea

📚Learn more from previous posts:
Tea facts
How to grow your own tea?
Where does the tea come from?
Instructions how to make tea from tea leaves (PDF)

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Fun_facts

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😏 What fruit smells like roses

📱

🛒 Plant your Rose Apple, smell the roses and be happy!

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⚡️ How productive is Tamarind - for previous post 👆

Tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica) can live for over 200 years and produce both edible fruit and valuable timber.

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts

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New Complete Guide to Avocado Varieties. How to choose the right type of Avocado.
How many varieties of Avocado are there in cultivation? Did you know that there are hundreds of them? You probably thought there were only 2 kinds - black and green?

You may not realize is that this basic (but practical!) classification doesn't encompass all the wonderful qualities avocados have to offer.

There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. It's a guarantee! While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content, most superior varieties are equally delicious.

This Avocado Variety Guide helps to choose the right variety for you. With its interactive tool, you can sort cultivars by fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, crop season, flower type A or B, tree habit and more.

🛒 Shop Avocado Varieties

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⚡️What is a special effect of Lemon grass?

Besides its culinary uses, Lemon Grass is also known for its insect-repelling properties due to its citronella content. No more mosquitos! 😆

🛒 Order Lemon Grass

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⚡️ #Fun_Facts: Cucumber Tree

• Cucumber Tree (Averrhoa bilimbi) - these curious fruits are incredibly sour and often used as a natural cleaning agent due to their high acidity.
• In some cultures, bilimbi fruits are used to remove rust and stains from metal and clothes, making them a versatile household item beyond their culinary uses.
• These fruits make a great lemonade too!

🛒 Shop rare fruit trees

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🌻 Did you know that Tamarind has not only tasty fruit but also pretty flowers?

⚠️ Tamarind Tree that we mentioned earlier is in full bloom now. The flowers are so pretty!

📚 Learn more: Tamarind Chutney Recipe

🛒Grow your own Tamarind Tree

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts

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🍧 How to get big shade tree in one season with an ice cream on it? It's real!

• 🍦 Ice Cream Bean Inga is the ultimate fast-growing, shade-providing fruit tree with an irresistible twist! It not only transforms your yard into a cool, inviting oasis in record time but also produces fruit that kids (and adults!) can't get enough of!
• 🍦 Picture this: pods up to a foot long, bursting with sweet, creamy pulp that tastes exactly like ice cream!
• 🍦 Craving instant shade? Perfect for those sunny spots where you need shade, the Ice Cream Bean Inga rapidly unfurls its lush, umbrella-like canopy, creating a natural, leafy retreat in just one season!
• 🍦 With its delectable treats and speedy growth, this extraordinary tree is sure to be the highlight of your garden - where shade and sweetness meet!

🛒 Get shade with ice cream benefit

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts #Nature_Wonders #How_to

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❤️💰 Fruit of Money and Love

Theobroma cacao, commonly known as the Chocolate Tree or Cacao Tree, is very exciting plant and a superfood as we mentioned earlier.

• 💥 Theobroma means "food of the gods" in Greek. "Theo" means god, and "broma" means food.
• 💥 The Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs were among the first to cultivate cacao, using it to make a bitter beverage called xocoatl. It was often spiced with chili peppers and used in various rituals and ceremonies.
• 💥 Currency: in ancient Mesoamerican cultures, cacao beans were so valuable that they were used as a form of currency. For example, 100 beans could buy a slave or a turkey.
• 💥 The Aztecs believed that cacao had stimulating properties and used it as an aphrodisiac. Emperor Montezuma was said to consume a large amount of cacao before visiting his harem. We can't deny that chocolate's mood-enhancing properties, combined with cultural and psychological factors, contribute to its romantic allure! ❤️
• 💥 A cacao pod contains 20 to 50 beans, each surrounded by a sweet, mucilaginous pulp. The pods grow directly on the trunk and larger branches of the tree, a feature known as cauliflory.
• 💥 After harvesting, cacao beans are fermented for several days, a critical step that develops the flavor precursors needed for chocolate production.
• 💥 The Cacao tree thrives in the humid, tropical regions around the equator. It can be grown as an exciting house plant.
• 💥 Health benefits: cacao beans are rich in antioxidants, magnesium, iron, and other minerals. They also contain flavonoids, associated with heart health benefits.
• 💥 There are three main varieties of cacao beans: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. Criollo is considered the highest quality but is less common due to its susceptibility to disease. Forastero is the most widely grown, known for its hardiness. Trinitario is a hybrid of the two.
• 💥 It takes about 400 cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate. The beans undergo roasting, grinding, and mixing with sugar and other ingredients to produce the final chocolate product.

📚Learn more: Plants of Love - Aphrodisiacs of the plant world

🛒 Grow your own Chocolate Tree

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