Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
The vine with square stems that heals bones and turns heads
Cissus quadrangularis - Veld Grape, hanging basket
Cissus quadrangularis - Veld Grape, stems
Cissus quadrangularis - Veld Grape plant
Cissus quadrangularis - Veld Grape, fruit
The vine with square stems that heals bones and turns heads
🛒 Get your own Veld Grape show stopper
#Container_Garden #Remedies #Fun_Facts
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- Cissus quadrangularis - Veld Grape. This plant is anything but ordinary! It has four-winged stems – square, chunky, and unlike anything else in your garden. Each stem looks like a little green sculpture, with ribs running down the sides. It’s technically a vine, but behaves like a succulent, with thick, juicy stems and tiny tendrils that climb or spill from a pot.
- Native to Africa and India, veld grape thrives on sunshine, heat, and a bit of neglect. Perfect for hanging baskets or as a quirky groundcover. Just give it some light and occasional water, and it’ll keep growing strong.
- It’s also famous as a traditional "bone-healing" herb, earning it the nickname Bone setter plant. But even if you don’t use it for that, it’s a total show-stopper for anyone who loves plants with personality.
- A true show-stopper for collectors and anyone who loves the strange and beautiful side of nature.
🛒 Get your own Veld Grape show stopper
#Container_Garden #Remedies #Fun_Facts
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The secret Brain Food growing in my backyard (and it tastes like green peas!)
Tropical Asparagus (Sauropus androgynus)
🏆 The secret Brain Food growing in my backyard (and it tastes like green peas!)
🛒 Add Katuk Superfood to your Food Forest
Lean more:
🍴 Katuk egg stir-fry: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes
✔️ Discover the health benefits of Katuk: a Superfood for your mind and body
📚 Tropical Asparagus, Katuk: Grow your own food
📱 How to cook with Katuk
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover
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- 🌿 Katuk, or Tropical Asparagus (Sauropus androgynus), is one of the most underrated edible plants you can grow. This leafy tropical shrub is a superfood in disguise. It grows fast, looks lush, and its tender young shoots taste just like green peas.
- 🌿 Native to Southeast Asia, Katuk is a kitchen staple in places like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. The leaves and shoots are used in soups, stews, and stir-fries with egg or seafood. It’s not only delicious but also incredibly nutritious - rich in nutrients linked to improved memory and reduced cognitive aging: folate, lutein, and especially vitamin K, which is rare in plants.
- 🌿 Katuk thrives in sun or partial shade, needs little care, and grows into a dense, bushy plant that gives you edible greens all year round. If you want something that feeds both your garden and your health, this one’s a winner!
🛒 Add Katuk Superfood to your Food Forest
Lean more:
🍴 Katuk egg stir-fry: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes
✔️ Discover the health benefits of Katuk: a Superfood for your mind and body
📚 Tropical Asparagus, Katuk: Grow your own food
📱 How to cook with Katuk
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Do you have Shampoo Ginger in your garden?
Zingiber Zerumbet, Shampoo Ginger, Pine Cone Ginger
💄 Do you have Shampoo Ginger in your garden?
💄Pine Cone Ginger (Zingiber Zerumbet), is called Shampoo Ginger due to its unique, milky substance found in the cones. If you squeeze these bright red cones, a fragrant, milky liquid seeps out - traditionally used in Asia and Hawaii as a natural shampoo. Even today, you’ll find it in commercial shampoos.
🛒 Grow your own Natural Shampoo Ginger
📚 Learn more:
#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Remedies #Fun_Facts
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
💄Pine Cone Ginger (Zingiber Zerumbet), is called Shampoo Ginger due to its unique, milky substance found in the cones. If you squeeze these bright red cones, a fragrant, milky liquid seeps out - traditionally used in Asia and Hawaii as a natural shampoo. Even today, you’ll find it in commercial shampoos.
🛒 Grow your own Natural Shampoo Ginger
📚 Learn more:
- 🟡 Free natural shampoo: squeeze it and see what comes out!
- 🟡 What Ginger makes a natural shampoo?
- 🟡5 most spectacular Ginger species
#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Remedies #Fun_Facts
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Cashews: more magnesium than almonds!
Cashew Nuts - Anacardium occidentale
Cashews: more magnesium than almonds!
🏆 More magnesium-rich fruit:
Avocado
Avocados are famous for their healthy fats, but they’re also surprisingly high in magnesium - about 58 mg per medium fruit. That’s one of the highest amounts among fruits. Their creamy texture and fiber content make them especially gentle on the stomach, helping digestion and easing constipation. Regularly adding avocado to meals can support gut health, muscle function, and overall mineral balance in a naturally delicious way.
🍍 Pineapple
Best known for its enzyme bromelain, pineapple also provides a helpful 20 mg of magnesium per cup. While not the top source, it offers a rare combination of fiber, enzymes, and minerals that benefit the digestive system. Bromelain helps reduce inflammation in the gut, and magnesium keeps digestive muscles relaxed. Together, they make pineapple a light, refreshing choice for better digestion and a balanced system.
✅ How to get more magnesium:
🛒 Explore your future food forest: fruit and edibles
📚 Learn more:
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
- 🌰 Cashews might be the real nutty winner when it comes to magnesium. One ounce provides about 83 mg, or roughly 20% of your daily need, slightly topping almonds at 76 mg, according to Verywell Health.
- 🌰 Magnesium plays a key role in your body’s daily operations - it helps your heart, muscles, and bones function properly, keeps blood pressure steady, and supports your energy and metabolism. Yet many people still fall short of getting enough.
- 🌰 Along with magnesium, cashews are packed with protein, healthy fats, copper, zinc, and iron - all nutrients your body depends on.
🏆 More magnesium-rich fruit:
Avocado
Avocados are famous for their healthy fats, but they’re also surprisingly high in magnesium - about 58 mg per medium fruit. That’s one of the highest amounts among fruits. Their creamy texture and fiber content make them especially gentle on the stomach, helping digestion and easing constipation. Regularly adding avocado to meals can support gut health, muscle function, and overall mineral balance in a naturally delicious way.
🍍 Pineapple
Best known for its enzyme bromelain, pineapple also provides a helpful 20 mg of magnesium per cup. While not the top source, it offers a rare combination of fiber, enzymes, and minerals that benefit the digestive system. Bromelain helps reduce inflammation in the gut, and magnesium keeps digestive muscles relaxed. Together, they make pineapple a light, refreshing choice for better digestion and a balanced system.
✅ How to get more magnesium:
- • Eat a mix of magnesium-rich foods every day - your body only absorbs about half of what you consume.
- • Try pairing magnesium-rich sources. Add Cashews, Avocados, Bananas, Pineapple, or Spinach to your meals and snacks.
- • Remember, caffeine, age, and certain medications can reduce absorption, so balance your diet and check with your doctor if needed.
- • A handful of cashews can go a long way - for your heart, your energy, and your bones.
🛒 Explore your future food forest: fruit and edibles
📚 Learn more:
- ▫️Grow your own brain food: avocado and cacao
- ▫️Plant a fruit tree - and breathe easier: fruit might be the surprising key to healthier lungs
- ▫️Tropical fruit health benefits guide - what fruit and edibles can help with health issues and vitamin deficiencies, Part 1 and Part 2.
- ▫️Five best fruit trees to plant in Summer
- ▫️10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes
- ▫️Top 10 fruiting plants you'll ever need for your health benefits
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Tropical fruits that help you sleep better
Tropical fruits that help you sleep better: Cherries, Pineapple, Banana
🍒 Tropical fruits that help you sleep better
🌱 Looking for a natural way to fall asleep faster? Skip the pills and head for the fruit bowl. Some tropical fruits are surprisingly rich in melatonin, the hormone that tells your body it's bedtime. According to a study referenced by New York City Nutrition, eating melatonin-rich fruits about an hour before bedtime can naturally support better sleep quality.
😴 Melatonin naturally rises at night, helping you feel sleepy and cooling your body temperature. But things like blue light from phones, jet lag, or late-night stress can throw it off. That’s where certain fruits can help - they either contain melatonin or boost your body’s ability to make it.
🍒 Cherries
Both sweet and tart cherries are sleep boosters. Tart cherry juice is especially effective because it’s concentrated - studies show it can raise melatonin levels and increase total sleep time. Just go easy on added sugar. Try pairing the juice with almonds or cheese to keep your blood sugar steady before bed.
🍍Pineapple
In one study, people who ate pineapple had a big jump in melatonin levels just two hours later. It’s also loaded with vitamin C and enzymes that aid digestion, making it a nice evening snack. Have it with a bit of protein, like yogurt or nuts, to avoid a sugar spike.
🍌 Banana
Bananas don’t contain much melatonin on their own, but they help your body make it. They’re full of tryptophan and magnesium, both of which support serotonin and melatonin production. A banana before bed can calm muscles and nerves - no wonder it’s a favorite natural sleep aid.
✅ Bottom line
A small fruit snack in the evening - cherries, pineapple, or banana - can help your body settle into sleep mode naturally. Eat it about an hour before bed, keep screens dim, and let nature do the rest.
🛒 Grow your own fruit and sleep better
📚 Learn more:
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
🌱 Looking for a natural way to fall asleep faster? Skip the pills and head for the fruit bowl. Some tropical fruits are surprisingly rich in melatonin, the hormone that tells your body it's bedtime. According to a study referenced by New York City Nutrition, eating melatonin-rich fruits about an hour before bedtime can naturally support better sleep quality.
😴 Melatonin naturally rises at night, helping you feel sleepy and cooling your body temperature. But things like blue light from phones, jet lag, or late-night stress can throw it off. That’s where certain fruits can help - they either contain melatonin or boost your body’s ability to make it.
🍒 Cherries
Both sweet and tart cherries are sleep boosters. Tart cherry juice is especially effective because it’s concentrated - studies show it can raise melatonin levels and increase total sleep time. Just go easy on added sugar. Try pairing the juice with almonds or cheese to keep your blood sugar steady before bed.
🍍Pineapple
In one study, people who ate pineapple had a big jump in melatonin levels just two hours later. It’s also loaded with vitamin C and enzymes that aid digestion, making it a nice evening snack. Have it with a bit of protein, like yogurt or nuts, to avoid a sugar spike.
🍌 Banana
Bananas don’t contain much melatonin on their own, but they help your body make it. They’re full of tryptophan and magnesium, both of which support serotonin and melatonin production. A banana before bed can calm muscles and nerves - no wonder it’s a favorite natural sleep aid.
✅ Bottom line
A small fruit snack in the evening - cherries, pineapple, or banana - can help your body settle into sleep mode naturally. Eat it about an hour before bed, keep screens dim, and let nature do the rest.
🛒 Grow your own fruit and sleep better
📚 Learn more:
- ▫️Plant a fruit tree - and breathe easier: fruit might be the surprising key to healthier lungs
- ▫️11 tropical fruits to eat instead of taking a fiber supplement
- ▫️Tropical fruit health benefits guide - what fruit and edibles can help with health issues and vitamin deficiencies, Part 1 and Part 2.
- ▫️Five best fruit trees to plant in Summer
- ▫️10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes
- ▫️Top 10 fruiting plants you'll ever need for your health benefits
#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
