Grow your own food:
Pouteria campechiana - Canistel
The curious heart-shaped Egg Super-Fruit

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...You will be surprised how many health benefits this fruit can offer! Yet is is a beautiful, curiously shaped piece of Nature's Art, and the tree is super easy to grow. It is relatively cold hardy and fast growing, providing with the first crop within a year or two...

10 greatest health benefits of Canistel fruit

1. Canistel is good for the heart
2. Canistel lowers the risk of diabetes
3. Canistel lowers the risk of cataract
4. Canistel treats osteoarthritis
5. Canistel prevents cancer
6. Canistel is immunity booster
7. Canistel is great for digestion
8. Canistel prevents anemia
9. Canistel promotes healthy bones
10. Canistel reduces the risk of Alzheimer's

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Grow your own food:
How hardy is a Loquat tree?

Q: I am looking for a fruit tree for my backyard that is low maintenance, fast fruiting, and can take some cold (I live in Orlando FL and we do get occasional frost in winter). I like the taste of Loquat fruit, it reminds me of apricots. How cold hardy is this tree?

A: Loquat tree is a very good choice for Florida gardens. It can take both cold and heat and produces lots of tasty fruit right away. Last winter when we had a record freeze in our area with a couple of nights around 25F, the only trees that didn't get any damage at all were Loquats and Macadamias, and those were still young, newly planted 4 ft trees.
To learn more about Loquat trees, check out this and article: Golden Loquat - the symbol of Prosperity.

Grow your own food:
Avocado Q & A

from Ed Jones, the Avocado Guy

Q: Do I need to have more than one avocado tree in order to produce fruit?

A: While a single avocado tree will normally produce enough fruit for most people, it never hurts to have more than one tree and even more than one variety to increase the chances for good pollination. Be sure to look at our catalog for the many different varieties available from our store.

Grow your own food:
Tropical Asparagus (Katuk)

...One of the most popular leaf vegetables in South Asia and Southeast Asia, the Tropical Asparagus (Katuk) - Sauropus androgynus, is notable for its high yields and palatability. Cooked Tropical Asparagus is great with crab meat, minced pork, dried shrimp, or in a soup...
Katuk is one of the most popular leaf vegetables in Southeast Asia. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K. Leaves and stemmed can be cooked as vegetable; the plant has many medicinal properties.
Katuk is fast growing and keeps growing as you trim it for your kitchen needs. Multiple upright stems can reach 6-7 ft high. It has great ornamental value, has pretty red flowers and ornamental fruit showing shiny black seeds when they crack open. Varieties with green leaves and variegated leaves have slightly different flavor but are equally good for your healthy, fiber-rich diet... CONTINUE READING >>

Cajanus cajan - Pigeon Pea.
The plant that saw paws of the newborn Great Sphinx...

Grow Your Own Food!

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...The plant I am going to tell you about is very ancient. It has been existed among people for more than 4800 years. Although there are much older plants that trace their history back to the age of dinosaurs, and exist today, perfectly adapted to modern conditions, this one is edible, tasty, and healthy. It still successfully feeds half of the world's population. Surprisingly, some people from the Western world haven't even heard about it...
...The earliest notion of Pigeon peas in Africa was found in Ancient Egypt with the presence of seeds in Egyptian tombs dating back to around 2,200 BC. Pigeon peas could be the food of the people who built the pyramids in Giza; it could be seen between paws of the newborn Great Sphinx... CONTINUE READING >>