growing Roselle and letting the Makrut be

An earlier update today (so there may be another one later, who knows) as I’ll also be posting this on the website and sending this to my newsletter subscribers, who I have all transferred to Substack.

Took a stroll through the forest, and it is quite hot and sunny today. I welcome it, as we’ve been having rainy days, and a good amount of sun is always good.

Very happy to see that two of the Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) seeds I sowed last Tuesday have germinated and sprouted already.

This one above looks peacefully happy amongst some wild Dayflowers (Commelina sp), while the other one below looks a bit hot and perhaps has been discovered by someone hungry:

Hoping both of them survive and grow well. So far, we have three promising Roselle seedlings that are about the same size as this one:

Roselle seedlings take about six months to mature and flower, so it does take a while. All worth it though. Roselle was one of the first plants we grew in the first year of the food forest, and our harvest of Roselle calyces back then was turned into jars and jars of jam.

How Roselle flowers turn into the calyces. November 2020.

Our first Roselle patch. November 2020.

So I’m hoping that by early next year, we’ll be making jars and jars of Roselle tea this time around.

Thought I’d share some not so lush growth in the food forest in this update, too.

This is a Makrut Lime (Citrus hystrix) growing under the Bani (Milletia pinata). He definitely does not look very happy; it looks like there are some leaf miners feasting on the leaves.

Since I’ve mentioned the Roselle from almost five years ago, I’d also like to mention that this kind of unhappiness displayed by any plant in the food forest years ago would make me research to the ends of the earth on how to “fix” it. Now though, I just take note of it, and trust that one of two things will happen:

1. That the plant will succumb to what is making it unhealthy. A sign to me that the plant was not supposed to be where it was in the first place. Perhaps too much shade from the Bani, or

2. That the plant and the entire ecosystem will come together and take care of it.

In many, if not all, instances of “plant sickness” or “pest infestation” in the food forest, nature does take care of it, and usually, the plant bounces back, even more lush and healthier than before. This has happened to the Star Apple (Chrysophyllum cainito), Salingbobog (Crateva religiosa), and the Avocado (Persea americana) in our Food Forest in a Pot before. The Star Apple had sooty mold, the Salingbobog had so many Aphids farmed by Weaver Ants, and the Avocado had Mealybugs. In all cases, I did nothing. And all three trees are thriving and happy now, with the Star Apple actually having her first flower buds this year.

Of course, everything when it comes to the land is a case to case basis, but I do find that trusting nature and letting her sort things out, while it may take some time, gives the best results. So… I will wait and see what happens to the Makrut Lime.

Lastly, I took some time to admire the Ternate (Clitoria ternatea) flowers on the Izumi Trellis.

Well, the day is still young, and there may be another update later tonight (on the website and hub, not sending another newsletter). Have a great weekend, all.

Chop, harvest, drop, and make tea.

It’s been raining all day today. Typhoon Enteng has given us about 2 inches of rain, more or less (I don’t think this rain gauge is as accurate as the one I have yet to clean):

Still got to walk around the food forest for a bit, and saw that a Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) branch was crossing over to its neighbor, the husband’s Salingbobog (Crateva religiosa) tree. Quickly chopped it, harvested some leaves, and dropped the rest for mulch.

Beautiful gradation of greens and pinks.

People dry Cinnamon leaves and use them for a variety of culinary applications apparently, like as a substitute for Bay Leaf. I wonder if Adobo with a Cinnamon leaf or two would be good. Something to try soon.

For this morning though, I made tea. Thanks to Kai Sawyer of the Peace and Permaculture Dojo for telling me about making tea from Cinnamon leaves.

Quite delicious! Very aromatic, too.

Happy to report that the Ampalaya (Momordica charantia) has finally clung to the trellis.

Yay!

Sprouts and a Philippine Nightjar

Quite an eventful past week at the Forest this week!

Seeds sown have germinated:

An Ampalaya (Momordica charantia) sprout.

I’ve been happily buying Ampalaya or Bitter Gourd from a family at the farmers’ market, believing that all of the produce they sell are organic. But then a few weeks ago, when I was about to put a few Ampalayas in my basket, I noticed there were blue streaks across the ridges. Ahay. And so, off I went, did not buy their Ampalaya, and sowed some seeds instead. Hopefully these will grow easily enough on our Porch trellis.

The little boy and I also sowed some Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) seeds, since I’m on a tea exploration phase, and Rosella supposedly has the highest antioxidants of any herbal teas. The daughter and I grew these when the Forest was still starting, and we actually harvested a lot of calices and made lots of delicious jam.

Not in our Forest, but I was very happy to see the little boy foraging for Pipinong Gubat (Melothria pendula).

We were waiting to drop off his Ate somewhere, and he noticed a twin Pipinong Gubat right outside his window. As I was starting to drive off, he requested if we could go back so he could forage! A definite parenting win, don’t you think? He foraged for really ripe ones (dark green — these shouldn’t be eaten as they are a laxative at this stage), which he then proceeded to sow in our Forest as soon as we got home.

Finally got to make some vanilla extract from Vanilla Beans (Vanilla sp) that Monica and Leon of @yapakmalumay grew and processed themselves in their homestead in Batangas. They are an inspiring couple who live closely and gently with the land.

The highlight of our Forest this week: A Philippine Nightjar (Caprimulgus manillensis)!

One afternoon as we got home, I had the urge to just walk through the Forest before entering our house, and then I saw this medium-sized bird fly near me. The little boy and I have seen him/her before but never got to take a good look. This time, when I turned around, he/she was perched on the Dwarf Coconut. The daughter’s first ID of it was Philippine Nightjar — isn’t she amazing? She has an eye for birds. And then a birdwatcher on IG, @hellobirdieph, confirmed. On a related note, did I mention that we have all these hairy caterpillars EVERYWHERE this season? Yes? Well, these hairy caterpillars turn into moths (and several of them are starting to make their cocoons on wall edges now). Do you know what the primary food of Philippine Nightjars is? Moths! The circle of life.