Do you know that it is easy peasy to save Water Spinach Seeds?

Water Spinach, which scientific name is Ipomoea Aquatica, is a semiaguatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable. It is ubiquitous throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, especially in Asia. People call it phak bung in Thai, rau muống in Vietnamese, kangkong in Tagalog, trokuon in Khmer, kolmou xak in Assam, kolmi shak in Bengali, kang kung in Indonesia, Malay and Sinhalese, hayoyou in Ghana, and colloquially as "the poverty vegetable".

Ipomoea Aquatica is a species of morning glory which grows in water or in a moist soil. In Indonesia it usually grows in ponds, ditches, or dikes. But it can also grow in dry land or pots as long as you supply it with adequate water.

Water spinach, raw

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	79 kJ (19 kcal)
Carbohydrates	3.14 g
Dietary fiber	2.1 g
Fat	0.2 g
Protein	2.6 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.	(39%) 315 μg
Thiamine (B1)	(3%) 0.03 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(8%) 0.1 mg
Niacin (B3)	(6%) 0.9 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	(3%) 0.141 mg
Vitamin B6	(7%) 0.096 mg
Folate (B9)	(14%) 57 μg
Vitamin C	(66%) 55 mg
Trace metals
Calcium	(8%) 77 mg
Iron	(13%) 1.67 mg
Magnesium	(20%) 71 mg
Manganese	(8%) 0.16 mg
Phosphorus	(6%) 39 mg
Potassium	(7%) 312 mg
Sodium	(8%) 113 mg
Zinc	(2%) 0.18 mg

In Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, Water Spinach is usually made into a delicious dish called "Kang Kong Blachan" or Stir fried Kang Kong with Shrimp Paste. Water Spinach is sometimes used in Thai's Famous Dish 'Tom Yum". It's also one of the greens used in Javanese-Style Vegetable with Peanut Sauce called "Pecal". Though Kang Kung is common in Indonesian diet, some people avoid it as it is believed to aggravate rheumatism and gout.

I have been planting Kang Kung in handmade self-watering-containers by utilizing used mineral water bottles. And after 4-5 times harvests, I let it to set flowers and seeds. Af first, I tried to help with hand pollination with a brush, but to my surprise it made the flower crown to dislodge! So I finally let the nature to do its part and voila! They are seeding! So next time, just let it be, as it's self-fertile!

Potted Garden Apprentice

Today has been a great and productive day! I moved my mango tree to a new pot this morning. I am happy to see it sit comfortably in its new dwelling. I also started to germinate some seeds in mostly recycled containers: Basil which I bought from a nearby Ace Hardware store, Lemon, Lime and Orange Bell-Pepper which I saved myself. To make it easier for me to remember the date and check up on the germination, I put a label on each container.



And then, I organized my remaining seeds in small zip-lock plastic bags. Well, talking about seeds, I am so glad to have been informed that a dear friend from the States is coming to Indonesia this coming November, because that means she can bring me some seeds I am going to order from an organic source in America! Well, I'm not really sure if the seeds will be able to grow in the tropical weather of Indonesia, but I will try anyway. I have made a list and so far there have been 67 types of vegetables and fruit seeds in it! Gosh! I can't help it, I want to plant them all! 

Seeds Saving

Since last week, I have started my Project # 3  - Seeds Saving! Thanks to Hickery Holler I have started to save some seeds of Lemon, Orange-Color Bell Pepper (Paprika) and a handful of Pumpkin seeds! However, it has some weaknesses as I don't have any idea if the fresh produce I saved the seed from were hybrid or heirloom, let alone organic or pesticides-ladden! :-(  As far as I know that most of the vegetables we consume, those we buy from the wet market or supermarket, are traditionally grown - meaning: grown using pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. But, this is such a fun project for me, a way to learn and experiment. 

My indoor plants

Last Sunday, I bought a 15 kgs bag of organic compost which is made of organic waste and a packet of lemongrass seeds, and yesterday I scored 2 bags of soil. With these I think I can sufficiently start germinating the paprika, lemon and lemongrass, and will have enough soil for the tomatoes bedding. I only need to wait till they are 10 cm high before I can move them to a bigger pot. I plan to utilize an old bathing plastic pail for the tomatoes bedding. A frugal choice and it's also recycled! Yeeei!