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RELATED READING > MULTI-PURPOSE FOOD RESOURCES

Information from Global Gardening by Hank Bruce & Tomi Jill Folk.

One of the ways we can increase the productivity of a vegetable garden is to cultivate plants that provide food in more than one form. As an example, beets are grown for the fleshy roots but the leaves can also be harvested and eaten. The this multi-purpose, added value is a benefit that can sustain life in areas where poverty and limited resources make food security a distant dream. Sweet potatoes are another good example of a root crop that produces edible, and nutritious, leaves. This principle of multi-purpose vegetables is one of the productivity keys that make the Abundant Harvest gardens work so well.

For urban areas and regions where drought and other weather extremes make conventional gardening and farming difficult, a small space can sustain a family, if they grow multi-purpose crops. Our research into global food resources the last few years led to work on the Abundant Harvest Gardens system where a family of four can be fed from a 4' x 4' garden.

There are many common garden vegetables that produce edible resources we ignore, that could serve as an additional harvest. Green (French or snap) beans produce edible leaves and flowers. English peas and sugar peas produce edible flowers and leaves. We can harvest a few of these almost daily and add to a pot of mixed greens. Young leaves can become a part of s fresh salad. The leaves of sweet or hot peppers can be added to soups or stews as a nutritious flavoring (these leaves should not be used raw). Okra and hibiscus leaves and flowers can be used as salad greens or potherbs. Sweet potato leaves are produced in great abundance throughout the growing season and can be harvested continuously. The leaves of beets, radishes, cabbages, kale and spinach can be harvested regularly while the plant is growing.

Please note that many of these plant parts are safe for consumption only after cooking, and other are edible only at certain stages of maturity or seasons of the year. Know all you can about uncommon foods before you eat them.

During the research for The Abundant Harvest Garden system and the book, Global Gardening, we trialed and tested several hundred potential food crops and found that many give us the opportunity for multi-purpose and continuous harvest. The following is an abbreviated list of the vegetables we explored and the parts that can be used. This list is by no means complete, and it doesn’t cover plants that have a multiple use other than food, such as fuel, shelter, fibers, dyes, jewelry, etc. For more details on any of these plants consult Global Gardening, or e-mail us at tomifolk@mail2.Lcia.com

Botanical name	*Common name	Edible parts

* previously grown in Abundant Harvest Garden test gardens ** will be grown in Abundant Harvest Garden test gardens in 2002
Abelmoschus esculentus	*Okra	fruit, flowers, seeds & leaves
Adansonia digitata	*Baobab	leaves, fruit, flws
Anredera tuberosa	*Madeira vine	roots, young leaves
Apios americana	American groundnut	roots, seeds
Aponogeton distachyus	Cape asparagus	shoots, flws & roots
Arracacia xanthorrhiza	Arracacha	leaves, roots & seeds
Asclepias syriaca	**Common milkweed	flw buds, fruit & flws
Benincasa hispida	**Wax gourd	fruit, leaves, flws & shoots
Bunium bulbocastanum	**Pignut	root, leaves & flws
Cajanus cajan	*Pigeon pea, Congo pea	seeds, young leaves & flws
Campanula versicolor	**Bellflower, harebell	leaves and flowers
Carpobrotus edulis	**Hottentot fig	fruit, leaves
Ceratomia siliqua	Carob	pods, seeds, leaves
Chichorium intybus	**Chicory	leaves, stems, flws & roots
Chenopodium bonus-henricus	*Good King Henry	leaves, stems & seeds
Chenopodium capitatum	**Strawberry spinach	leaves, fleshy fruit
Chryptotaenia japonica	**Mitsuba (carrot family)	leaves, seeds, flowers & roots
Cicer arietinum	*Chickpea, garbanzo	seeds, young leaves, flws
Clitoria ternatea	**Butterfly pea	flws, seeds and leaves
Cocos nucifera	Coconut	fruit, leaf buds, roots, milk
Coleus tuberosus	African or Hausa potato	roots, leaves & flws
Colocasia esculenta	*Taro, coco-yam	roots, cooked leaves of some kinds
Corchorus olitrius	Jute	leaves, fruit
Cyclanthera pedata	Achocha melon	leaves, shoots & fruit
Dolochios lablab	*Lablab, hyacinth bean	seeds, pods, flws, leaves, roots
Gundelia tournefortii	**Kankar	flw buds, stems, leaves & seeds
Hemerocallis	*Daylily	roots, flws, young shoots & leaves
Helianthus tuberosus	*Sunchoke	roots, flw buds & seeds
Hibiscus sabdariffa	*Jamaican sorrel, FL cranberry	flw buds, leaves, seeds
Ipomea batatas	*Sweet potato	roots & leaves
Lagenaria siceraria	**Bottle gourd	leaves, shoots, fruit & seeds
Leichadtia australis	Australian bush banana	flws, fruit, leaves & roots
Lepidium latifolium	Dittander	leaves, flws & roots
Luffa acutangula	**Loofah gourd	fruit, leaves, flw buds, tender shoots
Lycium chinense	**Wolfberry	fruit & leaves
Manihot esculenta	*Cassava, yuca, manioc	roots, leaves (cooked)
Mirabilis expansa	Mauka	roots & leaves
Moringa oleifera	*Moringa, horseradish	tree leaves, flws, fruit, seeds, roots
Nelumbo nucifera	Chinese water lotus	roots, flws, seeds & stems
Nympheae odorata	Water lily	roots, leaves, flw buds, seeds
Pachira aquatica	Malabar chestnut	fruit, leaves & flws
Perideridia gairdneri	Yampa or Yampah	roots, leaves & seeds
Petasites japonicus	Butterbur	leaf stalks, flw buds, flw stems
Phasaeolus coccineus	**Scarlet runner bean	seeds, leaves, flws, roots
Phragmites communis	Common reed	roots, stems, leaves & sap
Polmnia sonchifolia	**Yacon	roots, leaves flw buds
Psophocarpus tetragnalbus	**Winged bean	beans, flws, leaves & roots
Reichardia picroides	**French scorzonera	roots & leaves
Sauropus androgynous	*Katuk, katook	leaves, fruit & flowers
Sesbania grandiflora	*West Indian pea	tree flws, leaves, young pods
Solanum aethiopicum	African scarlet eggplant	fruit, cooked leaves & shoots
Solanum macrocarpon	*Gboma	fruit, leaves
Taraxacum officinale	*Dandelion	leaves, flws, roots
Tragopogon porrifolius	**Salsify or oyster plant	roots, leaves, flws & flw buds
Tropaeolum tuberosum	Mashwa	roots, leaves & flws
Tylosema esculentum	Marama bean	roots, seeds
Typha latifolia	Cattails	flws, pollen, shoots, roots
Ullucus tuberosus	Ulluco	roots, leaves

These are only a few of the potential multi-purpose food resources available. We welcome your comments, experiences, suggestions and questions on these and any others that you might be familiar with. Please contact us at tomifolk@mail2.Lcia.com

Petals & Pages
Hank Bruce & Tomi Jill Folk
30548 St Andrews Blvd., Sorrento, FL 32776
(352)383-2704 tomifolk@mail2.Lcia.com

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