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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: OakCamp2 AT aol.com
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Stevia
- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:54:57 EDT
I've found with Stevia rebaudiana that
it grows fairly well once germinated, too. It grows like a shrub in it's
native habitat, so the pinching mentioned is a great way to bulk it up. It
is native to Paraguay and is a tender member of the verbena family (zone 11), so
it must be brought indoors for the winter if you intend to keep it from year to
year. It will produce the most leaves if allowed to remain outdoors as
long as possible ( once nights reach the 40's it's time to harvest).
Regular watering is necessary, like most shrubs. For whatever the plant is
worth, I've found you can harvest plenty of stevia after one growing season to
last through the winter for most families. I cut it at the stem base and
hang to dry upside down in a dark room. Strip the leaves after the shrub
top has dried completely.
With most of the herbs, I've found
personal preference is usually the dictator as to how much dried or
fresh herb to use in food preparation. I advise customers to taste a leaf
first and decide for themselves how sweet it tastes to them (even more important
with plants from seed because the genetic variance in sweetness is prevalent in
stevia). Then I advise that dried stevia leaves are roughly 8 times
sweeter than sugar, so make those adjustments to recipes before substituting for
sugar. There are plenty of recipes on the web that people can try- just
remind them that adjustments may be necessary for their individual tastes. Our
favorite is pound cake. During the holidays, it looks festive with the little
green bits of stevia in it.
Barb
Oak
Camp Herb Farm, LLC Lodi, Wisconsin 608 592 7261 (business) 608 592 5381 (cell) Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less. |
-
[Market-farming] Stevia,
Liz, 03/27/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Stevia, Jaime Burroughs, 03/27/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Stevia,
Jason Jones, 03/27/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Stevia,
Elaine Granata, 03/27/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Stevia, Liz, 03/27/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Stevia,
Elaine Granata, 03/27/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Stevia,
Marie Kamphefner, 03/27/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Stevia,
Marie Kamphefner, 03/27/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Stevia, courtney mcleod, 03/27/2009
-
Re: [Market-farming] Stevia,
Marie Kamphefner, 03/27/2009
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: [Market-farming] Stevia, OakCamp2, 03/27/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Stevia, cjmaness AT juno.com, 03/27/2009
- Re: [Market-farming] Stevia, cjmaness AT juno.com, 03/27/2009
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