permaculture

[Amy Little <amylittle@hvc.rr.com>]

I have so much in my pond I am wondering if I should eat it. Anyone 
know about it as a food?
At 12:17 AM 11/20/2009, you wrote:

> Anyone here interested in duckweed and its many uses?
>
> Here's some basic information on it:
>
> http://www.mobot.org/jwcross/duckweed/duckweed.htm
> The family of duckweeds (botanically, the Lemnaceae) are the 
> smallest flowering plants.  These plants grow floating in
> still or slow-moving fresh water around the globe, except in the 
> coldest regions.  The growth of these high-protein
> plants can be extremely rapid.  Lemna is one of the best known of 
> this group and has been the subject of much research.
>
> Researchers are using these plants to study basic plant development, 
> plant biochemistry, photosynthesis, the toxicity of
> hazardous substances, and much more.  Genetic engineers are cloning 
> duckweed genes and modifying duckweeds to
> inexpensively produce pharmaceuticals.  Environmental scientists are 
> using duckweeds to remove unwanted substances from
> water.  Aquaculturalists find them an inexpensive feed source for 
> fish farming.
>
> Botanical Facts
> http://www.mobot.org/jwcross/duckweed/duckweed.htm
>
> Wikipedia
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemnaoideae
> Lemnaoideae
>  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> Jump to: navigation, search
> Lemnaoideae
> Close up of two different duckweeds:
> Spirodela polyrrhiza and Wolffia globosa.
> The very tiny Wolffia plants are under 2 mm long
> Scientific classification
> Kingdom:     Plantae
> (unranked):     Angiosperms
> (unranked):     Monocots
> Order:     Alismatales
> Family:     Araceae
> Subfamily:     Lemnoideae
> Genus
>
>      * Spirodela
>      * Landoltia
>      * Lemna
>      * Wolffiella
>      * Wolffia
>
> Lemnaceae is a family of flowering plants, also known as the 
> duckweed family, as it contains the duckweeds or water
> lentils. Since duckweeds are now considered to be a branch of the 
> arum or aroid family (Araceae)[citation needed], the
> name 'Lemnaceae' is rapidly falling out of use among 
> taxonomists[citation needed], who treat it as a subfamily called
> Lemnoideae[citation needed].
>
> These plants are very simple, lacking an obvious stem or leaves. 
> They consist of a small 'thalloid' or plate-like
> structure that floats on or just under the water surface, with or 
> without simple rootlets. The plants have become highly
> reduced from their relatives in Araceae. Reproduction is mostly by 
> budding, but occasionally a flower consisting of two
> stamens and a pistil is produced (some view the 'flower' as a 
> pseudanthium, or reduced inflorescence, with three
> unisexual flowers, derived from the spadix in Araceae). The fruit is 
> a utricle, a sac containing air and a seed designed
> to float. The flower of the Wolffia is the smallest flower in the 
> world; measuring in at a size of 0.3 mm long.[1]
>
> Duckweed is an important food source for waterfowl and are eaten by 
> humans in some parts of Southeast Asia (as
> khai-nam). Some duckweeds are used in freshwater aquariums and ponds 
> where they may spread rapidly and, in a large pond,
> may be difficult to eradicate once established. The plants can 
> provide nitrate removal (if cropped) and cover for fry.
> The plants are used as shelter by pond water species, such as 
> bullfrogs and bluegills. The duckweeds are important in
> the process of bioremediation because they grow rapidly, absorbing 
> excess mineral nutrients, particularly nitrogen and
> phosphates. A cover of duckweeds will reduce evaporation of water 
> compared to a clear surface.
>
> |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> In the context of food cropping in Vanatu I submitted this idea to a 
> friend in Sanet:
>
> I would suggest biointensive, no-till, permanent, mulched (compost 
> and cover/companion crops)
> raised beds with drainage ditches cycling nutrient rich water from 
> gardens to catchment posds growing duckweed. The
> duckweed will extract 85% of all nutrients in the water, are high 
> protein (as high as soy), low fiber and can be used as
> human and livestock food or as a nitrogen-rich soil amendment (read: 
> fertilzer) to put back onto the crop beds. Duckweed
> can be used to purify sewage and manure lagoons, producing regularly 
> harvestable duckweed as a farm input. When duckweed
> is dried its natural state is granular, perfect for storage and 
> application on gardens.
>
>
> A more robust livestock component of their subsistence farming 
> system would be a good thing. Then you have the nutrients
> and microbes to make enhanced compost to greatly enhance their 
> growing beds. Cover crops could be really beneficial.
> Permanent notil biointensive raised beds are almost self-maintaining 
> microbe-wise and almost nutrient-wise too. Their
> food crop production could be usignificantly upgraded through the 
> addition of manure to their compost. Keep the gardens
> in one location permanently; keep livestock nearby, make thee 
> compost there also. Save labor for manicuring and
> maintaining fertility in the beds. Just a thought. Grow crops on 
> slop[es that are suited to that terrain and others on
> more level ground; cycle water borne nutrients from one garden to 
> another with ditches. Overflow can go to duckweed lagoons.
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