yes thats it i kept getting recipies for spinach with a tropical splash or whatever never thought to type in spinach tree the butterflies love it for nectar
in gardening there are no failures only learning experiances unless of course you give up mikey in fl
Mike & Lynne, found your brief notes about the "tree spinach", chaya. For several years, we've grown chaya in our yard but it's entirely different looking than the one grown in Florida. This variety is not a very attractive tree/bush as the one you're describing. Here are a couple of shots I just took of our variety.
We use it in rubbing alcohol (about 8-10 leaves rolled up, cigarette style and added to the alcohol, let stand for 7-10 days)for use on insect bites, especially fire ant bites. If you've ever been bitten by fire ants you know how "itchy" and festered they can become pretty quickly. If you rub this concoction on right away, it eliminates the itching and festering. It can, also, be used to rub on sore shoulders, knees, etc much as you'd do with Ben Gay. Works great for this sort of pain. I've never used it in cooking but I understand it's chock full of good things, richer than spinach.
I got the recipes too the first time I looked, then I remembered what you said about it being in the Euphorbia family, from there I narrowed it down by looking through the ones in the same grouping as the Castor Beans, after that it was mostly luck.
Also, wanted to let you know that it and all of the others are doing well, again.
Lynne
USDA Zone 9b
Heat Zone 10
Bradenton, Florida
Jarie, I didn't see your post before, must have been typing while you were posting...
That's some really cool info, I wonder if ours will work for the insect bites too....
Lynne
USDA Zone 9b
Heat Zone 10
Bradenton, Florida
Lynne, give it a try...don't know why it wouldn't work like ours. Has to have the same basic ingredients in it's makeup. We swear by it. I keep it in my outdoor cabinet because I'm forever getting into fire ants. Guess if I didn't go barefoot so much, I wouldn't have as much trouble...but I'm a true child of the earth, love to have my "footies" next to the cool earth. Works well on mosquito bites, too.
i am wondering if the plant you showed is actually what is known as tropical spinach because i found nothing in the jatropha family that is edible as a leaf there is a few things drawn out of jatropha same as brugs and dats but have not seen anything edible the plant i have was given to me as tropical spinach and they said it was edible to a point as long as it was just once in a while and only if cooked they may both be edible if cooked but this one i will never try i donot like spinach any ways but i grow this for bringing in the butterflies they love it as a nectar plant so i guess as its uswed just as a butterfly plant mine is about 12 feet tall just trying to see how tall it will get
in gardening there are no failures only learning experiances unless of course you give up mikey in fl
I'll have to give it a try also, as my feet look terrible from fire ant bites.
Darn little critters hide in the grass and I don't know they are there until the "fire" hits me.
again.
