Could growing stevia help your Organic garden?
Though nontoxic, stevia (stevia rebaudiana) plants have been found to have insect-repelling tendencies. You didn’t know it would be a good companion plant! Their very sweetness, in fact, may be a kind of natural defense mechanism against aphids and other bugs that find it not to their taste. Perhaps that’s why crop-devouring grasshoppers have been reported to bypass stevia under cultivation. Growing this fabulous plant in your garden also suggests a statement of protest for the banning of this plant in the past by the FDA. I find it quite interesting that this past spring season this lovely plant was actually available at garden centers even in Georgia!
Does this mean that main concept of “The Big Green Purse” actually works? Yayy! I think it does! If you are a garden center carrying Stevia plants in the herb section, Thank you!
How to Grow: Stevia is a tropical annual with very sweet leaves that yield a special substance called stevioside. This substance is actually many times sweeter than sucrose. Growing stevia from seed normally has a very low germination success; sometimes only 10%. It’s best to use cuttings or tissue culture to propagate. If you haven’t grown this herb before, it does well in containers in full sun but is not so fond of hot days.
To Harvest the leaves, clip stems or sprigs and hang them upside down to dry out (4-10 days). The best time to clip is midmorning, after the dew has evaporated and the stem is just about to flower. Once the leaves are dry, store in dark, airtight jars. Want to learn more? Click here.
Happy washing…and Organic gardening!
~Regina
Sources: http://www.stevia.net/, Herbs by Lesley Bremness, http://usagardener.com
2 Comments
Donna Maria @ Indie Beauty
Thanks for this great information about stevia. I would like to try some but I don’t think I’ll be growing it any time soon. If I have some dried from the herb store, how do I use the dried herbs to sweeten tea. Use a strainer of some kind? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated to help this city slicker use stevia in some tea or coffee. (Does it taste good in coffee?) How does it compare to agave, which I have used in with some success? Sorry for so many questions. This really interests me! Thanks for sharing the information.
Regina
Thanks so much for your questions, Donna Maria!
Stevia is great in tea as you can just add some of the dried leaves to the brew basket or ball to add a sweet taste to your tea. As for coffee…I’ve not tried it but why not add it to the coffee grounds? The dried leaves that is. I’ll try it tomorrow morning and report back! Thanks for the cool idea that spurred from your questions!
Agave, is more liquid in nature so it is a bit more flexible. Stevia can be ground into a white powder and is available in natural food stores as well as grocery stores. It’s usually in a green packet or you can spoon it out from a brown bottle. Some of the brands, Sweetleaf or Puritan’s pride. http://sweetleaf.com could be a good resource.
As for the taste, it is a bit different. South Americans call it the honey leaf. So think honey when you taste it. I know of one lady that puts the dried leaves directly in her kids’ cereal! Once you get past the leaves floating in your breakfast, it tastes great!