#basella rubra

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What is Malabar Spinach? : Health Benefits and Nutrition Facts

What is Malabar Spinach? : Health Benefits and Nutrition Facts

Malabar spinach (Basella alba) is a popular tropical leafy-green vegetable. It is a vine and people commonly grow them as backyard herb in their backyard gardens. There are two important vine spinach cultivars belonging to the Basellaceae family. The Basella alba, which has green stem and dark green leaves and Basella rubra with purple and dark green leave and pink vines. Both have similar health…

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Basella rubra (Malabar spinach) in the garden of Corte Eremo.

I got this beautiful and delicious plant last year in Milan from the Gardenia stand of Orticola 2014. They do a seed swap, and there were also a few unusual plants).

Many visitors ask - sometimes in a neutral way “Do you have a vegetable garden?” but often in a judgemental tone “Why don’t you grow your own vegetables?” But I do. Most people are not able to recognise the variety of ornamental “food” in the borders and all around the place. I’ve always bemoaned the fact that Italians always want (and prefer to see - and eat) what they already have and know - tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, peppers, lettuce, whatever. They are not the most curious eaters. Perhaps they fear their highly-refined and delicate palates will be destroyed by unknown foreign foods. I’d prefer growing less farmer’s market/supermarket food and more interesting edibles, if food must be grown to not disappoint the most practical, veg-loving visitors. One tour I did of the garden was “punctuated” by a kind of crazy guy asking every few minutes “Can you eat that?” “Do you eat it?” “Can you eat that plant?” and at a certain point I just laughed and said “Yes! and then you die!”