#ipomoeaaquatica

[seedkeeping]

Water Spinach or Rau Muong is a cousin to Sweet Potatoes grown for its greens. My partner Chris told me he had a hankering today for sweet potato greens, and I didn’t feel like cutting back any of mine, so I harvested these instead. He’s bring home some sweet potato greens too from his farm, so we will mix them together tonight. In the spring, I buy Rau Muong bunches at the Vietnamese grocery stores and root them in soil-filled pots that sit in buckets of water. They LOVE water. So I plant them by our leaky faucet. @dinhteresting of @resilient_roots_farm taught us that soldiers in the American war in Vietnam would take sprigs as they’d move to new areas, and plant them in water-filled bomb craters so they’d have good food growing wherever they went. This is a food of resilience! #raumuong #waterspinach #ipomoeaaquatica https://www.instagram.com/p/B1xIHRFA49Z/?igshid=s1h0gs3bsrr

[seedkeeping]

First blooms of the Rau Muong, aka Gazun, Water Spinach, Chinese Watercress, Ipomoea aquatica and so on. Inspired by stories of Vietnamese soldiers carrying sprigs of Rau Muong leaves to new areas where they’d plant them in watery bomb craters during the American war in Vietnam, we rooted bunches of these greens (from the market) and planted them in our wettest part of the farm. Thanks to @dinhteresting and @vietlead for sharing this story of resilience. #resilienceandresistance #seedkeeping #ipomoeaaquatica #raumuong #gazun #chinesewatercress #waterspinach

[seedkeeping]

The wettest place on my farm aside from the creek: the leaky pump. Water Spinach, or #raumuong, loves it here. Last year I rooted two varieties from the Hung Vuong Vietnamese grocery store on Washington Avenue in Philly: the dark green broader leaf one (right) and the light green thinner leaf one (left). This photo was taken today. We rooted the dark leaf one, but the store didn’t have the light one the day I went. Luckily I was able to germinate seed saved from last year for this variety. I learned about this sweet potato cousin from my friend @dinhteresting at Resilient Roots Farm in NJ. She told us that the Vietnamese soldiers during the American War in Vietnam would plant stem cuttings in water-filled bomb craters as they traveled to new places. The plants would root quickly and there would be fresh greens to eat. Resilience. #raumuong #waterspinach #ipomoeaaquatica #ipomoea

[seedkeeping]

A closeup on life at the farm right now: first, Ground Ivy and Hairy Bittercress flowers; next a grasshopper; then A SWEET POTATO SEEDLING FROM A TRUE SEED (I’m excited - my first time saving and germinating them); water Spinach or Rau Muong seedling (sweet potato cousin) from my watery patch last year. I started the water spinach from bunches of greens from the Vietnamese supermarket, and then saved their seeds and here we are. Your produce is alive!! #truesweetpotatoseeds #sweetpotatoseedlings #waterspinachseed #waterspinach #ipomoeabatatas #ipomoeaaquatica #groundivyflowers #groundivy #hairybittercress #grasshopper #seedkeeping #sexualreproduction

[seedkeeping]

Water Spinach living a luscious life around the leaky water pump. Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) was introduced to me as rau muống by @dinhteresting of @vietlead, as she explained that Vietnamese soldiers during the American War would plant stem cuttings in bomb craters as they traveled to new places. The plants would root quickly and there would be fresh food to eat. Resilience. I bought these as two bunches of greens at Hung Vuong market on Washington Avenue in South Philly and rooted them in soil. Please share recipes! #gazun #raumuong #waterspinach #ipomoeaaquatica #seedkeeping #watermorningglory (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Water Spinach, again, looking elegant, looking strong. #ipomoeaaquatica #waterspinach #raumuong #lookingdelicious (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Praying Mantis on Water Spinach. #ipomoeaaquatica #raumuong #waterspinach #prayingmantis (at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) plants, flower and seeds. This plant was introduced to me as rau muống by @dinhteresting of @vietlead, as she explained that Vietnamese soldiers during the American War would plant stem cuttings in bomb craters as they traveled to new places. The plants would root quickly and there would be fresh food to eat. So powerful and resilient. I bought these as greens at Hung Vuong market on Washington Avenue in South Philly and rooted them in pots under the leaky part of the hose - they love it! You can see the flower looks like it's cousin, morning glory (and also sweet potato). These water spinach seeds (called gazun in Burmese) and several others were sent by Tri Sa and Nicole Accordino of Transplanting Traditions Community Farm (@farmtraditions) in North Carolina where Karen and Chin farmers from Burma grow traditional crops as well as foods native to their new home. Very excited about new seed pen pals! Shared these seeds already with VietLead, and will soon share with @novickurbanfarm. #gazun #raumuong #waterspinach #ipomoeaaquatica #seedpenpals #seedkeeping #watermorningglory (at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania)