Otherwise known as seaberry, or sea buckthorn, this plant is useful for many purposes and grows well in a variety of weather and soil types. Not only does this plant produce nutritious berries which are quickly becoming popular as a sports drink ingredient and seed oil which is already popular in areas where it is indigenous, it is also useful for mitigating erosion and for improving soils that have high salt content and/or poor nutrient content.
Wild varieties have a tendency to sucker. Cultivated varieties produce higher quantities of better quality berries and generally do not sucker.
Our interest in this plant is not for it's production of berries. We intend to produce a male only strain of this plant for decorative purposes. Our current experiments show this plant to have decorative qualities as well as drought resistance, making it an excellent candidate for cultivation as a landscape plant in California.
Male only plants are only capable of reproducing via runner and are genetically unable to produce berries, so that the plants could be called, berryless seaberry plants. They are also an excellent livestock fodder that grows under near-desert conditions. Plants of this type could be capable of mitigating chemically polluted environments by locking up minerals in the soil, reducing long-term run-off into local water sources and gradually producing top-soil. The dense foliage that is produced on these salt-tolerant plants is useful in many different ways.
Additionally, seaberry is a nitrogen fixating plant, increasing the fertility of the soil with symbiotic bacteria that make nitrogen more available to plants.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Moringa Oleifera
Moringa is a crop plant that is grown throughout the world, especially in impoverished tropical areas.
It is a tropical tree which has the capability of being grown as an annual forage crop in many parts of the world outside of tropical areas. Because it is an emerging crop, claims about the cultivation of this plant vary wildly, but our experiments show that they bear truth.
Moringa is capable of producing at high densities and is extremely nutritious. As such, it has potential as a forage crop for livestock including dairy cattle, where we expect a %40 increase in output with a %50 decrease in costs. Those are some pretty extreme numbers, even if they are based on a few estimations and long-term development of markets that do not currently exist.
Although we have experimented with Moringa Oleifera from a variety of sources around the world, our preference is for PKM1 moringa, sourced from one of the individuals who pioneered it's development as an annual crop, capable of producing seed pods within a single year in many areas.
Moringa is capable of producing over 200 tons of biomass per acre. Approximately %30 of that is useful as livestock feed which means intensive cultivation is capapble of producing 60 tons of feed per acre and 140 tons of additional, useful biomass. Those are some pretty impressive numbers considering alfalfa is only capable of producing 11 tons per acre.
My goal is to produce Moringa Oleifera for livestock usage and facilitate the research and development of Moringa in actual usage for production of animal based proteins.
It is a tropical tree which has the capability of being grown as an annual forage crop in many parts of the world outside of tropical areas. Because it is an emerging crop, claims about the cultivation of this plant vary wildly, but our experiments show that they bear truth.
Moringa is capable of producing at high densities and is extremely nutritious. As such, it has potential as a forage crop for livestock including dairy cattle, where we expect a %40 increase in output with a %50 decrease in costs. Those are some pretty extreme numbers, even if they are based on a few estimations and long-term development of markets that do not currently exist.
Although we have experimented with Moringa Oleifera from a variety of sources around the world, our preference is for PKM1 moringa, sourced from one of the individuals who pioneered it's development as an annual crop, capable of producing seed pods within a single year in many areas.
Moringa is capable of producing over 200 tons of biomass per acre. Approximately %30 of that is useful as livestock feed which means intensive cultivation is capapble of producing 60 tons of feed per acre and 140 tons of additional, useful biomass. Those are some pretty impressive numbers considering alfalfa is only capable of producing 11 tons per acre.
My goal is to produce Moringa Oleifera for livestock usage and facilitate the research and development of Moringa in actual usage for production of animal based proteins.
Domesticated vs. Wild Goji
Goji berries seem to be everywhere these days in the fancier markets and in the health food stores. They're putting them in energy bars and fancy $5 sports drinks. They provide a nice deep red color and are supposed to contain a high ratio of plant based protein as well as other nutrients like beta-carotene that are important for health and wellness.
Here at Silverleaf, we are experimenting with two different types. Our research indicates that these two varieties are known as Lycium barbarum, or Ninxia goji, and Lycium chinense which is a wilder plant, called chinese boxthorn and is grown for it's foliage as well as for the bright red berries which adorn both types of plants. We will refer to Lycium barbarum as goji and Lycium chinense as boxthorn.
Goji (domesticated)
Goji is grown commercially in the Ninxia region and in the surrounding area for it's berries and has proven effective at reducing run-off and erosion in these areas. It is a highly domesticated plant and we purchased our genetic material from a vendor who called it the supergrade variety, most likely due to it's ability to produce higher quantities of berries that are capable of achieving the highest grade for goji of the same name.
The domesticated variety was developed in the 70's in order to produce fruit which was more useful commercially. The result is a plant which has proven to be an amazing plant which is capable of producing a wonderful product with minimal inputs and has proven useful at mitigating erosion in degraded soils.
Boxthorn (wild)
Also known as wild goji, Chinese Boxthorn is a plant which survives in the wild, both throughout China and here in the Americas wherever Chinese immigrants lived and worked over the past several hundred years. The leaves are wider then the commercial varieties of goji and the fruit is softer, with a 'more interesting' kind of flavor.
Wild boxthorn is a varied type of plant that grows all over the world in various forms, including the US, both imported varieties and a variety in the southeast, known as The Christmas Berry. Perhaps because the berries tend to remain on the vine until well into Christmas in North Carolina, where it is native.
This plant is also the Fructus Lycii that is spoken of in the ancient chinese medicinal texts, although most of what is currently sold in asian markets as Fructus Lycii is actually the commercial variety of goji berry and not this heirloom type of variety. The leaves, flowers and even the root of this plant are used in traditional medicine.
Both
Goji plants are capable of surviving extreme drought, both because of their ability to send down roots deep into the soil and because of their small leaves, which will progressively die back when water becomes scarce, protecting the parent plant's water supply.
Our experiments show that Goji is capable of growing in complete shade and even tends to thrive without direct sunlight. It also makes an excellent houseplant.
Goji is being used currently all over the entire world to fight back against desertification and to reclaim arid soils. Goji can be an effective food source under a great variety of conditions. Actual nutritious content of goji berries varies greatly depending on the growing techniques used and the quality of soil. Goji berries are delicious dried, or as they are currently being produced in eastern europe, as jams and jellies.
Here at Silverleaf, we are experimenting with two different types. Our research indicates that these two varieties are known as Lycium barbarum, or Ninxia goji, and Lycium chinense which is a wilder plant, called chinese boxthorn and is grown for it's foliage as well as for the bright red berries which adorn both types of plants. We will refer to Lycium barbarum as goji and Lycium chinense as boxthorn.
Goji (domesticated)
Goji is grown commercially in the Ninxia region and in the surrounding area for it's berries and has proven effective at reducing run-off and erosion in these areas. It is a highly domesticated plant and we purchased our genetic material from a vendor who called it the supergrade variety, most likely due to it's ability to produce higher quantities of berries that are capable of achieving the highest grade for goji of the same name.
The domesticated variety was developed in the 70's in order to produce fruit which was more useful commercially. The result is a plant which has proven to be an amazing plant which is capable of producing a wonderful product with minimal inputs and has proven useful at mitigating erosion in degraded soils.
Boxthorn (wild)
Also known as wild goji, Chinese Boxthorn is a plant which survives in the wild, both throughout China and here in the Americas wherever Chinese immigrants lived and worked over the past several hundred years. The leaves are wider then the commercial varieties of goji and the fruit is softer, with a 'more interesting' kind of flavor.
Wild boxthorn is a varied type of plant that grows all over the world in various forms, including the US, both imported varieties and a variety in the southeast, known as The Christmas Berry. Perhaps because the berries tend to remain on the vine until well into Christmas in North Carolina, where it is native.
This plant is also the Fructus Lycii that is spoken of in the ancient chinese medicinal texts, although most of what is currently sold in asian markets as Fructus Lycii is actually the commercial variety of goji berry and not this heirloom type of variety. The leaves, flowers and even the root of this plant are used in traditional medicine.
Both
Goji plants are capable of surviving extreme drought, both because of their ability to send down roots deep into the soil and because of their small leaves, which will progressively die back when water becomes scarce, protecting the parent plant's water supply.
Our experiments show that Goji is capable of growing in complete shade and even tends to thrive without direct sunlight. It also makes an excellent houseplant.
Goji is being used currently all over the entire world to fight back against desertification and to reclaim arid soils. Goji can be an effective food source under a great variety of conditions. Actual nutritious content of goji berries varies greatly depending on the growing techniques used and the quality of soil. Goji berries are delicious dried, or as they are currently being produced in eastern europe, as jams and jellies.
Yomogi
Yomogi, or japanese mugwort is a very hardy plant. It tolerates drought and has attractive green foliage with a fuzzy underside. It tolerates all exposures from full shade to full sun and actually appears to be able to thrive under those various conditions assuming nutritious and well-drained soil.
The flavor is woodsy and clean, and is reminiscent of rosemary mixed with wormwood (slightly bitter).
We have had a variety of foliage types, from broad leafed with spiky boarders to almost completely lanceolate.
It grows readily from cuttings and spreads via rhizome. As such it grows similarly to peppermint, taking over an area where it is planted to the exclusion of less competitive plants. It's decorative usefulness is limited by this aggressive behavior, although it can make a striking addition to your landscape if contained by a deep border or grown in a large container.
One thing is for sure, it will survive where other plants perish and it makes a excellent pot-herb, cutting through heavy/greasy flavors with a clean/sprucy sharpness that refreshes. It is a member of the artemisia family and as such should not be used excessively or for long durations of time due to the possibility of thujone poisoning, which effects the liver. To the best of my knowledge, no studies exist related to the presence of thujone in yomogi.
References:
The flavor is woodsy and clean, and is reminiscent of rosemary mixed with wormwood (slightly bitter).
We have had a variety of foliage types, from broad leafed with spiky boarders to almost completely lanceolate.
It grows readily from cuttings and spreads via rhizome. As such it grows similarly to peppermint, taking over an area where it is planted to the exclusion of less competitive plants. It's decorative usefulness is limited by this aggressive behavior, although it can make a striking addition to your landscape if contained by a deep border or grown in a large container.
One thing is for sure, it will survive where other plants perish and it makes a excellent pot-herb, cutting through heavy/greasy flavors with a clean/sprucy sharpness that refreshes. It is a member of the artemisia family and as such should not be used excessively or for long durations of time due to the possibility of thujone poisoning, which effects the liver. To the best of my knowledge, no studies exist related to the presence of thujone in yomogi.
References:
- yomogi seeds at kitazawa seeds
- kusa mochi - a rice dish that uses yomogi
- recipe for kusa mochi and other yomogi info
- yomogi discussion - maybe it can help with cancer, diabetes, obesity etc.
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