Spekboom for dinner?

[killzone]

Ok i chowed a few leaves. Taste bloody awesome, like natures jelly tots...

Not.

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I really laughed out loud now !!!

I think it's still tastier than Chips made from Pumpkin and Beetroot.... I almost puked !!!

Thanks for the informative thread.

[killzone]

[NIBOR]

Geuss mine needs to ripen a bit more..

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[killzone]

[treeman]

Spekboom seems to take better in the shade and a decent piece lying on its side, rubbed a bit into the soil always ends up growing. I have grown them from almost leaves in this position. For aviaries I cut large branch's off and insert about 6 inch's into ground and water only after ground dries - water, allow too dry out water a day or two later. The dry spells seem to promote root growth. The spekboom is a wonderful aviary plant as most birds eat parts of it at some stage or another of leaf development.
For reasons I have not yet worked out birds use the wet plant to bath, rubbing against, something I have not seen with other plants. Perhaps the leaves have some kind of repellent on them.

Have you considered the reason for different plants tasting different perhaps to be related to the term "soet velt and suur velt" ?. The Specboom is a storage plant, so it will inherently store the taste of soil it is in, its diet so to say like Karoo Lamb.

I have eaten it and its always a surprise which taste you will get, I prefer to think of packing food before going into bush and having to resort to Vegan bacon.

[NIBOR]

I have noted today that some branches the leaves have been stripped leaving bare branches. Something is chowing it. And its not me.

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[Againstthegrains]

Brilliant thread. The fuss about growing it, is all about its excellent ability to sequester CO2. It grows best in full sun, and doesn't need much care once it gets going.

Where it occurs naturally, the indigenous game tend to just graze the tops (elephant/ kudu etc) so the plant can keep providing food. Goats graze it down to stumps and destroy the plants completely. They take a long time to recover once they get to that stage. If you have a farm where it occurs naturally, it is wise to protect it, as one day it may save your bacon

[Controller]

Thanks for all the great info. Definitely keen to find out what other plants are worth growing in the garden for food and medical needs (not referring to weed).