Melons are a great way to cool down during the hot summer days. But if eating just plain melons is too boring for you, maybe try something different.

Here I have a good mix of sweet corn, cantaloupes, and black beans. I don’t know what to call it, so I’ll simply call it “Coconut Melons”. This is a popular Asian dessert. In Lao and Thai they call it, “nam wan” which translates to sweet water.

It’s a great way to enjoy what’s in season too. It takes a while to whip up, but it’s worth it and everything is made with really good ingredients. Except for maybe the sugar. Try substituting with honey or agave syrup.

Directions:

Soak 1 cup of black beans overnight. Rinse and cook in a pot until it’s soft. Once it’s cooked you then add 1/2 can of coconut milk and some sugar to your liking. I don’t like it too sweet as the melons and corn are sweet enough.

While that’s cooking, you can cut up 1/2 ripe cantaloupes into small pieces.

Steam about 4 ears of corn and then remove the corn kernel by trimming the corn. You can layer the melon, corn, then beans or just toss it all together.

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I first learned about jaboticaba from The Fruit Hunter. It’s probably one of the most interesting, if not unusual fruit I’ve ever knew is in existence.

Brazil would be a fruit lovers dream destination as it’s known for it’s many variety of unique fruits, especially the Acai berries. Jaboticaba is probably loaded with vitamins just by looking at the dark purplish color of the skin.

This reminds me of modern art where someone decides to place each giant grape along the tree trunks. Image source: Wikipedia/Jabuticaba

According to the California Rare Fruit Growers, this fruit is from the same species as camu-camu. It can also be grown successfully from Florida to Hawaii. Some are also grown in southern California and also as far north as the San Jose and San Francisco Bay areas. The plant grows well as a container specimen.

The fruit is described as tasting very similar to Muscadine grapes. But the skin contains tannin so it makes your lips pucker. The real treat is probably the sweet flesh. It’s described as being delicious eaten out-of-hand. And it can be made into jellies, jams and wine.

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This is my summer flower surprise - a blooming Moss Rose. I had thought they were history after last winter’s freeze. But I was wrong!

M first spotted the young mysterious plant in the Meyer Improved Lemon tree pot. We wondered whether we should pull it out since it’s probably weed. Then we both decided to keep it and just see what kind of plant it would become. And I’m glad we kept it, as it made for a nice surprise.

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These are Mexican Evening Primrose. I planted the seeds last year in my mom’s flower garden. And they finally starting to bloom this summer.

Since it took so long to bloom, I had thought the seeds were dud and I got weeds instead. Especially since the plant just kept on growing leaves for most of the year.

During the spring, I had wanted to pull the whole thing out because I didn’t see any flowers. And I also wanted to make room to grow other flowers too. But I’m glad I didn’t. The Mexican Evening Primrose are especially nice late in the evening when the breeze comes by and it starts to sway.

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My beauty product review today is St. Ives “Warming Scrub”.

I’ve been away from St. Ives for a while now. Mainly it was due to the strong scents.

But this new facial scrub actually has a very light scent. It is also made of good ingredients including sunflower and jojoba oils (the same vegetable oils I used for my soaps!).

I also like how the scrubs heats up just a little once you start applying to your face. It could be scary to those that have never tried such a product before. But don’t worry, it’s safe.

The extra heat is suppose to help relax and mildly cleanse the pores of clogging dirt and oil. I think it just feels like a nice facial, especially with summer skin.

The best part of this particular product:

100% natural exfoliants (sugar & silica or sand)
Formulated without parabens and phthalates
Vegan and not tested on animals

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Once I found out about permaculture, I’m thinking it’s the new way to garden. So when I came upon The Green Barn Nursery from Quebec and saw their list of permaculture plants, I was thrilled.

If anyone would like to know what they should grow in their permaculture garden, how about giving these plants a try. They are easy to grow, good for the soil, and also have edible fruits/food/herbal usage that are packed with nutrients.

The following description of plants are excerpts from The Green Barn Nursery.

This Rogosa Rose is also known as Dart’s Dash and makes nice shrub roses. Photo/Illustration: Jennifer Benner of Fine Gardening.

Rogosa Roses: These are rugged, disease-resistant, self-rooted roses that are able to easily withstand harsh climates. White, pink or red flowers make a colorful fragrant hedge and nest area for thicket birds. Rugosa roses produce the largest edible rosehip which is be used to make jams, jellies, teas, etc. Vitamin C content is 10 times that of an orange. Very hardy and disease resistant.

Silver Absinthe: Ideal for hedges. Beautiful silver foliage shrub with intoxicating, aromatic smell. Both the scented leaves and flowers have a wide range of uses; salads, potpourris, dried flowers, repelling moths, attracting wildlife/bees, flavouring vermouth and medicinally for stimulating appetite, aiding digestion, expelling worms. Great for hedges as it will survive drought and total neglect.

Willows: Willows are usually sold as fast growing ornamental that take poor wet soils. But they are also very useful plants for visual barriers, windbreaks, beaver food, farm furniture/baskets, stakes, pussy willow flowers, etc.

Photo of hawthorn berries via Flickr.

Hawberry or Hawthorns (Thorn Apple): Thorny tree produces masses of white flowers. The sweet red hawberries that are great fresh or in jellies, jams and preserves. Berries are a heart tonic – by improving blood flow to coronary arteries and regulating heart rhythm. Absolutely loved by wild grouse and other large game birds! Hawthorn berries are highly recommended for tough cold areas. Great barrier plant.

“These trees don’t require pruning as die-back is rare for any reason & it takes care of itself.” - Hawberry grower.

Coffee Berry: This indigenous tree is named for its dark brown beans which can be dried, roasted and then ground into a healthy coffee substitute (15 m/Z3). Indians even ate the roasted beans. Outstanding ornamental with its fern-like foliage (pink to olive-green) and reddish brown stripes. Tolerates summer heat, winter cold and pollution. It fertilizes your soil and the tree pods are used medicinally. These majestic trees are now becoming extinct (too many cut for hardwood lumber).

Bamboo: Hardy bamboo will grow in northern climates. Its young shoots are edible and the canes have a wide variety of uses from furniture to flutes.

And if you already have these plants in your garden, then you are already on your way to joining the world of permaculture!

Note: Rugosa roses are listed as an invasive plant in some areas, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington.

For more info, check out The Green Barn Nursery here. I only wished they had more photos along with the description of the plants.

There is good news coming from the world of endangered species. Last spring, two rare Southeast Asian clouded leopards were born at the Jardin des Plantes park in Paris, France.

It’s July and the zoo is happy to introduce Pati and Jaya.

The cubs were born on May 14th, but official birth announcements were not made until the zoo was sure the mother and babies were in good health.

I love this cute photo of the cubs.  The one on the bottom looks pretty tired from all the attention.  Photo from AP News/NPR.

Clouded leopards are found in parts of China and South East Asia. It is hard to estimate how many there are in the wild because they are reclusive animals.

They are threaten by poachers that are after the leopard’s skin and fur. They are also hunted for medicinal uses too. These are some of the things I can’t believe people are still doing to animals.

On the bright side, clouded leopards have been born successfully in the U.S. too. Last summer, two other Clouded leopard cubs were also born into The Smithsonian National Zoo. The zoo is trying to preserve the species, but has not been successful mating the animals. It’s been nearly two decades since a birth at the zoo.

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Water spinach goes by many names. Including Chinese water spinach, Chinese morning glory, and bindweed. In Singapore it’s called “water convolvulus”, a bit of a tongue twister. In Lao and Thai it’s called “Pak Bong”. The scientific name is Ipomoea aquatica.

Water spinach grows well emerged in water and also likes to live on land in wet to moist beds. They grow as a trailing plant. This photo shows kids hanging from water spinach.

Photo from Chinese Vegetable Seeds, UK.

Water spinach has always been one of my favorite Asian vegetables. Water spinach is rich in iron and provides a good source of vitamin A and dietary fiber.

They are easy to eat as they are not bitter. The hallow stems are crunchy making it perfect for sautéed in a light cooking oil. But it’s also good eaten raw as a side dish with other main dishes.

Ponds of water spinach during the summer is something neat to see as they start to have white morning glory like flowers.

Water spinach are now available at most Asian market. The leaves are dark green and shaped like arrow heads. They are sold in huge bunches either by the weight or individually.

I’ve heard that the local water spinach farmers use too much pesticides. And this makes me think twice about buying them unless I know where it comes from. So it’s probably best to try to grow your own water spinach.

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If there was a way to farm or garden without having to weed, prune, water, use fertilizer or pestides would we do it? The answer would seem to be 100% YES! But unfortunately it’s not something we are used to hearing or think is remotely possible.

Welcome to the world of permaculture. It is defined as “permanent agriculture”- where the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. Or simply stated as farming along with Mother Nature alone.

Masanobu Fukuoka (February 2, 1913 – August 16, 2008) is a pioneer in the world of permaculture. He has written numerous books on the subject, starting with The One-Straw Revolution.

Abundant Rice field growing in Japan. Photo by Kjeld Duits. Duits has written a great article about Fukuoka: Farmer- Philosopher.

Here is a little more info about Fukuoka:

“At age 25, he began to doubt the wisdom of modern agricultural science. He eventually quit his job as a research scientist, and returned to his family’s farm on the island of Shikoku in Southern Japan to grow organic mikans. From that point on he devoted his life to developing a unique small scale organic farming system that does not require weeding, pesticide or fertilizer applications, or tilling.”

He is also considered to be a philosopher as well. Definitely someone I wished I had heard about sooner.

Bill Mollison is another pioneer of permaculture. Declared as “Ecologist of the Century” in Australia. Here is some info I’ve found about him from an interview with Seeds of Change.

“Permaculture is nothing less than a “sustainable earth-care system” capable of providing our food, energy, shelter, and other needs while conserving the world’s resources.”

He advocates local food production and regional self reliance.

Another amazing farmer to note in the world of permaculture is Sepp Holzer of Austria. Holzer’s farm high up in the Austrian mountains is a very unlikely place to be farming. But he’s been doing it successfully for the past few decades.

His farm includes forest gardens, terraces, and ponds. There are fruit orchards, including fruits you can’t imagine would grow in such high altitudes. There are also many garden variety vegetables that could feed a whole village. Holzer’s method of gardening is to throw seeds everywhere and just let them grow. Holzer believes the plants are beneficial to each other as well as the soil. It’s a really interesting concept that still amazes me.

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These are not green olives, they are young jujubes (pronounced ju-ju-bee). Once the fruits ripen between August and September, they turn dark red or maroon in color. And when they are really ripen, they become wrinkly and super sweet.

This small tree grows straight up and are surrounded by long branches. The branches are filled with fruits that make them droop, almost like a Weeping Willow.

Jujubes are popular in Asia. They are also referred to as Chinese date or red date. In Lao it’s called, “mak ka-tun”.

The taste would best be described as a sweet and crisp, much like a good apple.

The only part I don’t like is the skin can be tough and tickles my throat. Therefore, not so comfortable to eat. But that’s a personal thing as other people may not even noticed.

Dried ripe jujubes are commonly used in Chinese herbal medicines. They are usually boiled (simmer) along with medicinal mushrooms for hours at a time.

I have seen a mature jujube tree last summer at the International Fruit Orchard. They can get really big and must be difficult to harvest since the fruits are so small.

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