Brazilian spinach Alternanthera sissoo

Over the years I have heard a lot of great things about Brazilian spinach.  Brazilian spinach is a perennial leaf vegetable that is commonly grown in the tropics.  It has many common names, including Sissoo Spinach, Samba Lettuce, Sambu Lettuce, and Poor Man's Spinach. 

I am a little confused over the taxonomy of this plant.  It carries the binomial name of Alternanthera sissoo, but is thought to be the domesticated form of Alternanthera sessilis.  

Brazilian spinach produces small uninteresting spiky white flowers that look suspiciously like khaki weed.  For some reason this vegetable never produces any seed.  

It is meant to be propagated rather simply by cuttings.  It is said to grow fast, and develop into an edible ground cover in the right conditions. 

Brazillian spinach getting large before winter

I have been looking for a spinach alternative that performs well in the heat.  True spinach (Spinacia oleracea) does not do well in the heat over summer here, yet frustratingly summertime is when we tend to eat spinach.  

Brazilian spinach is used as a warm season alternative to true spinach, and is grown in tropical places where true spinach does not cope.  

From what I am told, this plant likes heat, does not cope with frosts, it spreads outwards and forms a mound, and it is said to thrive in part shade.  This is meant to grow best in tropical and sub-tropical places, and not do so well in temperate climates such as the one I am in.

Brazilian spinach plant

A year or so ago I got a small and healthy Brazilian spinach plant.  I tried to grow this in my greenhouse and placed it where it would receive a lot of light.  It never really grew lager over summer, and then it died over winter.  The plant was certainly healthy when it arrived, so the problem must have been how I attempted to grow it.  Had it been larger once winter hit I think this possibly would have survived as it had a fair bit of protection.

This year I decided to give Brazilian spinach another try, and I got another small plant in spring.  

This was smaller than the first, but looked just as healthy.  I planted it in a large pot of soil, and this time I kept it in shade.  From there I largely forgot about it, I kept watering it but paid it little attention.  

While I was not watching, this plant put on a lot of growth.  The leaves are far larger, the stems are longer, and it is looking pretty healthy. 

The plant did not grow as much as I had hoped, but it was certainly growing.  I had not rotated the pot, so the growth was uneven.  Still, it was a lot larger than when it arrived. 

I had hoped this plant would have grown longer, and branched a bit more by now.  Perhaps this is one of those plants that needs to be harvested in order to put on more growth.  To be fair, it is a lot larger, and is growing quite well, I just hoped it would have spread a lot more than it has. 

Large crinkly edible leaves

True spinach does fine here over cooler months, and performs poorly over summer when I want to eat spinach.  I really want to grow a spinach substitute over summer, and prefer to grow somethingperennial so I don't have to bother with seedlings.  

Things commonly grown as spinach substitutes such as silverbeet don't tend to be overly substitutable, and often have too much of a distinct flavour, other things have a weird texture.  I want something that lacks any real flavour of its own.  

I have eaten Brazillian leaves raw a few times, they taste ok and weren't fibrous.  I tried them cooked once, they were much like real spinach, didn't have much taste of their own and weren't slimy or weird.  This is exactly what I was hoping for from this leaf vegetable. 

I am told that this plant is simple to grow from cuttings.  I took a small cutting, and planted this in soil in a small pot of soil in the greenhouse.  This had a lot of shade and was near the parent plant.  It did not take this cutting long before it wilted badly.  From there the cutting lost all its leaves and then died.  

I took another cutting and put it on the kitchen window sill. This looked ok for a day, then wilted badly.  Perhaps it would have performed better had I removed some of the leaves.  The leaves picked up the following day.  It kind of started to grow roots, got little bumps on the stem, then stopped.  

This cutting has been sitting in water for a few months now, the leaves are far larger, but other than that it is not doing much.  I should plant it in soil and see if it survives.

Brazil spinach cutting in water

While the photo looks dark, it does get some light here

I took another cutting in late summer and planted this in soil.  After my first failed attempt I had low hopes.  This cutting has been there for about a month, and looks much the same.  I have this cutting in a pot of soil with a tomato cutting that I am planning on over wintering.  Sometimes I group things to overwinter, then in spring I divide the survivors. 

Presumably the Brazillian spinach cutting is doing well.  I am guessing it should have died by now if it wasn't growing roots.  Then again, perhaps the soil is damp enough that it is able to survive.  Only time will tell.

I don't rotate the pot so it grew unevenly

Winter and frosts are just around the corner.  I would really like to over winter this plant so I am trying to let it grow large and not mess with it too much.  

Larger plants tend to insulate themselves and have a better chance of surviving the cold than tiny plants.  I am well outside its preferred climate, and I expect it to get damage from the cold, but really hope to keep it alive.  

Brazilian spinach is a perennial vegetable that I think would be perfect in places with milder winters.  My winters are a bit harsh, and get down to -10C most years, and I am not yet sure what my chances are of overwintering this successfully.  If I can get it through winter, I would like to grow more of it.  

If I do grow more Brazilian spinach I will try to list extra plants for sale.  Given how this does not love frosts I am guessing I would only be selling over warmer months. 

Yacon triple leaf

I have grown yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) for well over a decade, in a few different climates.  It is a great perennial vegetable. 

Yacon generally grows opposite leaves, this plant has three leaves.  It has done it for the past few years, and it returns the following year. 

Yacon leaves in sets of three

Normally, yacon leaves are arranged opposite and decussate; they are found in pairs on opposite sides of the stem and the each pair is offset 90 degrees from previous set.  On this plant, the leaves are whorled, and offset at 60 degrees from the previous set of leaves.

Extra sets of leaves like this can be a temporary thing influenced by environmental factors, or can be caused by a genetic mutation.  Given this has happened in the same plant for several years in a row, I think in this instance it is caused by a genetic mutation. 

Yacon leaves in sets of three

I assumed more leaf area would mean more photosynthesis resulting in more vigorous and productive plants.  This plant is shorter, I'm not sure if tuber production is noticeably different.  

Yacon normally has opposite leaves in sets of two

Regular yacon

This triple leaf yacon doesn't tend to flower more, or less, or earlier, or later, than regular yacon.  It doesn't seem to cope better or worse in the heat.  Other than being a little shorter, nothing really seems different at all.

I have been growing the same yacon for so many years that I feel attached to it.  Having a mutation show up is fun, and I didn't want to lose it.  

Yacon leaves in threes

Triple yacon

This year my yacon has broken dormancy and grown well.  I planned to separate my three leaf yacon and put it in a new garden bed, but none grew triple leaves this year. 

Over winter I gave away dormant yacon crowns to a few people.  I have a feeling I may have inadvertently given away my triple yacon.  

I gave yacon to a few different people, mostly to strangers who came here to buy other plants, so I have likely lost this mutation forever.  While I am a little upset over this, there are worse things I could have lost.  Hopefully it does well for its new owners, and hopefully they share it around a bit.  

Yacon drooping a little in the heat

Sometimes I sell dormant yacon crowns over winter.  When I do they will be listed on my for sale page.  I don't seem to have any triple yacon left, but I may have some regular yacon crowns for sale.  

Perennial buckwheat flowering

Perennial buckwheat (Fagopyrum cymosum complex, sometimes called Fagopyrum dibotrys) is a perennial vegetable that is sometimes used as medicine.  It is mostly grown as a leaf vegetable, or the rhizomes are eaten, or the leaves are fed to poultry and livestock, while only occasionally the seed is eaten. 

I have never seen perennial buckwheat seed, but am told it is smaller than common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) or tatrary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum).  Perennial buckwheat seed is meant to be highly nutritious, and (while this is hard to believe) studies show it to be even higher in protein than either of these annual species. 

Perennial buckwheat is also called 'golden buckwheat' or 'tall buckweat'.  I believe it gets the name golden buck wheat because in autumn the leaves take on an incredible golden yellow colour beforegoing dormant over winter.  It gets the name tall buck wheat because with support the plants can grow taller than me.  This perennial vegetable is rather impressive.  

Perennial buckwheat flowers 

Perennial buck wheat is very vigorous and productive, its leaves and rhizomes are eaten commonly in developing nations across the Himalayas.  Perennial buckwheat has been used as food for centuries, yet for some reason this is not grown or eaten in Western nations.  My perennial buckwheat seems to need a bit of water, and tends to suffer if the soil gets too dry.  Other than that it seems pretty indestructible.  

The flowers of perennial buckwheat are small, white, and produced in large numbers.  Each stalk produces flowers, and each group of flowers contains many flowers that open sequentially over a long period of time.  Each spray will have some flowers that have faded, others will currently be open, and others will still be immature buds.  

Having many flowers opening over such a long time means it provides food for beneficial insects for a very long time.  This is good for my garden.  It attracts pollinators, and it feeds other beneficial insects. 

Perennial buckwheat flowers are small and numerous

Common buckwheat is an annual plant.  These are largely self incompatible,  and usually only set seed if you have two or more genetically unique plants.  I don't know if perennial buckwheat is also self incompatible or not, but I am suspecting that it may be.

While I have a number of perennial buckwheat plants, I only have one clone of perennial buckwheat.  Every plant I have is genetically identical to all the others that I grow.  This is not ideal. 

Each stalk produces a spray containing many flowers, but so far it is reluctant to set seed in my garden.  From the hundreds, if not thousands of flowers it produces, not a single seed from my perennial buckwheat was set.  

Perhaps it needs a second clone to set seed well, perhaps it does not enjoy my conditions, perhaps it lacks the right kind of pollinators in my garden, or maybe it was just not a great year for seed set and future years will be fine.  At this stage I don't know. 

I am told it will cross with tartary buckwheat, and the resultant plants are said to display a great deal of hybrid vigor.  I grow common buckwheat, but have never seen tartary buckwheat for sale.  I know it is in the country, but can't find it for sale anywhere.  Hopefully some day I track down some and see how it grows here.  I would love to create this cross, and see how vigorous the hybrids can be.  

Perennial buckwheat leaves and flower buds

Until recently I only grew my perennial buckwheat in pots, and it always seems to want deeper soil.  This plant spreads underground.  It appears to perform better in my deeper pots, and it always tries to escape through the drainage holes.  

I wonder if I grew it in the garden if it would cope better with dry conditions and be more likely to set seed.  I am reluctant to plant it in the ground because I have heard that perennial buckwheat can be so vigorous that it is difficult to control when in the garden.  

Despite my hesitations, I am trialing growing some perennial buckwheat in the soil just outside the chicken's run.  This will get a lot of the nutrients from the chickens, plus it will be in deep soil, and hopefully this will produce strong plants.  So far the hens keep reaching through the wire and eating it, so I need to protect it a little better.  I want the chickens to eat this plant, but I don't want them to eat it to death.

I figure by planting it in soil near the chicken's run it should spread underground via rhizomes, and pop up away from the initial planting site.  Some will be eaten by the hens and provide them with nutritious feed, some will spread into the lawn and be mown, and some will hopefully be in that perfect zone where it can grow tall and potentially set seed.  

More perennial buckwheat flowers

I don't know why perennial buckwheat is so rare in Australia.  It is such a vigorous grower, and so nutritious, that it should be grown more commonly in backyards where it can add to household food security.  Perennial buckwheat leaves can be eaten as vegetables, or they can be fed to chickens, or can be used in the compost.

Hopefully when my perennial buckwheat flowers next it produces a few viable seeds.  If not, I will still enjoy this plant for the valuable leaf vegetable that it is and I will feed the leaves to my chickens to lower the feed bill.  I am told it makes a good cut flower, but I'm not sure if the flowers are pretty enough for this purpose and may leave them so they continue to feed beneficial insects. 

Perennial buckwheat is a great producer and an excellent permaculture plant.  At this stage very few places in Australia sell perennial buckwheat plants, and I hope this changes in the near future.  I am mostly experimenting with this plant to see what it can do, I have high hopes that it will act as a significant source of feed for our chickens.  If I have extra perennial buckwheat plants, I will offer try to some for sale through my for sale page.  

Perennial vegetables for sale October 2025

For sale in Australia perennial vegetables, heirloom vegetable seeds, edible herbs, organic berry plants, and a few non-edible plants and things.  Everything has been grown organically by me.  

Maintaining my old for sale page wasn't working for me, so each month I will write a new blog post with an updated list of what I have for sale that month and include a link on my old for sale page. 

Various organic tomatoes

For Sale: October 2025 

Bare Rooted Plants $5 each (unless otherwise stated): 

Skirret offsets 
Everlasting onions 
Babington leek 
Pineberry strawberry 
Virginian strawberry
Atilla alpine strawberry 
Jekkas thyme 
Spearmint 
100 yr old mint
Lavender mint 
Willow herb
Vietnamese fish mint
Vietnamese coriander
Variegated water parsley
Green water parsley (more vigorous stronger tasting version of the variegated form)
Asparagus (Variety: Purple) 
Asparagus (Variety: Precoce D'Argenteuil) 
Sweet Violet 
Water cress - well rooted cuttings
Hops (Variety: Target)
Brahmi/water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri) 
Tiger nut/chufas (Cyperus esculentus) $5 for 5 tubers
Jerusalem artichoke tubers $3 each
Duck potato $3 each
Chinese water chestnuts $3 
Spider plant (variegated, green, or reverse variegated)  $3 each
Azolla  ($3 per scoop)  

Ancient Cultures: 

Milk kefir grains  $5 

Heirloom Vegetable Seeds:  $4 packet (unless otherwise stated) 

Immali corn
Superior coriander
Giant parsley
Purple hot mustard
Purple asparagus
Tomato Zolotoe Serdtse
Tomato Tommy Toe
Tomato Reisetoimate 
Tomato Woolly Kate 
Senposai
Huacatay

Non edible things:

Aloe vera $5
String of pearls succulent - plant $5, cuttings $2
String of beans succulent (from Coober Pedy) - plant $5, cuttings  $2
Red jelly bean succulent  $5 
African violet leaf cutting (Variety: New Hampshire) $3 each
African violet leaf cutting (Variety: unnamed double light blue) $3 each

Candle mold 'skep' $10 each
Candle mold 'owl' $10 each 

Postage Prices: 

$12 for plants etc, or 
$3.50 if only buying seeds.  

I post the Monday after payment has cleared.

Jerusalem artichoke tubers

To order anything from the above list: 

Please send me an email saying what plants/seeds you would like and I will reply with prices/payment methods.  My email address will need to remove the the spaces, put @ instead of the word 'at' and . in place of the word 'dot': 

damien_beaumont at yahoo dot com dot au 

Photographs, binomial names, and descriptions of plants, and notes on how I grow them, can be found on my old for sale page.  Please note my old page has a lot of things not currently in season/not currently for sale.  The only things I have for sale this month are listed in this blog post above. 

Silverbeet

Silverbeet (Beta vulgaris) is an easy to grow leaf vegetable.  Silverbeet is also called chard, swiss chard, rainbow chard, leaf beet, perpetual spinach, and beet spinach.   

When I was a child (and in some parts of Australia today) this vegetable was mostly called 'spinach'.  Silver beet is not closely related to true spinach (Spinacia oleracea).  They are used in similar ways, but they are very different plants, they grow, taste, and look different. 

Coloured silverbeet mix

Like many leaf vegetables, silverbeet is reasonably nutritious.  It is particularly high in vitamin K.  Ten grams of raw silverbeet leaf contains the recommended daily intake of vitamin K.  

Like many vegetables, silverbeet contains some anti-nutrients, in this case it is oxalic acid.  It is not overly high in oxalic acid, and it is usually eaten cooked (heat somewhat degrades oxalic acid), so this is not a big issue.  Some people eat raw leaves in salads, given the relatively low amount of oxalic acid present in the leaves and the small amount of leaves generally eaten, this isn't an issue for most people. 

Much genetic diversity among my silverbeet

Many years ago we bought a pack of silverbeet seeds.  It was a coloured mix and the seedlings grew various coloured petioles (leaf stems).  I liked the look of the yellow ones.  For some reason the yellow ones were always less vigorous in my garden, but I like the looks of them. 

I allowed them to self seed indiscriminately, and we always had some silverbeet of various colours.  We moved house and I took some seeds with us, then I forgot about them.  A few years later I thought about growing silverbeet again and had plenty of seeds that were about ten years old.  I planted a bunch to see if they would work, figuring I could buy more seed if needed.  

Most of the seeds did nothing as they were too old, but some grew, and we have had silverbeet growing ever since.  

Not a great photo: white stem on left, green stem on right

Each year there are different colours in the garden.  A few years ago most had light green stems, I like the look of them.  

This year there are no yellow ones, but we still have red, a vibrant pink that I cannot capture the colour of in my photos, white, and light green.  The leaf is always green, some dark, others light, and over winter some turn purple/reddish green.  

  

Various stem colours

Silverbeet is often considered to be a biennial, They grow one year and they flower and die in their second year.  Given the right conditions many silverbeet plants probably are biennial.  For me some are annuals, they grow, flower, and die in under a year.  Some are indeed biennial, growing one year, then in their second year they flower and die.  Others are short lived perennials, in my garden they survive 4+ years before flowering.  

Silverbeet is the same genus and same species as beetroot, mangelwurzel, and sugar beet.  All of these plants can and will cross readily, so care needs to be taken if seed saving.  

All of these can be grown side by side without affecting the taste of each other or the colour of neighbouring plants.  Growing them next to one another is only an issue if you are allowing them to flower and are planning on collecting seed. 

Pink stems from same plant - far prettier in real life

Beetroot was selected for its large sweet and tender root, mangelwurzel was selected for larger root and leaf, sugar beet was selected for high sugar content, and silverbeet was selected for leaf production.  I find beetroot goes woody and my chickens won't eat it once it grows large, whereas my hens eat every last scrap of mangelwurzel no matter how large and old it is.  

If seed saving, all of these beets will cross pollinate readily.  The plants produce ample pollen that is spread a long distance by the wind.  

I have crossed beetroot and silverbeet a few times, the result is usually a plant with a tiny bulbous root, and produces fewer, smaller, and slightly sweeter leaves than silverbeet.  I am told that crossing silverbeet with sugar beet results in plants with large and tasty leaves.

Various red and pink silverbeet

Seed saving and breeding of silverbeet can be a little difficult and takes a lot of time and garden space.  As mentioned, individual plants can be annuals while many are perennial or biennial.  This may be influenced by environment as well as genetics.  Stress seems to induce flowering, so if you have a nice perennial plant you may be able to stress it into flowering.  Being wind pollinated means your plants may cross if your neighbours are also growing some of this species.

As you can see in the photos, my Silverbeet has a lot of genetic diversity.  I think this is a good thing and try not to create a genetic bottleneck.  Some years I see more diversity than others, this is because it has some recessive genes as well as genes that are only expressed when in the right combination.  

I have always thought about breeding something spectacular with it, but have never gotten around to it.  I tend to just cull things I dislike and allow the ones I like to flower and drop seed.  There are also some that grow in out of the way places in the garden or lawn, which I often allow to flower and seed.  

I have a few plants that have very wide petioles, these look interesting but we don't use petioles much, and my chickens are reluctant to eat these thicker stems.  I had some plants a few years ago that were twice as wide as this, they were short plants that produced little leaf and had extremely wide white petioles.  I culled them.  I probably won't allow these wide petiole silverbeet to flower.  Then again, I may leave one just to keep the diversity in the mix. 

Thick petiole vs thin petiole

I like the bright yellow ones, but they were not as productive in my garden so are slowly disappearing from my mix.  I don't have any bright yellow ones this year, but they may reappear next year.  As much as I like the looks of them, if they are less productive I won't grow them. 

I don't love the looks of white stemmed ones, I prefer the look of light green.  Presumably white is more vigorous or something as that is the most commonly seen in shops, I just don't love the look of it.  In my garden the light green ones seem pretty vigorous. 

The red ones can be very pretty, and my red ones may have some beetroot genes in their heritage.  Many of these are very productive and vigorous.  Some of these will be allowed to set seed.

This year there are some vivid pink plants that I cannot really capture in photos.  I plan to allow them to flower and set seed.  I don't have many of the vivid pink, but they seem to produce well.  I hope I get more vivid pink in future generations.  It wouldn't be overly difficult to bag them and collect self pollinated seed, but I have a feeling that I won't get around to doing that this year.  

Silverbeet grows well over winter here, and provides nutritious and large leaves that we eat as well as feeding to our chickens.  Having some greens over winter is good for the hens.  Silverbeet also grows reasonably well over summer, but needs some water to prevent wilting.  

When my current plants set seed I may collect and offer some for sale through my for sale page.  This will be a mix of colours, and it has been open pollinated, so I can't guarantee what colours you will get.  

My plants probably have some beetroot in their heritage, but are not likely to produce fat roots.  Coloured silverbeet is not rare, and is certainly not difficult to grow from seed, so if I don't have seeds you should be able to find seed for sale somewhere.  You could buy seedlings, but for the same price you will get a lot more seed with a lot more interesting colours.  Seedlings tend to sulk after transplant but pick up if cared for, and seeds grow so easily, so either is a good option to grow these.  Once you have them in the garden, it isn't too difficult to allow some to flower and set seed when the time is right and ensure a continual supply of this vegetable.  

Perennial buckwheat vs fishmint

A few years ago, I started growing a perennial vegetable called Vietnamese fish mint (Houttuynia cordata).  This perennial plant is used as a vegetable, or herb, or medicine, or grown as an ornamental, in a host of different countries. 

Fish mint is an extremely productive and vigorous plant, and borders on being indestructible, which is a great trait for a perennial vegetable to have.  Fish mint is productive, it looks pretty, and is incredibly healthy to eat, but I find the smell to be a little overpowering.  

I grew fish mint for years, and wished that there was a version of it that was not so strong smelling.  Some people love the smell of fish mint, however, I find it a bit too much. 

Fish mint on left, buckwheat on right 

Fish mint produces copious amounts of food and tolerates poor growing conditions.  I only grow it in a pot with pavers under it, otherwise I worry it may escape through the drainage holes and get into the garden.  After years of growing it like this I have never had it even come close to escaping into my yard.  

I am told that people grow this as an ornamental in the garden and regret it.  They say that spraying with weed killer removes growth above the soil line, but the plant survives and springs up again from rhizomes.  After it escapes, every time you mow your yard, or walk through your yard, it smells like fish.  

My fish mint produces flowers, and I am told it does not set viable seed.  For the first year or so I removed all of its flowers in case they set seed.  After the first year I just let it flower and hoped for the best.  

Fish mint escaping it's pot

Fish mint growing out of the drainage holes 

Not long after allowing fish mint to flower, I grew common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) from seed.  The cotyledons were rather unique, I had not seen cotyledons like them before, but it was the true leaves that concerned me.  

The true leaves of buckwheat were much the same shape as fish mint.  I worried that my fishmint may have set seed, and I was concerned that it had escaped.  Would my yard smell like fish for ever more?  Oh, the terror.  I honestly felt sick to my stomach with worry that this had gotten away from me.  

I didn't remove the seedlings at this stage, I left them to see if I was wrong and hoped I could get on top of things.  I was hopeful that I had not lost control of the fish mint because the seedlings were only in the one spot I planted buckwheat, and were nowhere near the fish mint.  Once the seedlings grew a little larger, I bruised, smelled, and tasted a leaf.  I was pretty convinced that they were not fish mint seedlings, but I still worried that maybe they didn't get their distinctive smell until older.  

The seedlings grew and rather quickly flowered.  The flowers were buckwheat and looked nothing like fish mint flowers, then it set seed that was clearly buckwheat, confirming that they were absolutely not fish mint.  Phew!  

I have been growing fish mint for years, and have never had it set viable seed.  

After growing fish mint for a few years, and reading about all of its benefits, I started to wish that there was a variety that did not smell so strong.  I considered trying to restore fertility and grow seeds and try to breed something that didn't smell as strong, but I am glad to say that I thought better of it.  I didn't want this spreading by seed through my lawn.  Not setting seed is a good trait for this vigorous plant to have, I don't want this plant to set seed. 

Perennial buckwheat - Fagopyrum cymosum

A few years later I learned of a perennial vegetable called perennial buckwheat (Fagopyrum cymosum complex, also called Fagopyrum dibotrys), this also goes by the common names "Golden Buckwheat" and "Tall Buckwheat".  This perennial vegetable sounds a lot like fish mint, but it has no smell.

Even though these plants are not even distantly related, my wish for fish mint that is not strong smelling has basically come true.  Perennial buckwheat does all the things I wanted fish mint to do (and more), and has none of the down sides.  

While perennial buckwheat and fish mint are not closely related the plants look superficially very similar to one another.  They are both perennial plants that are very vigorous and highly productive.  They both cope with hard frosts, and survive poor soils (they survive poor soil, they are vastly more productive in good soil).  They both spread vigorously by underground rhizomes.  They both have nice looking heart shaped leaves.  They have both been eaten as leaf vegetables and their rhizomes used as folk medicine by people for centuries.  They both have a lot of proven medicinal properties (for people as well as poultry and livestock) that have been reported through many peer reviewed papers.  

Perennial buckwheat plants

In my garden, perennial buckwheat grows much taller than fish mint.  In autumn, perennial buckwheat leaves become a brilliant golden yellow colour, whereas fish mint just grows until getting burnt down by frosts.  The flowers of fish mint are visited by pollinator insects only there is little else flowering, while perennial buckwheat flowers seem to be adored by beneficial pollinators and appear to be one of the preferred sources of nectar and pollen.  Perennial buckwheat leaves are high in rutin, and high in protein.  

I have not read anything about how much fish mint is safe to consume.  I think the smell would stop me eating it long before I ran into trouble.  Perennial buckwheat leaves (much like most common vegetables) have some levels of anti-nutrients, even so peer reviewed papers prove that it is safe to eat perennial buckwheat every day. 

Vietnamese fish mint

If you are into Asian cuisine, you should probably grow fish mint.  It can be used like a vegan fish sauce.  I have plenty of these plants, they are very vigorous.  

If you are into growing food, or concerned about food security, growing perennial buckwheat is a must.  I am not sure why it is so uncommon in Australia, it seems to only be common in developing nations where growing food really counts.  At this stage I am still trialing it under different conditions, and seeing what it can do.  

At some point if I have any spare plants I will list perennial buckwheat plants for sale, along with fish mint, on my perennial vegetables for sale page.

How to Grow Watercress the Easy Way

I have been growing watercress (Nasturtium officinale) for a little over ten years, I wrote a blog post on it in 2014.  It is a simple plant to grow, and people seem to rave about watercress, yet for some reason people are told it is difficult to grow.  I am happy to say this is not the case, and watercress can be grown and be productive in very little space. 

Some people assume there is some connection between watercress and nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus).  Even though the Genus of one and the common name of the other are the same, the two are not closely related in any way.  Garden nasturtium is native to Peru, while watercress is native to Eurasia.  Apparently the garden nasturtium got its common name because it produces an oil that is meant to be similar to watercress.  

Occasionally people contact me to ask about growing water cress, so I thought I would write another post explaining how I grow it.  This may not be the best way to grow it, but it is simple and very cheap.  It is really simple to grow watercress.  

Watercress is one of those vegetables which really needs to be eaten soon after harvest.  I never see it for sale in markets, but have been told some places sell it and it will last a day or two in the fridge.  For this reason, if you want to eat it you really should grow it yourself.  

I am told that watercress is a perennial vegetable.  It self seeds so readily for me that even after all these years of growing it I am not yet sure if it is perennial, or if it is an annual and there are always new self seeded plants.  It doesn't really matter if it is perennial or not, once you plant it you can always have some growing if you look after it.  

Watercress

When I tried to look up how other people grow watercress, I found many pictures of people who had sprouted the seeds in an egg shell with a pair of scissors in hand, or people who had ponds or elaborate hydroponic set ups.  This is of no use to someone who wants to grow enough in their backyard to eat (not just an egg shell's worth of sprouts) and/or who lacks a pond or aquaponics set up.  Luckily, watercress really is simple to grow.  

I have grown watercress in several climates, and have found watercress really simple and forgiving.  I tend not to eat it much because I am not overly fond of the taste, so I don't usually grow much of it.  The way I grow it, however, is cheap, and easy, and could easily be ramped up to produce a lot more of it if you were really fond of the taste.  

The first thing to know about watercress, is that it needs soil to survive, not just water.  Like basically any plant you can grow it hydroponically, or using aquaponics, but you can't grow it in a glass of water and expect good results.

The second thing you need to know is watercress needs sunlight (or a grow light).  It will not grow in water without light.  

Watercress needs water, and can grow as an emergent plant with the roots submerged and the leaves in the air, but it copes surprisingly well in soil that is not particularly wet.  Sometimes the seeds fall and plants grow in the lawn among the grasses and weeds.  Not a problem, it doesn't tend to become a weed as it will die in the lawn over summer when it gets too dry for grass to perform well.  As an added bonus, if I ever had a large enough patch of this spring up by itself I can always pull it out and feed it to my chickens.  

Watercress - note the many roots on the stem

Watercress seems to grow better in cooler weather, but does not love frost and thick ice.  It seems to survive being frozen here, but also seems to get a little damaged by frosts.  If I move it under a tree where it in in a frost shadow the water freezes but there is no frost on the leaves and it seems to do fine.

It suffers a little in the heat of summer unless it is given some shade.  Giving some shade in summer also seems to make the leaves grow a little larger.  I often grow azolla on the water surface, this shades the watercress roots, provides a living mulch, and seems to help watercress perform better over summer. 

The flowers of watercress are similar to any brassica in that they are adored by pollinator insects.  The flowers have a slight fragrance, and are edible.  They smell slightly sweet, and (probably due to all the nectar) taste a little sweet too.  Many people prefer eating the flowers to the leaves. 

Watercress is simple to grow from seed.  The seeds are tiny but simple to germinate, and it takes some time before the plants are large enough to harvest.  Sprinkle some seed on damp soil, keep it watered, make sure it has some sunlight, and it will grow well.  It takes a while for the seedlings to grow, and they are tiny for what feels like a long time, but you end up with a lot of plants. 

Watercress is easier and much faster to grow from cuttings.  Watercress stems grow roots readily when in or near water.  You can cut a stem into short lengths, and either plant them in damp soil, or put the ends in water (with the tops out of the water), and they grow easily.  

There is no trick to this, they don't need a humidity dome, they don't need rooting hormones, often they will all grow.  Sometimes the stems will already have roots before you cut them off.  Once they have some roots, you can just plant them in damp soil and they will grow well.

Watercress seedlings grew in this pot buy themselves

The main issue I have noticed with growing water cress (other than needing to provide water, soil, and light) is cabbage white butterflies.  These will lay eggs on watercress, and the caterpillars will eat out the plants.  I have also had watercress eaten out by water snails, and the plants are sometimes inundated by aphids, but issues with water snails or aphids seem to be intermittent and only strike once or twice per year at most.  

For me the cabbage white butterflies were the biggest issue.  I am told that cabbage white butterflies are not a big issue, but I found the opposite to be true in my garden for the first few years.  For a while my watercress was growing well only to be eaten to death in a day or two by these caterpillars.  

Then a tiny parasitoid wasp (Pteromalus puparum) appeared in my garden.  This tiny wasp lays eggs into the cabbage white pupa, and eats them out from the inside.  They reduced the numbers of cabbage white butterflies in this area.  

While these parasitoid wasps will never eradicate the cabbage white butterflies, the have lowered the numbers enough for them not to kill off my watercress.  Now the cabbage white butterflies are not a big issue for me.    

You could grow watercress on the side of a pond.  You could grow watercress in hydroponics or aquaponics or even barrelponics.  I am happy to say that you don't need any of this to grow watercress well long term.  It grows well if it is in a pot of soil that is kept moist.  I find it is easier if I grow watercress in soil in something with no drainage.  The bottom of a plastic milk bottle works well, it is a good size, plus it is free.

Watercress, brahmi, and duckpotato

I cut the bottom off a plastic milk bottle, fill it 3/4 with soil, water well, and plant watercress into this.  

As long as the leaves are in the air it grows well, if totally submerged it will rot and die.  You can plant cuttings which grow faster, or seeds which take longer to reach full size.  Either way it is very simple to grow watercress in a milk bottle like this.

If growing from seed, I make sure that the soil surface is not underwater.  Once the seedlings grow I can fill the milk bottle with water so long as they have some leaves that are not submerged.

The milk bottle in the pictures below was filled with soil and leaf litter that was dug out of the drain in front of our garage.  There is little point buying potting mix, drain soil (or leaf litter cleaned out from the house gutters) is free, and it is full of nutrients.  

Drain soil and leaf litter will have weed seeds, these will germinate, but they won't survive long.  Once the cutting is taller I will fill the container to the top with water, most weeds do not like being under water constantly.  The leaf littler and other stuff in there will break down over time and help feed the watercress over a long time.  This sort of works like a slow release fertiliser.  I often grow azolla on the water surface, this collects nitrogen from the atmosphere and releases it to the watercress once it starts to break down.  

Milk bottle with soil

Watercress cutting with roots

Cutting planted into soil and given water

Once it grows larger I will add more water

It does not take long for the watercress to spread, and for the milk bottle to be brimming with watercress.  I often put azolla and duckweed on the water surface, these act as living mulch and help the tiny ecosystem to be healthier.  They also prevent mosquito larvae from being able to pupate.  

Sometimes I grow watercress in the milk bottle by itself, other times I grow water cress mixed with other water loving things.  Below you can see the same milk bottle from above after a few months growth.  It has some brahmi in with the water cress, and plenty of azolla.  As you can see, the tiny ecosystem is relatively healthy and this milk bottle is productive.

Watercress, brahmi and azolla

I often just put soil directly into the milk bottle, but you can also put soil in a small pot, and put the pot in the milk bottle.  It doesn't make a lot of difference to how the watercress performs.

Milk bottles don't last forever as they degrade and get brittle in sunlight.  Presumably they are food safe, and if not used for planting things into they would be thrown out.  I have some that have lasted 4 years and look like they have a few more years left in them, others I have moved often and handled roughly, and they only lasted 2 years.  

These milk bottles were something I already had and were going to be thrown out anyway, so reusing them to grow watercress, Chinese water chestnuts, and other aquatic edible vegetables is a good thing.  They are also free.  

Growing watercress in a milk bottle

There are a few improved varieties of watercress, but I don't know if any are available in Australia.  All of the varieties I have grown seem much the same and I would not be able to tell them apart if not labelled.  

I once considered breeding an improved variety of watercress, but never got around to starting this breeding project.  This plant is so simple to grow that I don't know if improved varieties are even needed.  I am also not blown away by the taste, so there is little incentive for me to put the effort into improving this already useful and productive vegetable.  

I sell small plants or well rooted cuttings through my for sale page.  I plan to collect seed and also sell seed packets.  You only need one plant to get going, from there you can take cuttings or plant out some seed and expand your patch as much as you want.