Tag: edible

Time to Harvest the Roselle Hibiscus For Tea

This year I grew a few Roselle Hibiscus bushes to collect the pods and make tea. Ants are always a problem, but I found an easy solution.

Last week I began cutting off the larger roselle hibiscus pods. Once they flower, the pod, or calyx, gets big with the seed pod inside. The red outer petals are ready to use.

Roselle stem with flowers and calyxes

This year only two large Roselle hibiscus plants were growing in the ground. I learned my lesson after the first year when I had way too many big, bushy roselle plants.

One plant would be plenty for me, but I guess I planted two to be on the safe side. I like to have the petals to make tea.

This hibiscus variety is not the same as the hibiscus that flowers and becomes a big bush here in Florida. The Roselle has flowers, that last about a day, but the pods that come after are what we want.

Orange hibiscus
Decorative hibiscus (not edible)
double orangea hibiscus
Hibiscus flower – no pods form on this one

Dealing With the Ants – No Sprays Needed

Ants are drawn to the pods. If I wait too long there will also be white mealybugs inside the petals also. This year I harvested the largest calyxes (or pods, as I call them) in early October. Many large pods had already formed, but lots of smaller ones were still coming.

I soaked all the harvested pods in jars of water outdoors. This either killed the ants, or caused them to crawl out and leave the pods. By the way, these were not biting ants.

After a bit of a wait, I drained the pods and began to peel off the red petals. All the ants were gone. I found only one mealybug, so I think harvesting early helps with that.

Red roselle hibiscus pods in glass jars filled with water.
Ant removal
Roselle pods drained and ready to peel
Drained and ready to peel
Roselle pods peeled
Peeling

Once the petals were all removed, the remaining green pods went into the compost. I rinsed and dried the red petals and stored them in the freezer. I’ll take them out to use when making tea.

Simple Tea

All I do is boil water and let the petals soak in it for 10-15 minutes. Sometimes I make an herbal tea and simmer the roselle along with Moringa leaves, Maypop, rosemary and basil. Or, I use whatever is growing in the garden.

red tea Japanese pot and cup
Roselle tea
roselle flower
Roselle hibiscus flower

After the harvest of the biggest pods, I cut down the plants, leaving only a couple of tall stems. I’ll collect a few of the pods when they are dried and save the seeds inside. This hibiscus likes the heat and does not continue to grow over the winter in my yard.

The seeds will be planted next year to grow one, or two, new roselle bushes. No more than that!

bees

More fun times in the garden…

My First Moringa Tree Drumstick Bean

Two Moringa trees are growing in my backyard. I’m in Central Florida and the trees grow great all summer, but slow down the remainder of the year. Hurricanes, or strong wind, will knock these trees over. I had to cut mine last year because it fell over the garden. New stalks have grown and I just noticed my first “bean” or drumstick.

Moringa bean drumstick on tree.

The Moringa is a special tree because it is a source of vitamins while providing food in the form of leaves and beans. Even the roots are edible – according to this article. I most often use only the leaves to make tea.

I let this “bean” grow and eventually when I touched it the thing pretty much fell off. It was full of seeds, and lots of ants! So, I tossed it into the yard.

Moringa drumstick bean

Another bean is growing on the smaller Moringa tree. I do not plan to save seeds or anything. My yard is pretty full. Both Moringa trees are doing well. I love the lacy leaves that provide minimal shade. Bees, butterflies and birds have been seed at the white flowers. Even hummingbirds visit this awesome tree.

Moringa tree

Thanks for reading. Please view some of my other garden stories in the links below.

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Fast Growing, Bushy Roselle Hibiscus Shrubs Grown For Tea

After my first year of growing Roselle hibiscus, I have learned a lot. The shrubs have grown fast and become too large for my small yard.

The Roselle hibiscus plant gives us the calyces that make beautiful, red colored tea. I’ve been drinking hibiscus tea for a while now, but never knew exactly what it was made from. Now, I am growing the plant that makes this tea!

Tea is made from the Roselle hibiscus which is NOT the same as the decorative, flowering hibiscus plant.

Roselle hibiscus tea
Delicious & healthy Hibiscus tea

Read about the benefits of drinking roselle tea.

Over the winter months of 2023, I planted Roselle seeds in small pots and kept them indoors. The plants sprouted and some of them grew, but none of them thrived. As soon as the chance of frost overnight was gone, I transplanted the seedlings into the ground.

Now, it is summer of 2024, and I have big, bushy Hibiscus plants everywhere! Honestly, I have 9 plants, but the yard is small, and they are taking over.

Roselle hibiscus
Roselle hibiscus
Bushy roselle hibiscus – lost it to the wind in a storm

This type of hibiscus has open flowers (see below) that leave behind seed pods wrapped in red leaves, called calyces. The red leaves, when peeled off, can be boiled in water to make tea.

roselle
Roselle calyces
roselle flower
Roselle hibiscus flower

When my Roselle began to grow, they gave me a few pods. After that, I had to wait until Fall to get more.

Starting Roselle From Seeds

These Roselles began in pots, grown from seeds I bought at SESE (Southern Exposure Seed Exchange). The plants are about nine months old now and they al look very nice. Some are smaller than others but the one that is in the walkway is just beautiful! (That is the one that died from the storm.)

Roselle seedlings
Roselle seedlings
roselle hibiscus and okra plants
Roselle
Roselle hibiscus plants
Roselle growing

Growing Roselle is Easy

The plants will get large, both tall and wide. (I’m in Zone 9B) They are growing with and without lots of sun. The plants in the sun are bushier. They survive drought, are not bothered by the heat, and have no bug problems. After they bloom (September for me), collect the seed pods to make tea, or other things.

A warning: We had a windy storm during the summer and this (my bushiest) Roselle plant split right down to the ground. The tree died. I went ahead and trimmed all the remaining hibiscus to be sure wind could easily get through the stems.

Heading Into Fall

If you are looking for a little shrub that is easy to grow, and grows FAST, get yourself some Roselle seeds.

These shrubs have taken over my yard. I had NO idea what they would do when I planted them back in Spring. Now, many of the plants are taller than me – guessing 7 feet or so in height. It has been about 11 months since I began them from seeds indoors. By the way, don’t bother with that. Put the seeds in the ground. It was tough dealing with them in small pots.

Big roselle bushes flowering in September.
The Roselle have become too large for my small backyard garden.

It is September and the Roselle’s are now blooming. I’ve gone through and trimmed out some of the smaller branches because they are blocking the sun from other plants. Once the flowers stop, and I collect the calyces, I will be cutting some of these plants down. I have a feeling they won’t do well through the winter anyway. I hate to cut down a good plant, but they are seriously in the way.

My yard is too small for these plants. Now, I know how easy it is to grow Roselle, and how big they become. I’ll be smarter about choosing the right spaces for them to grow.

More garden goodness…

What to Do With the Moringa Tree?

Gathering some information about using the Moringa tree for tea and food.

The day I began this blog post I was sick. Probably that new strain of Covid got me, but here’s what I did. By the afternoon I felt well enough to pick some Moringa leaves and make tea.

When Googling “make tea from fresh Moringa leaves” everyone wants to tell you to dry the leaves and make powder. I picked some leaves, boiled water and let the leaves brew in my little teapot for ten minutes. It made a nice tasting (like boiled grass) hot drink. I hope that the goodness leached out into the water and went into my body!

So what else can I do with this tree?

Moringa tree small
The Moringa is growing well

Using the Moringa Beans, or Drumsticks

My trees are still quite small, but growing fast. One day they will produce long, hanging beans. This video shows how this family picks and processes the beans. I’m not sure that I will ever do this, but it’s nice to know about.

Seedlings and Flowers

A note about the seedlings: They may look eaten but that is how the plant begins to grow. As this naked stem popped up from the dirt, I thought maybe the leaves had been eaten off, but they actually had not begun to grow.

My smallest Moringa tree, which is only about 4 feet tall, has white buds and flowers. The bigger trees have never had flowers.

Moringa seedlings
Moringa seedlings
Moringa flowers flowering
Flowers and buds on small Moringa tree

Moringa Care

I really know nothing about the Moringa tree except what I’ve learned from watching a few videos. I’m not sure how to grow it. I planted two trees side by side in the back garden corner and completely forgot about the power lines going to my house. The tree, if not trimmed, will eventually hit the lines. So now I am trimming the trees from the top to help them bush out and not get tall. Also, in winter I noticed scratch marks and broken limbs where the raccoons have tried to climb this tree!

The bottom stems are turning yellow which many people mention. It seems to be a normal part of this tree’s growth pattern. Maybe to shed old leaves and make way for new.

Moringa
Trimming

The new growth at the top is very easy to trim up. I either use the leaves for making tea, or put them into the compost areas.

That Weber box is my newest compost bin. It’s a long story but basically every time I transplant something into the ground it gets dug up by raccoons and armadillos. So I had to use my white compost barrel to hold two of my tomato seedlings. It’s not ideal, but I would love to have some tomatoes!

That means I lost the old compost bin and needed a new one. I’m still filling up the Hot Frog, but composting is a very slow process.

I Need Space

One thing I don’t have, and can’t buy, is more space. The yard area where I can plant is pretty small. It is both good and bad. I would love to live among open fields, with views and places to roam. Instead, I live on a claustrophobic piece of land in a big neighborhood. I am probably like many people.

On the other hand, I can’t manage big gardens. I don’t have a man who will do the heavy lifting and work the tractors and machinery. More garden plots are in the works and I will really get going on organizing the yard once the heat subsides. It is mid October now and we still have the AC on in the house.

Dirt and compost are also what I need. Without a vehicle, I can’t get to the yard shop when I’d like. A delivery of dirt would mean using the wheelbarrow to move it all into the back yard. I am considering doing this. My old body may not be happy, but it’s exercise. If I do just a little at a time, it could work.

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