Cassava – shady, edible and easy! - The Community Leader and Real Estate New and Views
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Photo by Kat Pearson.

BY KAT PEARSON, GIRL IN THE GREEN

Are you looking for a plant that gives fast shade, is edible, is (relatively) easy to remove when you’re done and easy to start again? Cassava is the plant for you.

Cassava, Manihot esculenta, is a quick-growing tropical woody shrub that produces starchy roots, a staple carbohydrate across many island countries. It’s a member of the Euphorbiaceae family, which contains all sorts of poisonous plants – and really, who decides that this is the poisonous plant that will be great if we cook it? But it is so easy to grow, even in drought and poor soils; it’s no wonder it has become so popular.

The tubers are eaten boiled, fried as crips (obviously my favourite) or made into flour; it is also what’s used to make tapioca! The leaves are edible, but (like the roots) must be cooked first to remove the cyanogenic toxins. I must say that although I’ve cooked the roots before, that does put me off the leaves…I’m told they’re quite good, though.

Whilst I do occasionally rip my plant up and harvest roots (mainly to shave with a peeler and deep fry), I love my cassava tree because it shades the front of our north-facing house, and when in flower, it attracts nectar-loving birds who peck from the not-particularly-noticeable-but-actually-very-pretty flowers. It grows fast but tends to send out long branches, which makes pruning easy if required. Just lop off a branch. If the whole thing gets a bit scrappy looking – which it can when it’s a few years old – I chop it off at the bottom and dig it out, then unceremoniously strip the leaves off one of the branches and stab it (right way up!) into the soil, and voila, the process starts again.

If you do plan on growing cassava for the roots, just beware that once harvested, they will last a maximum of 24 hours before they start to turn black. To prevent this, chop them up straight away and freeze. You can par-boil first, but I’ve also been told you can just bung ’em straight in. Bigger is not necessarily better – roots that get too big are woody and dry, so don’t leave your tree for five years and hope for a better crop. Restart often!

I don’t often see cassava in nurseries, but it’s usually easy to get hold of through permaculture groups or on Marketplace (or give me a call!). It’s another great option to keep you in food for the next pandemic, provide quick shade, or to give you something a little different to snack on next time you have the neighbours around for a drink!

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