Hawai'i Gardens
Backyard delights for those who graze

By Heidi Bornhorst

Cherry tomatoes are tailor-made for grazing. Eating many small meals instead of three large ones may be better for your health. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Recent studies show that "grazing" — eating many little meals during the course of the day — is better diet-wise than the three-square-meals standard that many people grew up with. We also know that keeping your fat intake low and eating lots of fruits and vegetables help encourage health. For me, just staying away from the refrigerator, and cupboards full of Spam and sardines, is a start. But you can incorporate all this new knowledge with your love for gardening by designing your yard, garden or lanai for grazing.

While many people grow vegetables in a big way, they do take a lot of work. Many crops that we love are also enjoyed by a myriad of pests. Spraying pesticide in your home vegetable garden contradicts its healthy purpose, and staying up all night hand-patrolling for slugs and rose beatles is not most people's idea of a romantic night. So, grow what does well, with little work, in your area.

For an easy-to-grow plant with longevity, I recommend a cherry tomato plant. You can buy a seed pack or, better yet, find the wild type in a friend's garden and grow that. I have had a plant from seeds of a plant that was growing in my sister's yard. Its been growing for over six months, and it produces fruits abundantly. I pick and eat the mini-tomatoes right at the bush.

Dryland watercress is another winner. I have it growing in the dripline of the garage. Any time I wonder if I have eaten enough dark-green leafy veggies that day, I go out and have a nip or two of watercress. (Now how many of the spicy leaves equals a "serving"?)

Popolo, a favorite in old Hawai'i, is another easy and delicious mini fruit for your garden. Being a dye plant, this is fun for keiki to eat and see if their tongue turns blue or black.

Chinese peas are another favorite. They are absolutely delicious right off the vine, with no vitamins lost through cooking. They are a perfect cool-season crop, so plant them soon.

Fruit and specialty growers Frank Sekiya and Lynn Tsuruda, of Frankies Nursery, have many wonderful fruits and other edibles at their nursery. One fairly new plant deserves a place in your garden. This is pak wan, or Sauropus androgynous, which is in the Euphorbiaceae family.

According to an Australian study, this plant has the highest protein and vitamin and mineral content of any green leafy vegetable. Ten percent of the each leaf is protein. In Borneo, they are promoting it as "tropical asparagus." You can eat it raw, right off the plant, and it is 'ono and crunchy. It can also be stir-fried with garlic, oil and oyster sauce. Frank added shrimp and tried it on his family (who never like to try new foods, Lynn says), and they all raved about how 'ono it was.

They also have a new shrub called the peanut-butter fruit. "It tastes like red peanut butter," says Tsuruda. It is known in Latin as Bunchosia argentia.

The advantage of both of these new edible plants is that they are small — great for growing in the Hawaiian garden or lanai of today — and they can be eaten right off the plant.

I strongly recommend growing some grazable edibles in your garden. It is a fun and 'onolicious pursuit.

Heidi Bornhorst is director of Honolulu's botanical gardens. Reach her by e-mail at islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com.