Lesson 6.15.0 TARO - Colocasia esculenta,

 

 

FOOD FOREST COURSE 

AGRO-ECONOMY Lesson 6.15.0 

TARO - Colocasia esculenta,

Xanthosoma saggitifolium and Xanthosoma brasillience

Colocasia esculenta and Xanthosoma saggitifolium are the most important 0f the edible genera of the araceae family. 

Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indo-Malayan region and spread into Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.  Xanthosoma saggitifolium or cocoyam is a native of South America.  Another favourite Permaculture variety of the taro family is Tahitian spinach (Xanthosoma brasillience) and this plant is grown only for its leaves.  Tahitian spinach has very little of the calcium oxalate crystals and this makes it easy to use as a spinach.

Taro is known by various names such as Talo, Dalo and Dago and it is one of the most widespread root crops throughout the humid tropics.  The corm is harvested eight to ten months after planting, and it is a much-prized food.  As the young plant is growing, the leaves can be harvested and cooked up in stews and casseroles.

The starchy corm is very nutritious and when eaten regularly as it is in most areas of the Pacific, is also a good source of calcium and iron.  The starch granules are one tenth of the size of the potato starch, so it is a very digestible food.  In fact, it is often baby’s first solid food in the Pacific Islands.

The cocoyam tubers are quite different in appearance and texture and although they are looked upon as not being as important as taro true, I adore them as they have a delicious mealy taste that is quite like a rather densely packed waxy potato.  The leaves of the young cocoyam are just as good for using as greens as long as they are cooked long enough.  The cocoyam that has purple or brown coloured stems are not suitable for eating.  Choose only leaves that have green or pink stems.

All of the taro plant has calcium oxalate crystals, and all parts of the taro should be cooked before eating.  If this is not adequately done these crystals will cause an irritation in the throat.  The slaves from Africa were forced to eat raw taro much to their suffering!  Fortunately, if this occurs there is no lasting damage as there is no toxic effect.  There is however another taro variety that is grown solely for eating the leaves and stalks.

Tahitian spinach is another taro variety that grows to gigantic proportions, but there is no starchy corm at the base of the plant as there is with taro.  Serving any of these taro leaves with coconut milk or cream will help the body to use the vitamin A, which is a fat-soluble vitamin, found in this much prized food.  As the young plant is growing, the leaves can be harvested and cooked up in stews, casseroles, and leaf wraps.

 

Cultivation

Dry and wetland taro.

Taro is a water loving plant found growing in the swampy areas in the Pacific.  They come in two basic types.  Some really need wet/damp conditions to thrive whilst other varieties do well with regular irrigation. 

Cocoyam is an upland taro and will grow in very dry conditions. It might not be so productive but it will eventually come up with a harvest.  However, a good wet summer will see cocoyam grow to gigantic proportions.

Taro true likes a well worked soil with plenty of compost and the soil can be hilled or furrowed.  If planting the taro in a furrow, the soil can be filled in and hilled up as the plant matures.  Even watering during the growth period is important for a good harvest.  Planting time for taro in the sub tropics in the southern hemisphere is from September to October and if the spring is very dry, the small taro plants may be potted up first.

Taro will need the full summer season to grow to full potential and when the cooler nights arrive, the taro ceases to grow.  It will begin to look tatty and eventually have about three leaves left.  This is the time to harvest.  Lift the plant carefully out of the ground and slice the corm off the aerial part leaving a small section of the top of the corm onto your plant.  The corm will have baby suckers (pups) and these can be taken off and potted up or replanted.  The original mother plant should have the leaves sliced off with a remaining young centre leaf left in place.  This too can be planted out again in spring.

Cocoyam has no particular growing requirements but will happily enjoy the same conditions as taro true.  This hardy plant can be planted almost anywhere and is a real survivor and the more you give it the more you get back in return.  This majestic plant will thrive in a semi- shaded area planted about half a metre apart.  Planting at these intervals will keep the ground free of weeds as the gigantic leaves will act as umbrellas to shade them out.  This is important, as you need to be able to see around the base of the plant to check where the new pups emerge.  Cocoyams seem like a very primitive plant as I’m quite sure that these plants are just as they are in the wild.  This to me is very exciting as it helps make my kind of gardener feel really at one with nature.  I also enjoy getting down onto the ground, to grovel around in the dirt while feeling around for roots and tubers.

Cocoyams can be planted at any time of the year barring winter.  The ideal time is to plant cocoyam in the spring and allow this plant to see two summers.  At the end of the second summer into autumn should be your first harvest.

Tahitian spinach also likes the same growing conditions as taro and cocyoyam although unlike the hardy cocoyam, Tahitian spinach needs more of a moist environment to be productive.

These plants all look so much alike so how can we distinguish between them?  The taro leaf always has the stalk meeting the leaf towards the middle.  Then again so does the Tahitian spinach.

There are quite a few edible varieties of taro and these may differ in colour.  The common taro that grows well in our veggie gardens is quite dark green in colour and the leaf is generally not as big as the Tahitian spinach.  The leaf of the Tahitian spinach has more distinguished ribs and grows to quite a large size.  There are wavy curves along the outside edge of the leaf.

The cocoyam has the stalk meeting the leaf at the end of the leaf. Text from the roots, Elisabeth Ferkonia (Aus.) PDC studied with Bill Mollison.

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