New Day Dream is on! - Make a dent in the global food revolution by popularizing Tree Spinach (ಮರವಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆವ ಪಾಲಾಕ್)!

ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಕೆಳಗೆ ನೋಡಿ)

This blog is all about "Tree Spinach"!

Yes, it is the spinach that grows in a tree. It tastes good when you eat the leaves raw. But, it is recommended not to eat the leaves raw as it has a toxic element in it in raw form only (5 leaves a day is fine, but why attract trouble? Cook and eat it!) This tree is also called as Chaya, the scientific name is Cnidoscolus aconitifolius.  For immediate details, go to wikipedia: Wikipedia on Tree Spinach

Probably it is more than 6 months I have had it in our jungle. Thanks to Mrs. Noor Fatima, who took pains to collect one for me and hand over. I am sure, she was confident that I would do something crazy with it towards propagation, and now I am just getting started. Why delay so far? Unfortunately the small cutting she gave broke into two (due to softness), the top portion dint make it, but the bottom one survived, and I planted it in shady portion fearing it would perish otherwise. The shade slowed its growth.

Now it is hot summer, the plant is growing quickly, and has gone upto 5 feet in a container.  It is not yet time for me to propagate it to others, but I will have 5 cuttings ready for the first batch within a month, and most of them should be sent outside Bengaluru for influencing wider spread across Karnataka quickly.

The stem portion, you can see the new growth from the original cutting at the bottom.

Since it grows like a tree and perennial, it will ensure all year round supply of greens for cooking, hence ideal as a backyard tree in every household, especially in the rural areas. Since it is nutrition rich, it could help in fighting malnutrition.

But, this revolution need not wait for me in Bengaluru. I call upon my gardening friends (at least 100s among thousands) to join me in this game and participate immediately to propagate this within Bengaluru and beyond. Propagation is quite easy, just plant a cutting, that is all. Only thing is that one  may need to wait for 6 months before sending out new cuttings to others.

The Oota From Your Thota (OFYT) revolution in Bengaluru can not afford to ignore the impetus of tree spinach, period. No need to say more.

Around three years back, I went gaga with Mexican Sun Flower plant (sheer beauty, ease of growing and propagating, bee and butterfly friendliness, compost friendly, draught resistant etc.) the image I had was a level of propagation of it within Bengaluru on every street and terrace, a look from the flight will yield mesmerizing green and yellow patterns. That was my day dream. Of course I did something around this day dream, I have helped the propagation of it in Bengaluru through at least 2,000 free cuttings give away since then, and now I can confidently say that now I have become redundant for further propagation within Bengaluru. So, there is a level of success on the propagation itself. But, more than that, the day dream lead to a project launch called "Paint Bengaluru Green" which was to bring green enthusiasts among OTGians together towards further greening Bengaluru, especially leveraging the terraces. It really dint take off other than being a blog platform (from which you are reading this blog!) as I could not dedicate leadership time and energy behind it, so I settled for a baby version of that dream in the name of "Billion Trees and Beyond" which I believe has had a level of success in the last 18 months with a cumulative total of tree plantation pledges crossing 1.5 crore trees. Again, this initiative is at an individual hobby level, run by an idiot, me. But, still, the success is good enough for me to be proud of.  Hence I am eligible for this new day dream.

This new day dream, I hope many of my gardening friends will adopt right away and start working on it. I do not think I need to lead it per se, I need to just nudge through an idea, and that is all I am doing here through this blog.  I do invite new generation of leaders among the OFYT community and do their magic towards this day dream becoming a huge success globally in a short while.

We have at least 25,000 terrace gardeners in Bengaluru.  I dream and pray that at least 5,000 terraces will go for tree spinach and therefore in the next two years, Bengaluru terraces alone can send out 50,000 tree spinach cuttings out annually, especially to the rural areas. I am sure, many leaders will emerge to propagate the idea, motivation, usage, applications, commerce, entrepreneurship  etc. along with the plant propagation.  Millions will eventually adopt their food plans around this nutritive plant across the globe soon.

Namasthe!
Nataraja Upadhya
Paint Bengaluru Green and More! (ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಗೆ ಹಸಿರು ಓಕುಳಿ!)
Billion Trees & Beyond!



You Tube Videos for more detail!
Growing Chaya: TREE SPINACH - Another Great Green Powerhouse!
What is Chaya?
Perennial Tree Spinach....
Grow An Edible Paradise In Your Backyard Featuring Perennial Tree Spinach

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ:

ಇದು ಮರವಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆವ ಪಾಲಾಕ್.‌ ಹಸಿಯಾಗಿ ತಿಂದರೂ ರುಚಿ, ಆದರೆ ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ತಿನ್ನಬಾರದಂತೆ (ಹಸಿ ಹಸುರು ಟಮೋಟೋ ತಿನ್ನಬಾರದಲ್ಲ, ಅದೇ ರೀತಿ), ಬೇಸಿ ಮಾಮೂಲು ಪಾಲಾಕ್‌ ಸೊಪ್ಪಿನಂತೆ ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಬಹುದು. ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಅಂತರಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಗುತ್ತದೆ.  Wikipedia on Tree Spinach. ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ ಕೆಲವು ಯೂಟ್ಯೂಬ್‌ ದರ್ಶಿಕೆಯ ಕೊಂಡಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮೇಲೆ ಕೊಡಲಾಗಿದೆ.

ಬಹುಶ: ಆರು ತಿಂಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ನನಗೆ ಒಂದು ತುಂಡು ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು, ನೂರ್‌ ಫಾತಿಮಾ ಅವರಿಂದ. ಬಹಳ ಮೆದುವಾದ ಕಾಂಡವಿತ್ತು, ಬಿಸಿಲಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಟ್ಟರೆ ಸಾಯಬಹುದೆಂದು ನೆರಳಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಟ್ಟೆ, ಬದುಕಿತು, ಆದರೆ ಬೆಳೆಯುವುದು ತಡವಾಯಿತು, ಇನ್ನೂ ೫ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಅದರ ಕಾಂಡವನ್ನು ಕೊಡಲು ಇನ್ನೂ ಒಂದು ತಿಂಗಳು ಬೇಕಾಗಬಹುದು.

ನನ್ನ ಹಗಲು ಕನಸು ಏನೆಂದರೆ, ಈ ಮರದ ಪಾಲಾಕ್‌ ವಿಶ್ವವ್ಯಾಪಿಯಾಗಿ, ಸತ್ವ ಭರಿತ ಸುಲಭ ಆಹಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ದಾರಿಯಾಗಲಿ. ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಸತ್ವದ ಕೊರತೆ ಇರುವ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸೊಂಪಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆದು ಉಪಯೋಗವಾಗಲಿ. ಈ ಪ್ರಯುಕ್ತ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ತಾರಸಿ ತೋಟಗಾರರು ಇದನ್ನು ಬೆಳೆದು, ತುಂಡುಗಳನ್ನು ಹಂಚಿ ವಿಶ್ವವ್ಯಾಪಿ ಪ್ರಸರಣದ ಕನಸಿನ ನನಸಿನತ್ತ ಮೊದಲ ಅಂಕದ ಆಟವನ್ನು ಆಡಲಿ ಎಂಬುದೇ ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆ.

ನಮಸ್ತೇ!
ನಟರಾಜ ಉಪಾಧ್ಯ
Paint Bengaluru Green and More! (ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಗೆ ಹಸಿರು ಓಕುಳಿ!)
ಶತಕೋಟಿ ಮರಗಳು ಮತ್ತಿನ್ನಷ್ಟು!