Taro Tips

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In Samoa, they take the leaves and soak them in coconut milk with onions, then wrap them in banana leaves, then wrap them in breadfruit leaves and they’re cooked underground. Instead of cooking in the ground, use a baking dish – one layer of taro, one layer of onion with a can of coconut cream and a bit of corn flour to thicken it together with a bit of salt and it’s marvellous.  With the Samoans in NZ, I’ve modified all their recipes and when they use to have a wedding or some other celebration, they would come round and ask me to make something. I’ve just changed my chook house by taking the roof off so I could walk inside. I put in some plastic roofing iron together with some shelves and my durian that was in another warm shed that looked like it was going to die for the last 6 months has now grown 4 inches. I’ve got a betal nut and 2 dwarf coconuts, rambai, petaloi, breadfruit, and chetalang so I’m also making a tunnel house and half of that is going to be a hot house and I’m growing them in large pots min. 20ltr.  We’re also growing Taro and Sweet Potato in bathtubs because as we’re on sand, Sweet Potato in the ground goes down very deep, I need a backhoe to get them out. bandicoots & hares escaped goats wallabies! I don’t know how it’s going to turn out as it’s only in its early stages but I put bales of hay in the baths and 4-5 varieties of Taro, 1 or 2 types of Yams and the Sweet Potatoes.  I’m also going to grow vegetables in the tunnel house as it’s too hot outside. I grow Pitaya inside tyres about head height by putting 2 steel pickets inside with a crosspiece – I had over 200 flowers but didn’t get any fruit this year even with hand pollinating.  Ref:  Errol