Sugar

[Prep Girl]

Can't find the post about Sugar Beets but Stevia is a natural sweetener, it's the leaves I think and research has indicated it may also help prevent and reverse Diabetes, not sure it would grow in the UK it's native to hotter Countries but worth getting some seeds and having a go.

[Nemesis]

(8 December 2011, 23:58)Prep Girl Wrote: Can't find the post about Sugar Beets but Stevia is a natural sweetener, it's the leaves I think and research has indicated it may also help prevent and reverse Diabetes, not sure it would grow in the UK it's native to hotter Countries but worth getting some seeds and having a go.

Hi Prep Girl.

I bought this stuff some time back it can only be sold in UK and I think USA as an animal feed, I have read that is it’s very healthy, I think it is used a lot in Japan and China.

Mine is dark brown and very fine powder, in normal PG tips tea it is not two nice but added to green tea and that was my reason for buying, it adds a nice taste.

I think it is being withheld because of the Artificial Sweeteners market.

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If anyone is interested took a pic of it, it is more green then brown.

[Nemesis]

Ok I dug a bit deeper and it seems lt can be grown in UK but not easy.


Sweet herb of Paraguay 10 seeds ■☻
Stevia rebaudiana is a herbaceous perennial, which is normally used as a natural herbal sweetener and a native to South America where the native Guarani have used it for over 1500 years to sweeten otherwise unpalatable medicinal drinks. Dry stevia leaf is up to 30 times sweeter than sucrose and in Japan about 40% of the sweetener market is stevia-based.

Stevia needs warm conditions and grows best in a well drained but damp acidic soil. The plant grows to about 1 metre and it is only the leaves that are harvested and can be used dried. Germination viability not high but once you have a plant growing it can be propagated by cuttings. Stevia rebaudiana does not have clearance to be marketed in the European Community as a food, so please only grow this as a novelty and not for consumption.

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http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk/SeedOrders/....html#p616

[Kenneth Eames]

I've used it in the past but I do not like the taste. Of course, many people do like it, so it's worth a try. It's very good information from Wet and Cold, on growing it. Thanks for that. Kenneth Eames.

[Skean Dhude]

Ken,

Is it a taste you could get used to or one that needs to be smothered? Either way it sounds like something useful.

[Prep Girl]

Thanks WnC good to know it will grow here, and I think the law on it changed this year in fact sep/0ct, I'd grow it any way, my views on a lot of natural stuff is they will make it as hard as possible for us to grow or use any thing they can't patient ( not sure I've spelt that right?) because if they can't own it they can't make money from it.

[Skean Dhude]

Thats my kind of thinking.

[Tortoise]

(9 December 2011, 12:43)Skean Dhude Wrote: Ken,

Is it a taste you could get used to or one that needs to be smothered? Either way it sounds like something useful.

I tryed to grow it inddors, but the plant died. It tasts of lickerice.

[Kenneth Eames]

I think you could acquire a taste for it, but from my point of view, sugar beet is better to grow because it can be used for other things. Sugar can be used in preserving and for feeding the yeast in bread making, etc.. Kenneth Eames.

[Skean Dhude]

I hate liquorice which means sugar beet is great for you and well worth adding to the list. It's SD law. If it's nice and healthy it tastes horrible..