Post by orflo on Dec 14, 2010 14:19:03 GMT -5
Chia is gaining some attention recently, mostly because it has been commercialised by some companies, there's one in California who's promoting this heavily, with an own trade name, if I'm not mistaken it was salba. There are probably other companies as well. This salba are the seeds of salvia hispanica, which can quite easily be grown if you have a frost-free autumn. There are, however, some other 'chias', more about that later on.
Salvia hispanica was traditionally used by the Aztec indians in Mexico and further on south, I think it even reached the Inca empire. It's related off course related to salvia, mint,basil and other herbs, but doesn't have a very distinct smell. the seeds are harvested and used, they contain lots of omega-3 and are a bit of a new hype because of this. The seeds are very small, some 2 mm, less than 1/8inch, but are, luckily, not that hard to harvest.
The plants are fine growers, but don't become really big over here, some 40-50 cms high, with tiny flowers and not much leaves. I harvested the seeds from about half October on, it will take a lot of plants before you get a decent harvest, at least under my circumstances. The seeds are mixed with water and form some sort of a gel, which can be absorbed quite easily.
A second 'chia' is salvia tiliifolia, and this does grow pretty big, some 1,20 metres high over here, with a very nice decorative foliage, these leaves do have a distinct and nice smell. I never heard something can be done with these, but maybe I just didn't search thoroughly. These plants are known as tarahumara chia, and the use is quite similar to the use of the above mentioned chia, however the seeds are roasted before watering them.
Unfortunately this is a hard one over here, blooming is very late, and it's hard to get some seed harvest, so I never got around to taste it. But they're just wonderful plants, so I sow them every year, and just hope that one day I'll find an earlier variety or have a very mild autumn.
A third one is 'golden chia', salvia columbariae. this vey small plant is the easiest of the three to grow, and is the earliest to set flowers (again very tiny) and seeds. The big disadvantage is that the seeds shatter very easily and I lose lots of them, I only get to collect what I want to replant... It's a nice plant as well, with a very distinct leaf shape and the familiar blue flowers. This is again known as a reinforcing plant, the use of the seeds goes a bit broader compared to the other two chias, from grounding them and adding them to cakes to making beverages out of them. If you have a short climate and want to grow some chia, try this one and make sure to check every day when the seeds ripen off..
Salvia hispanica was traditionally used by the Aztec indians in Mexico and further on south, I think it even reached the Inca empire. It's related off course related to salvia, mint,basil and other herbs, but doesn't have a very distinct smell. the seeds are harvested and used, they contain lots of omega-3 and are a bit of a new hype because of this. The seeds are very small, some 2 mm, less than 1/8inch, but are, luckily, not that hard to harvest.
The plants are fine growers, but don't become really big over here, some 40-50 cms high, with tiny flowers and not much leaves. I harvested the seeds from about half October on, it will take a lot of plants before you get a decent harvest, at least under my circumstances. The seeds are mixed with water and form some sort of a gel, which can be absorbed quite easily.
A second 'chia' is salvia tiliifolia, and this does grow pretty big, some 1,20 metres high over here, with a very nice decorative foliage, these leaves do have a distinct and nice smell. I never heard something can be done with these, but maybe I just didn't search thoroughly. These plants are known as tarahumara chia, and the use is quite similar to the use of the above mentioned chia, however the seeds are roasted before watering them.
Unfortunately this is a hard one over here, blooming is very late, and it's hard to get some seed harvest, so I never got around to taste it. But they're just wonderful plants, so I sow them every year, and just hope that one day I'll find an earlier variety or have a very mild autumn.
A third one is 'golden chia', salvia columbariae. this vey small plant is the easiest of the three to grow, and is the earliest to set flowers (again very tiny) and seeds. The big disadvantage is that the seeds shatter very easily and I lose lots of them, I only get to collect what I want to replant... It's a nice plant as well, with a very distinct leaf shape and the familiar blue flowers. This is again known as a reinforcing plant, the use of the seeds goes a bit broader compared to the other two chias, from grounding them and adding them to cakes to making beverages out of them. If you have a short climate and want to grow some chia, try this one and make sure to check every day when the seeds ripen off..
