Wedding Tree Spinach (Chaya)

Description

We call this Wedding Tree Spinach because of a week in Gainesville. We wanted Michael Singer to marry us at The Temple of the Universe, but it so happened that Michael no longer does this. We still got to sit with him and the others and sing and listen and meditate. And the universe delivered us this gift, right across the street from where we stayed.

Gainesville is like City Park stretching on for miles and miles, interspersed with what feels like the homes of gnomes. Across the street from where we stayed was the Gainesville Giving Garden. I took them at their word. It was March of 2023. I took cuttings that I nursed and then took cuttings from those.

Chaya is a superfood some call the miracles Mayan spinach. It is a good source of protein, vitamins, calcium, and iron; and is also a rich source of antioxidants. Young chaya leaves and the thick, tender stem tips are cut and boiled as a spinach. It is a tasty vegetable and is exceptionally high in protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin A. In fact, levels of chaya leaf nutrients are twofold to threefold greater than any other land-based leafy green vegetable.

In Nigeria, some people call this plant, “hospital too far”. Can’t get there in time. Eat this. It has that much of a reputation of healing after boiling the leaves for twenty minutes. This is very important. Do not eat the leaves raw, and use gloves when harvesting to avoid the milky sap.