Page 21 - FEB2020

ECO HUB - Bush food Farming

A few years ago our house help came into the kitchen with a bunch of small
spotted green cucumbers in her hands, which she had collected nearby in the
bush. She stewed them and gave me one to taste with a bit of salt! It tasted pleas-
antly mild, “vegetably” with little soft pips inside and reminded me very much of
Zucchinis. She told me they are called “Legabala’’ in Setswana and have always
been food for local people in the know here.
She then pointed out the actual creeper and I realized that it grew in
profusion all over. I looked up this interesting plant in “Gemsbok bean and Ka-
lahari truffle” (published by the German Volunteer service and written by Arno
Leffers) and learnt that the species is abundant all over and is called “Coccinia”
with 3 varieties occurring in Botswana: Coccinia adoensis, Coccinia rehmannii and
Coccinia sessilifolia--all known and collected as food.
Our gardener then dug up a number of these plants, very carefully, to keep the
tubers intact - and planted them against suitable stretches of empty fencing. They
repaid us with strong growth, beautiful leaves and blooms and easy picking of
their cucumbers. We are now in the 3rd year of plantation and are harvesting
more and more every time. The best thing is: they need NO water whatsoever!

I am always amazed that we have not taken to farming local plants more. Only
recently have Morula products come onto the market -- and where are the Aloe
Vera farms so we do not need to import the drinks, juice and medical products
from South Africa or even from as far away as KOREA? Where are the roasted
Morama beans, Monkey oranges, Mobola plums, Mmilo mousse, roasted
Kalahari Bauhinia seeds, Baobab fruit drinks full of Vitamin C or seeds made
into coffee? We need to look at diversifying and adapting more. Perhaps it’s now
time to work WITH Nature, and accept gratefully what has been given to each
country and specific area. R. Franken

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