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**Sage Salvia officinalis
As a member of the mint family, sage is in very good company although I have to admit, despite my affection for this plant, cooked in almost any food it always gives me enormous indigestion. I recall my father had the affliction so maybe it is just a family affair. Nonetheless, I adore the flavor of sage as do most of us.
From: The Mediterranean
Note: As may be immediately evident to experienced sage growers, the plant you see to the left is a dwarf variety. I didn't notice that when I bought the seeds. If it matters to you, be a little more careful than I was when ordering your sage seeds.
Benefits: The Chinese have long held the belief that sage is a very beneficial herb for the aged, keeping their minds active and functioning well. It is also believed by some to be a digestive aid, but you couldn't prove that by me.
Photographed: In our herb garden in Montserrat.
Planting and Growth: The plant likes full sun and water on a regular basis. It will grow to be about thirty inches high and about the same in width. Bees are also said to love sage.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©Krika.com 2008/2009

St John Wort Hypericum canariense
This is a delightful informal looking bush covered with soft yellow blossoms. It will grow to be from between five and ten feet tall when mature.
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: St. Johns Wort is not particular about light -- it will do well in full sun or full shade, but it does like a routine amount of water, either rainfall or watering.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted ©KO 2010

Salvia
This is another of those not particularly interesting plants that serve well adding color in a part of the garden that is too green or that needs an accent. I think it looked particularly nice here with the touch of purple on the other plant.
Photographed: At the Hotel San Buenaventura on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010

Please Also See the "M" Page -- Mexican Sage

**Sandpaper Vine Please See The "P" Page -- Petrea

Sappodilla Tree, Sapote Tree Manilkara zapota
Planting and Care: This fruit tree grows best in full sun, but will do almost as well in a semi shady garden area. It likes routine rainfall or watering as do so many tropical trees and plants. If planted from seed it will take almost ten years to bare fruit.

Screw Pine Pandanus veitchii
This extravagant if somewhat messy plant really does typify the difference between what you may have in your summer only garden and the endless possibilities you'll find in a tropical garden. What you see in the photograph is a recently trimmed version of the real thing.
Photographed: At a neighbor's home in Montserrat.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2008/2010

Scurfy Zamia See The "P" Page -- PALMS AND SAGOS - Jamaica Sago

Sea Grape See The "G" Page -- Groundleaf

Seedlings
Below is a four inch deep styrofoam tray of basil, parsley and sage seedlings ready for planting outside in our garden. We recover these styrofoam trays, once filled with grapes from the United States, and their more shallow tops from our small local supermarket. The trays are about eighteen inches by twenty four inches and they make planting a lot easier than many of the more standard alternatives. Here in Montserrat our biggest problem in planting seeds is getting a good sterile planting medium. I have become EXTREMELY creative in making something seeds will like, but it really should be easier. From the Montserrat Department of Agriculture we do see posted roadside signs such as "Eat from the yard, not from the can" and many more touting the "backyard garden." We just have never seen anything that would make a backyard garden or eating from the yard possible without an enormous amount of creativity, tenacity, perseverance and a determination to have "local" food that is not essentially toxic. All of our own gardens are poison free though we have succumbed to using commercial fertilizers. These we use in addition to all the cow manure we can collect and all the compost we can make and incorporate into the worst soil I have ever seen.
Text & Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2009

**Shallots Vegetable
Shallots grow like weeds which makes their high market price (in the US) hard to understand. Their flavor is a subtle blend of onion and garlic, not reproduced by combining the other two.
Photographed: On our terrace in Taxco, Mexico.
Text and Photographs Copyrighted © Krika.com 2008

Shamrock II, Wood Sorrel Oxalis purpurea or Oxalis sp.
From: Mexico
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: This is a low growing and sweet plant that makes a good groundcover in areas that are protected from mid-day tropical sun. They thrive in semi shade as long as there is moisture in the soil. They do have a rest period which can be disconcerting as they seem to die and then spring back into life. It's the dying part that I found disconcerting.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010

Fruit Cocktail Shrimp Plant Justicia brandegeana Fruit Cocktail
This is one of the stand out shrimp plants, its flowers being a pale greenish yellow color with the addition of touches of rosy red.
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planting and Care: It is as easy to care for as it is lovely. Sun and rainfall or watering will keep it happy and blooming for months at a time.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010

Silk Cotton Tree
See The "K" Page -- KAPOK TREE

Sky Vine See the "C" Page CLOCK VINE

Snow Peas Vegetable
Planting and Growth: We got seeds of the of the variety “Dwarf Gray Sugar” and found they grow quite well here in Montserrat. In the Caribbean and in Mexico, plant them in late November or the first week in December to ensure that it doesn’t get too hot for them to yield.
Text Copyrighted ©KO 2008

Soil in Montserrat
When we moved into our home in Montserrat, the soil on our property was as hard as a rock and so deficient in nutrients that the vegetables we planted remained miniatures until we relented and used commercial fertilizer. We also added hundreds of bags of sawdust which we used as mulch and also worked into the soil along with the compost we made and the manure we collected. After just a few years we have "real dirt" complete with a few earthworms and our vegetables gardens are showing promise.

Consulting with our neighbor, a former member of the Agricultural Department here in Montserrat, we learned that our soil is probably in the pH range of from 4 to 3.5 making it too acidic for successfully growing most annual vegetables. After some investigation, we found a local fellow who would sell us a bag of lime in order to raise the pH, though at an exorbitant price. We were naive and hopeful and had a bag delivered. When it arrived I saw that it was a dark gray and wondered, "What on earth??" We added it to the soil in our mahogany garden along with compost, waited a week before planting and hoped for the best. After a bit of research on the internet, we learned that what we had been sold at the MSJ Flower Shop & Garden Supplies store in Brades owned by the former Director of the Department of Agriculture here in Montserrat was "burnt lime." We had been told it was appropriate for use in the garden. It isn't really, but since it is no longer available, it is a non-issue.

PLEASE NOTE: Produce enhancing agricultural products are terribly expensive in Montserrat -- things such as tools, fertilizer, seeds, seed starting soil and agricultural lime -- if they are even available. But, you can save money when you become a member of the Farmer's Co-op. To moderate the highly acidic nature of the soil here, you will need to use agricultural lime which is not available in Montserrat. You might also use wood ashes, but you will need to burn quite a bit of the forest and save every bit of ash to put in your very small vegetable garden to raise the pH even a bit. This is apparently what the farmers do as there is almost constant burning in the protected Centre Hills forest area where most farmers have acre or more plots of land on which to work.

**Contact the Department of Agriculture for a solution because the highly acidic soil in Montserrat precludes most successful backyard gardening and farming.
Text Copyrighted ©KO 2009

**Soursop Tree, Cherimoya, Chirimoya, Custard Apple Annona muricata L.
This is a relatively small tree growing at most to only about twenty five feet tall. We have two that live on the hill beside our pool and one that lives just by our banana garden. They give us the bumpy, soft, spiny-skinned soursop fruit each one of which weighs between two and five pounds. When ripe and cut in half, soursop is creamy white with a slightly sour taste and lots of seeds. Maybe the best thing about this tree is that it is just about free of diseases and insects, though in appearance it is a bit scrawny.
Benefits: Aside from giving us one of the premier fruits of the world (for true fruit lovers), the soursop's leaves are used as general curatives in teas and baths.
From: South America
Photographed: Below our terrace garden at our home in Montserrat.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted ©Krika.com 2008

**Spathiphyllum, Peace Lily Spathiphyllum
From: Tropical areas of Asia and the Americas
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala 2010.
Planting and Growth: These deep green foliage plants with their occasional striking white flowers are a delightful addition to any fertile, shady and well watered and drained area of your garden.
Problems: Insect pests are usually mealy bugs which will succumb to a regular spraying of soapy water or a solution of neem oil.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2009/2010

Below are photographs of our spider lilies which have been accompanied by a guest called Asystasia gangetica. Isn't it lovely?

**Spider Plant Anthericum or Chlorophytum comosum 'Vittatum' or Chlorophytum sp.
This is the old standby hanging plant found in most homes of indoor gardeners living in New England (and probably elsewhere). A sunny window and regular watering often produces more plant than you ever really wanted. Here in the Caribbean they thrive in the shade or semi shade with very little care. They do like some moisture on a regular basis, but survived our serious drought in the summer of 2007 when we were not here to water. Fertilizing is okay, but be a little more stingy than you are normally; spider plants do not like a very fertile soil.
Photographed: In our terrace garden at our home in Montserrat.
Problems: There is something that chomps some of the leaves, probably an agouti, but the plants have never become unsightly or ill-looking as a consequence.
Text and Photo Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Spinach, Bhaji Vegetable Amaranthus dubius Mart.
In most of the Caribbean and in Montserrat there is a leafy plant sold locally called spinach. In many parts of the Caribbean is is known as a weed and is called bhaji. It produces prolifically year round here in Montserrat and probably in most of the Caribbean. It does not look like the plant we know in our spring time New England gardens, but very surprisingly it tastes very similar. It grows well in the hot climate of the Caribbean which makes it a great alternative to the cold weather northern spinach which almost always bolted in my New England garden before I ever got to eat much of it.
Benefits:
Along with beets and Swiss chard, spinach is a good source of Vitamin A, calcium, and phosphorous and with broccoli and asparagus, spinach is high in vitamin K which can neutralize anti-coagulants. These vegetables promote blood clotting. Spinach also might be considered a wrinkle-fighter with its antioxidant benefits -- vitamin C and E along with beta-carotene. These latter benefits with help protect your skin from exposure to the now damaging rays of the sun.
Photographed: In our upper garden and on our deck at our home in Montserrat.
Recipe:
Curried Spinach
Lightly fry one diced onion in about two tablespoons of oil in a large heavy frying pan. As the onions are becoming translucent, add a thumb sized piece ginger that you have minced and saute the two together until cooked. Next add a 14.5 oz. can of whole tomatoes diced along with the juice and one teaspoon of good quality curry powder. Heat all ingredients together at a medium to low temperature adding about twenty-five grinds of fresh peppercorns. Meanwhile wash the spinach well and slice across the leaves in about one inch pieces. When the onion and tomato mixture is fully cooked, raise the heat and in a few minutes add the spinach and stir in as if making a Chinese stir-fry. When all looks minimally cooked add about one cup of sour cream and heat through. Serve over rice.
Text & Photographs Copyrighted © KO 2010

**Stem Succulent, Starfish Cactus Stapelia lepida or Stapelia gigantea
When I planted it in our cactus garden, it had a large papery looking flower bud which opened just a few days later. The flower resembles a starfish in shape. It is about six or seven inches across and it attracts flies with its unpleasant scent. The flower almost dwarfs the tube like plant which is only about eight inches tall.
From: S. Africa
Photographed: In our border gardens at our home in Montserrat.
Planting and Growth: The Stapelia is another wonderful tough and delightful plant. It lives happily in our 'front of the house' cactus garden where it receives not much rain or anything else. Still, it blooms with abandon. The flowers are beautiful and extraordinary, but they attract flies, though this is not a problem when the plant is not next to your entryway door. We will be moving the plant soon!
Text & Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008

**Stinkhorn Mushrooms See The "M" Page -- MUSHROOMS

Star Anise Illicium sp.
Planting and Growth: This plant will do well planted in semi to deep shade.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2008

Sunflower Helianthus annuus
What could be brighter or more welcoming in the garden than a few blooming sunflowers and the seeds make a great edible treat too.
Benefits: Edible seeds in quantity and the sunflower is also an attractant for butterflies and hummingbirds.
From: Central America
Photographed: At the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Text & Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2010

**Superb Lily, Kalihari in India Gloriosa superba L. Vine
This is a trailing plant with brilliant exotic yellow and red flowers. It trails over other plants in sunny areas and can be propagated by seeds or tubers, but most commonly by tubers. We have it just below the deck. It’s great for cut flowers, though all parts of the plant are toxic.
Photographed: In our deck garden at our home in Montserrat.
Text & Photograph Copyrighted ©KO 2004

**Swedish Ivy Plectranthus australis
This is one of the very popular hanging house plants in the northern United States. It is a vibrant green and stays that way the year round.
Photographed: In the Botanical Garden at the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Planing and Care: Swedish ivy is not frost hardy, but will do very well in a semi shady area in a warm climate garden. In a window situation it likes a bit of sun and routine watering. In either place, give it some fertilizer now and again to keep it looking its best.
Photographed: At the Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
Text & Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2010

**Sweet Potato, Camote (In Spanish) Ipomoea batatas
The sweet potato is one of the best foods in the world. You can eat it as you would eat a white potato -- baked, boiled, fried or in a million other ways -- but, you can also make it into a sweet treat as the name implies. The plant is vine like, not looking at all like a white potato plant. From one vine you can cut runners that will root in a few days so you can have as many plants as you want or have room for. Here in Montserrat sweet potatoes are considered desirable enough for folks to steal plants from my garden. Who would have thought?
Benefits: Think carrots and beta-carotene a super source of vitamin A which is especially beneficial for your skin.
From: Native to Central and South America.
Photographed: In our upper garden at our home in Montserrat.
Planting and Growth: Each plant will need a square foot of garden space in which to grow. The soil should be loose and fertile. Place a stem in the center of the square and carry on until all your available squares are planted. Water as you would any new plant for a few days every day, then every other day and so on. Within a week they should be off and running. Once set, they will do fine with the water that arrives by rainfall in most of the tropical Caribbean and unless they are not looking the lovely green (as above) they don't require much fertilizer. Planting them in good well composted dirt should be just the ticket for a good crop which you should harvest three months from the date of planting.
Harvesting: Do not water the plants three to four weeks prior to harvest. When you do harvest, dig them up carefully so as not to bruise the skin and then let them dry a few hours on the ground. Our best advice for storage in the Caribbean environment is to cook and then freeze them. They will last about a month in a dry place, but they do seem to lose something which is impossible to describe -- best to cook and freeze.
Problems: Thieves! And, you need to create a new bed for every planting of sweet potatoes. So you need to consider rotating these plants throughout your garden area, not returning to the first bed for a few years.
Yield: In our second harvest we dug thirty pounds of sweet potatoes from a 10 x 10 foot patch of the garden. It had been fed with laundry water, never having been fertilized or watered in any other way. The potatoes were beautiful, more perfect than any we've seen at supermarkets in the States!
Recipe
Sweet Potatoes and Bananas:
For those of you who live in an isolated tropical environment like we do, you know that there is bounty from the garden at specific times of the year and a dearth of available fresh products at other times. And...it is difficult to imagine using a whole stem of bananas or plantains at a single go. So, when you harvest sweet potatoes give them a very good rinse to remove all the dirt possible and let them dry. Then peel and cut them into similar size pieces and boil them till they will slide off a fork when pierced. Drain them and put them in a big pan. Add an equivalent quantity of ripe bananas (maybe from the freezer), a bit of butter and mash everything together. If it needs a bit more sweetness add some brown sugar.
Recipe
Sweet Potato Fries
Preheat your oven to 400° F. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into desired fry thicknesses. As each one is done, place the potatoes on a cookie sheet previously sprayed with oil and give each batch of potatoes a spritz of oil as you go. This will prevent the splotchy darkening so common with peeled sweet potatoes. Proceed until your potatoes are all in a single layer and then season them with salt and pepper. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes depending on thickness then flip them over and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes. You are going to love these fries. Try them with different herbs and seasonings according to your whim.
Text Copyrighted © KO 2007

**Swiss Chard
This is the first year we have grown swiss chard so we don't yet know how it will do. We planted a row of seeds directly in the garden with no success, not even one see germinated. We went directly to "Plan B" -- planting in plastic seed starter trays and we have had very good results. Soon the little plants will be ready to transplant into the garden which you can see in the photo to the left.

This year in Montserrat we have had an ENORMOUS problem with caterpillars, except on the Swiss chard. We think the local insects haven't figured out that the chard is a desirable food; maybe they think it is a weed and insects never seem to bother weeds.
Photographed: In our upper garden at our home in Montserrat.
Text and Photograph Copyrighted © KO 2008/2010