Spekboom, Portulaca, Portulacaria afra 'Miyagi'

Another first offering by Livingseeds to the South African food gardening community, this is a selected version of that climate busting, succulent carbon sponge that had the world talking in 2020, but this is an edible, and palatable selection from the Giving Garden at the University of Pretoria!

We’ve called this Spekbbom varietal ‘Miyagi’ after the mentor of the Karate Kid, because it has very little cuticle wax on the leaf (so “Wax off”), which is what makes it superior to other varieties of the species specifically for culinary purposes.

This cultivar grows fast, and needs a little more water than the common types of the species. Upright, lime green in color it can be pruned into a hedge, or used as a filler in a hard to maintain space of the garden.
Due to the way this plant photosynthesizes, the leaves are at their tartest (sourest) in the very early morning, and will be, lowest in the late afternoon. The sour flavor is malic acid, a fruit acid found in apples.
Use the leaves as a lemon zest substitute, or in a potjie/stew, added just before the meal is served. Fresh in salad, or in a pesto (a recipe for this is at the bottom).
Its also a great animal fodder and a winter grazing supplement.

Growing this plant cannot be be easier, literally just stick any part of the plant in soil and it will grow, naturally if you give it quality soil, it grows better and faster.
On Livingseeds Farm we have propagated normal spekboom simply by planting the leaves into our germination mix with a 100% success rate.

Supplied as a single Cutting

Spekboom Pesto Recipe

Recipe courtesy of Dr Hennie Fischer, Department of Consumer and Food Science at Tukkies

Yield approx. 8 servings.

60g Spekboom 'Miyagi'

3g garlic roughly chopped.

15g raw almonds

125ml Extra virgin olive oil

30ml Parmesan cheese, grated

7.5ml Lemon Juice

2g salt

1g ground black pepper.

Method: Blend all ingredients with an immersion blender. The pesto should be chunky.

If to thick add olive to to get the correct consistency.