Cassava Cookup
Needing to extend the garlic and potato planting area I had to reshape one more garden bed. This bed has been growing some cassava plants and they were possibly getting close to harvest. So I pulled up four plants and they had a nice crop of tubers. (Next week I will dig up some more and get a photo for you-yeh I forgot). There was about 4-5 kilograms, which isn’t a big yield but I have had worse. The location is a bit shaded and I think a bit more sun would have helped.
Cassava needs to be cooked to remove a toxin (cyanide) before you can eat it. With the cooling of the weather as we head towards winter the bio-digester is producing less gas. I had hoped to attach a solar water heater by now, maybe soon. To cook up the cassava needed a bit of energy so I cranked up the rocket stove.
The cassava cooking on the rocket stove.
We had used the stove yesterday to warm up the milk before separating the cream so there was an amount of residual heat and it didn’t take long to get the pot up to boiling. We leave the lid off or slightly ajar to allow the toxin to escape. We will freeze about half of the cassava which I think is great because I will be able to use this when Zaia goes to Brazil!!
Cheers, Tom
©2016 Tom Kendall; permeco.org, incorporating Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast, simplicity, permaculture, self reliance and homesteading, rocket stove and tropical vegetables.
Author: Tom Kendall
Tom is a lifelong agriculturalist and co-founder of the Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast Inc. His site "Maungaraeeda" is a Permaculture Demonstration and Education Site. He is a Permaculture Educator and Consultant, and has a wealth of knowledge about how to be truly sustainable. Water management strategies, alternative fuel generation, animal systems and numerous other Permaculture Designed Solutions are his speciality.
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