Stevia Plants: The Sweeter Side of Gardening ~ Making Your Garden Work for You.

in #contest โ€ข 6 years ago

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๐“˜๐“ฏ ๐”‚๐“ธ๐“พ ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ฎ ๐“ช๐“ท ๐“ช๐“ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ญ ๐“ฐ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ญ๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ฎ๐“ป, ๐”‚๐“ธ๐“พ

๐”€๐“ฒ๐“ต๐“ต ๐“ด๐“ท๐“ธ๐”€ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ฝ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ฎ ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ฎ ๐“ฏ๐“ฎ๐”€ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ๐“ผ
๐“ฒ๐“ท ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ฏ๐“ฎ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ฝ ๐“ฌ๐“ช๐“ท ๐“ฌ๐“ธ๐“ถ๐“น๐“ช๐“ป๐“ฎ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ฏ๐“พ๐“ต๐“ฏ๐“ฒ๐“ต๐“ต๐“ถ๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ฝ
๐“ธ๐“ฏ ๐“ฌ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ญ ๐“ถ๐“ช๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฝ๐“ช๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ช ๐“ซ๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“พ๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ฏ๐“พ๐“ต
๐“ฐ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ญ๐“ฎ๐“ท. ๐“‘๐“พ๐“ฝ ๐”€๐“ฑ๐”‚ ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“น ๐“ช๐“ฝ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ฎ๐“ญ๐“ฐ๐“ฎ ๐“ธ๐“ฏ
๐“ช๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ฌ ๐“ซ๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“พ๐“ฝ๐”‚ ๐”€๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ท ๐”‚๐“ธ๐“พ ๐“ฌ๐“ช๐“ท ๐“ช๐“ญ๐“ญ
๐“ช ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ฝ๐“ต๐“ฎ ๐“น๐“ป๐“ช๐“ฌ๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ฌ๐“ช๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐”‚ ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ถ๐“ฒ๐”?

๐•„๐•ช โ„๐•š๐••๐••๐•–๐•Ÿ ๐”พ๐•–๐•ž:

I must admit, I am one of those people who always tries to justify a visit to my local plant nurseries, and regardless of the reasons that got me there, I always make a point to take a walk through the entire place with the hopes of discovering a new plant that I can add to my garden collection, and every now and then, I discover such a gem.

This was the case on one of my more recent visits there. As I walked through the herb section of the plants I noticed one plant that looked a bit out of place, so I walked closer to investigate and much to my surprise it was a Candyleaf Plant just waiting for me to take it home.

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Stevia Rebaudiana also known as the candyleaf, sweetleaf, or sugarleaf.

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๐•Ž๐•™๐•’๐•ฅ ๐•ž๐•’๐•œ๐•–๐•ค ๐•ฅ๐•™๐•š๐•ค ๐•ก๐•๐•’๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ ๐•ค๐•  ๐•ค๐•ก๐•–๐•”๐•š๐•’๐•?

The leaves of the Stevia plant contain steviol glycosides, mostly in the form of stevioside and rebaudioside; meaning that they are about 250 โ€“ 300 times sweeter than sugar โ€“ ounce per ounce โ€“ hence the nicknames: candyleaf, sweetleaf, or sugarleaf

These leaves are used to produce a natural sweetener to use as an alternative to normal sugar, and is readily available for purchase in most health stores ~ FOR AN ARM AND A LEG OF COURSE!

โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ ๐•„๐•’๐•œ๐•– ๐•๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฃ ๐•†๐•จ๐•Ÿ:

Making your own Stevia Extract is a much more cost-effective way to get your hands on this sweet treat, and I would like to add it is also much easier than you might think, and today I will explain to you how it is done, so that you too can reap the benefits of Stevia.

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๐•„๐•’๐•œ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•’ ๐•Ž๐•’๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ฃ ๐”น๐•’๐•ค๐•–๐•• ๐•Š๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•’ ๐”ผ๐•ฉ๐•ฅ๐•ฃ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ:

You will need:

Half a Cup of Dried Stevia Leaves (Tightly packed)
One Cup Water.
(Makes +/- half a cup liquid extract)

Here is What You Do:

โ€ข Place one cup of water in a small saucepan and heat to a simmer. DO NOT LET THE WATER BOIL!
โ€ข Add the dried Stevia leaved and gently stir.
โ€ข Cover the mixture in the saucepan and let it steep. (+/-40 minutes)
โ€ข Strain mixture to remove the leaves.
โ€ข Pour the liquid yield into a container. (preferably a glass jar)

๐“๐“ธ๐“ฝ๐“ฎ: ๐“ ๐“ผ๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ต๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ฐ๐“ต๐“ช๐“ผ๐“ผ ๐“ณ๐“ช๐“ป ๐”€๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“ถ๐“ฎ๐“ถ๐“ช๐“ญ๐“ฎ ๐“ข๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ช ๐“”๐”๐“ฝ๐“ป๐“ช๐“ฌ๐“ฝ ๐“ฌ๐“ช๐“ท ๐“ต๐“ช๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ฏ๐“ธ๐“ป ๐“พ๐“น ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“ฝ๐”€๐“ธ ๐”€๐“ฎ๐“ฎ๐“ด๐“ผ ๐“ฒ๐“ท ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ฏ๐“ป๐“ฒ๐“ฐ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“ป.

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๐•„๐•’๐•œ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•’ ๐”ธ๐•๐•”๐• ๐•™๐• ๐• ๐”น๐•’๐•ค๐•–๐•• ๐•Š๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•’ ๐”ผ๐•ฉ๐•ฅ๐•ฃ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ:

You will need:

Half a Cup of Dried or Fresh Stevia Leaves
Edible Alcohol e.g. Vodka (Enough to cover leaves)
(Makes +/- half a cup liquid extract)

Here is What You Do:

โ€ข Rinse and spin-dry leaves thoroughly.
โ€ข Break or chop the leaves roughly. (if you are using dried leaves try not to get the powdery parts in)
โ€ข Place the leaves in a resealable glass jar and then cover with the alcohol.
โ€ข Seal theclearly marked jar and then place in a cool dry place with no direct sunlight.
โ€ข Mix or shake the mixture two to three times a day, for the next two days.
โ€ข Strain the mixture through a coffee filter. (the leaves should be a pale yellowish colour at this stage)
โ€ข Place the strained Stevia liquid in a small saucepan and place over low heat. DO NOT BOIL
โ€ข Gently simmer for 20 to 30 minutes to reduce the alcohol. (The mixture should now be a bit thicker and darker)
โ€ข Strain the mixture through a filter again then place in a small dropper bottle. (If you do not have one, a vanilla extract bottle or something similar should work well)
โ€ข Use drops as needed.

๐•น๐–”๐–™๐–Š๐–˜:

IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE RUBBING ALCOHOL!

โ€ข ๐–€๐–˜๐–Š ๐–”๐–“๐–‘๐–ž ๐–‘๐–Š๐–†๐–›๐–Š๐–˜ ๐–œ๐–๐–Š๐–“ ๐–’๐–†๐–๐–Ž๐–“๐–Œ ๐–Š๐–๐–™๐–—๐–†๐–ˆ๐–™ โ€“ ๐–†๐–›๐–”๐–Ž๐–‰ ๐–š๐–˜๐–Ž๐–“๐–Œ ๐–™๐–๐–Š ๐–˜๐–™๐–Š๐–’๐–˜.
โ€ข ๐•ฏ๐–” ๐–“๐–”๐–™ ๐–‘๐–Š๐–™ ๐–™๐–๐–Š ๐–’๐–Ž๐–๐–™๐–š๐–—๐–Š ๐–˜๐–™๐–†๐–“๐–‰ ๐–‹๐–”๐–— ๐–’๐–”๐–—๐–Š ๐–™๐–๐–†๐–“ ๐–™๐–œ๐–” ๐–‰๐–†๐–ž๐–˜, ๐–Ž๐–™ ๐–œ๐–Ž๐–‘๐–‘ ๐–Œ๐–Š๐–™ ๐–‡๐–Ž๐–™๐–™๐–Š๐–—.
โ€ข ๐•ธ๐–†๐–๐–Š ๐–˜๐–š๐–—๐–Š ๐–™๐–” ๐–‰๐–†๐–™๐–Š ๐–†๐–“๐–‰ ๐–‘๐–†๐–‡๐–Š๐–‘ ๐–™๐–๐–Š ๐–ˆ๐–”๐–›๐–Š๐–—๐–Š๐–‰ ๐–‡๐–”๐–™๐–™๐–‘๐–Š.
โ€ข ๐•พ๐–™๐–Š๐–›๐–Ž๐–† ๐•ฌ๐–‘๐–ˆ๐–”๐–๐–”๐–‘ ๐•ฐ๐–๐–™๐–—๐–†๐–ˆ๐–™ ๐–‘๐–†๐–˜๐–™๐–˜ ๐–†๐–‡๐–”๐–š๐–™ ๐–™๐–๐–—๐–Š๐–Š ๐–’๐–”๐–“๐–™๐–๐–˜ ๐–Ž๐–‹ ๐–๐–Š๐–•๐–™ ๐–—๐–Š๐–‹๐–—๐–Ž๐–Œ๐–Š๐–—๐–†๐–™๐–Š๐–‰.

But if you are not up for making your own extracts, you can always just use fresh leaves directly from your plant or pre-harvested dried leaves to sweeten your eats or drinks to taste.

๐”พ๐•ฃ๐• ๐•จ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•Š๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•’:

And to really sweeten the deal, the Sugar leaf plant is a reasonably easy grower and can adapt easily to gardens as well as pots. And although slightly labor intensive at first, the rewards are very well worth it. So why not grow your own?

๐”พ๐•ฃ๐• ๐•จ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•Š๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•’ ๐”ฝ๐•ฃ๐• ๐•ž ๐•Š๐•–๐•–๐••;

โ€ข Take the seeds that you would like to grow and place in a planting tray.
โ€ข Cover the seeds lightly with a 1/8 inch layer of potting soil or vermiculite.
โ€ข Settle the planting medium in by gently spritzing water over the top layer.
โ€ข Cover your planting tray with a transparent plastic sheet. (USE RECYCLED MATERIAL IF POSSIBLE)
โ€ข Ideally the temperature should be approximately 75-80หš F.
โ€ข Initially your seeds will need lights twenty-four hours of the day, this can be gradually tapered down to 15 hours of light by the third week.
โ€ข Once your seedlings emerge you should remove the plastic cover.
โ€ข Seedlings should emerge in 7-14 days.
โ€ข Seeds should be watered every 3 โ€“ 5 days, ideally from below.

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โ„™๐•๐•’๐•Ÿ๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•†๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•’ ๐•Š๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•’ ๐•Š๐•–๐•–๐••๐•๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜;

  1. Allow your seedling to reach at least 5 inches tall before you plant it out.
  2. Promote branching out by trimming one to two inches off the main shoot, then transfer your seedling to the desired pot. (as they get bigger, you can move them to a bigger pot.)
  3. If you would like to plant your Candy leaf out into the garden โ€“ make sure that you wait at least 8-10 weeks before doing so. (This gives the plant enough time to harden a bit)

Tips on helping your plant harden:

โ€ข Move the seedlings/pots outdoors. (Still keep it protected from direct wind and sun)
โ€ข Start by placing the seedlings/pots outdoors for and hour or two a day.
โ€ข Gradually increase their time outside as days go by.
โ€ข Once you see that the plant is able to endure the outside conditions for extended time periods, you can move your plant into direct sunlight.
โ€ข When plants have had a chance to acclimate to the full sun a bit better, then they are ready to be planted into the garden.

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Well...? What are you waiting for?

Get Planting!

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Thanks For Your Time,

Wishing You a Sugar Coated Steemalitios Day!

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people need to admit that stevia is better than sugar :D but too much stevia causes healthproblems too :D

HaHa, yes indeed.

I think at the end of the day too much of anything can end up being bad for you!

I think the key word here is: Moderation.

Thank you for commenting, and may you have an inspiring day!

gardening is also my favourite

I am glad for you!

This post has received a 0.58% upvote from thanks to: @breezin.
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success for you friend @breezin thank you for sharing.
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Thank you ever so much @jhon

Wow! I never knew you could make your own stevia... Thanks for the info :-)

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