Quinta das Abelhas

I bought about 20 monkey puzzle tree seeds during the winter, but forgot to read the instructions, which said ‘plant immediately!’. So, sometime later, having read them, I stuck them all into a tree seed tray.
Months passed, and I’d kind of given up on them ever germinating, and resigned myself to having to buy new seeds this winter - this time i would plant them out straight away. i thought. I left them in the tray, but really didnt expect them to grow.
A few days ago, I thought I’d use the tray for something else. Started pulling out the large seeds, which were almost all rotten, and then found that I have 6 plants sending deep taproots down through the bottom of the tray. Wahey!
So now we have 6 monkey puzzle trees, in larger pots. Only one has broken the surface so far:

Monkey Puzzles (latin: Araucaria araucana) grow very slowly, often not fruiting until they are 40 years old or more. But when they do fruit they produce cones the size of a human head full of edible seeds. What I’ve read tells me that the nuts contain a complete protein (mix of amino acids, unlike most plant proteins where you have to mix things to get the full range).
And apparently one fully grown tree provides enough protein to sustain a human being. In theory you need grow no other food crops for your daily protein requirements. Quite a magical plant.

Further information about Araucaria araucana.

I also just discovered that three of the Guar seeds that I planted in trays have also germinated. Guar (latin: Cyamopsis tetragonolobus) is a drought tolerant annual, grown widely in India, and is where guar gum is derived. It sounds like an ideal plant for Portugal’s hot dry summers.
These three and any more that germinate will be allowed to grow this year to provide seeds to grow a larger area nexy year. The pods can be eaten like green beans. Pods and beans can be fed to livestock (maybe our horses?), and of course guar gum can be made from the beans, and can be used to thicken stews etc or even to make ice cream. Yum yum!

More information about Guar beans / cluster beans.

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