UF extension officials say
cranberry substitute is so easy to grow, anyone can do it
From the
Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service
Institute of Food
and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It’s related to okra, is officially a hibiscus and
tastes a lot like cranberry.
University
of Florida extension officials say this Southern-style cranberry
substitute is so easy to grow, just about anyone can do it. And if
that’s not enough, it’s an attractive ornamental plant that boasts
green leaves, delicate off-white flowers and red stems and would boost
any garden—even if you don’t use it to make a spicy Thanksgiving
beverage, cranberry-style sauce, wine or jelly.
The Hibiscus
sabdariffa, also known as Roselle, Florida cranberry or
Jamaican
sorrel, is used around the world from Panama to Africa and the
Caribbean, said Al Ferrer, a UF horticulture extension agent from
Panama who grew up drinking the bright burgundy beverage.
About
nine years ago, Ferrer was given some seeds for the plant and
encouraged Jim Hunter, an extension service-trained Master Gardener and
Casselberry nursery owner, to try growing it.
Since then, it’s become tradition for Hunter to bring the spicy drink
to the county extension office’s annual holiday parties.
The
plant produces pale yellow flowers, which eventually fall. When they
do, a bright, fleshy red calyx encloses the seed pod, which looks
something like okra. Those calyxes are the secret to the flavor, said
Ferrer, who’s based in Seminole County.
The plant requires
almost no attention, Ferrer says. It’s exceptionally hardy and needs
little more than full sun and 100 consecutive days of warm weather. Up
north, where that might be iffy, Ferrer suggests the plant could be
started in a greenhouse and later moved outside.
The only real work, Hunter says, comes in harvesting the plant and
cooking with it.
He
makes about 2½ gallons of the drink at a time, which requires a grocery
bag full of the calyxes. And although each stem produces plenty of
calyxes, harvesting them can be somewhat tedious, Hunter said.
“It’s
a little bit of work to make the drink and most of us are not that
persistent,” he said. “But once you try it, you get hooked on the
drink.”
Hunter said his wife has used the calyxes as a
substitute in a cranberry sauce recipe and it turned out strikingly
similar to the traditional holiday condiment.
Extension
officials say the plant has been grown in Florida since the 1800s, and
has been planted near the historic Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home at
Cross Creek.
Here is
Hunter’s holiday punch recipe:
In a glass or porcelain pot, boil for 20 minutes:
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 large piece of ginger, crushed
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1 gallon water
Remove from heat. Add one gallon calyxes and let rest overnight. Strain
and add sugar to taste.
Back to
Hibiscus
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Bibliography
Anderson, M., Al Ferrer and Jim Hunter. “UF extension officials say
cranberry substitute is so easy to grow, anyone can do it.” UF/IFAS Blogs, 16
Nov. 2006, BLOG.IFAS, blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2006/11/16/uf-extension-officials-say-cranberry-substitute-is-so-easy-to-grow-anyone-can-do-it/.
Accessed 20 Aug.
2019.
Published 24 Sept. 2019 KJ
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