Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The pumpkin (
Cucurbita pepo
) is grown as edge plantings in home gardens,
agroforests, or food farms. The immature fruits and leafy shoots are consumed as
vegetables. Other common vegetables in the
Cucurbitaceae
family are the snake
gourd and the
chayote
and
Telfaria
sp. One or two plants of snake gourd are
grown for home consumption in home gardens supported by live trees. The ripe
pulp around the seed is used as tomato paste substitute. The
chayote
,however,is
grown in fairly large numbers in pure stands for home consumption and for sale. The
immature fruits of
chayote
are used as a garden egg substitute in soups and stews.
Vegetable legumes
The most common legumes observed are the sword bean (
Canavalia ensiformis
),
lima bean (
Phaseolus lanatus
)
,
cowpea (
Vigna unguiculata
), pigeon pea
(
Cajanus cajan
), and black velvet bean. They occur in food farms or in home
gardens. The leaves of some species are used as spinach, fodder, or as a medicine.
The beans are commonly boiled and served as a snack, or prepared into stews or
in soups, while the beans of some species are prepared into doughnuts and served
with porridge or as a snack.
Sword bean
(
Canavalia ensiformis
)
Several land varieties exist, with pole/climbing stems bearing pods of varying sizes
that contain white, dark red, purple, or mottled beans of variable sizes, from large
beans (2-3 cm long) to small beans about 1.5 cm long. The sword bean is grown in
food farms or in home gardens using live trees as stakes. The local varieties are long-
season types that last for over nine months. Sword beans are eaten at the immature
green stage or mature dry stage. The beans are boiled and served as a snack or side
dish, cooked and served whole in soups, or mashed and prepared into soups or stews.
Lima bean (Phaseolus lanatus)
The varieties encountered differ in pod and bean sizes. The colour of beans ranges
from white, light brown, red and white, or purple and white mottled, to purple.
Again all varieties are pole types. Lima beans are used in much the same way as
the sword beans. The leaves are also consumed as spinach.
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
Like the other pulses, the land varieties of cowpeas encountered under forest con-
ditions are all climbers, although creeping and erect types exist in the country. The
bean size and colour vary. The common colours are the black-eye types, brown
mottled, light brown, and red. Immature pods or beans or mature dry beans are
eaten. They are cooked in soups, boiled and prepared into stews, and served with
gari
, a cassava meal, or they are cooked together with rice. The beans are also
