What are the pros? Minimal water, frost tolerant
What are the cons? Not suitable for indoors
My favorite plant from Baker Creek! At first, I didn't like the flavor, but then got used to it and found that tender young baby leaves are much better than big rubbery leaves. I recommend planting a long row for each person you intend to feed, since you're only going to be harvesting one baby leaf (or possibly two on occasion) from each plant, each time you go to make a meal. Mixing it with some mild lettuce leaves in a salad makes it delicious.
Seems to be a C4 photosynthesizer. When I fail to water, it simply slows down instead of dying. It could easily out compete against grass and weeds. Big, rubbery adult leaves seem to be strong enough to survive through frost, and could even help provide some frost protection to nearby plants under those big leaves. Hardy, nutritious, easy to grow, what an awesome plant!
The only downside: this plant does not grow very well under CFL's indoors. Needs real sunshine. Adult leaves never stop growing in size, also making it poor for indoors.
Would you recommend this product to a friend?
Yes