Today I planted two Egyptian riverhemp aka Sesbania sesban which is a medium sized legume tree. I got a small pack of seeds from Paul from Regenerations Botanical Garden / Kauai Food Forest.
We managed to germinate three of them and grew them out, and now we have sprouts popping up for transplanting.
If you like growing pidgeon peas, well this one is pidgeon peas on steroids. The pods are thin with small seeds and are non edible, but the trees quickly grow over 20 feet and handles the wind better than pidgeon peas. Great for coppicing and alley cropping.
The leaves create a nice dapple shade for cacao, so I’m planning to grow this wherever I need some quick shade and wind protection.
For my friends on Big Island that want to try growing Sesbania sesban let me know! In my opinion, this is a very useful plant for building up a forest.
Originally posted on 2021-01-27, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.