Countryside: Thank you to the person who brought Stevia to everyone's attention in the May/June 2002 issue. I was surprised to see the comment about it being hard to grow so Territorial Seed is selling only plants. I received 10 free seeds from Park Seed because my order was over $25.00. I experienced about a 55% germination rate, which isn't too bad. The plants are strong and healthy and definitely sweet. I have tried Rosemary from seed without any success no matter what procedures I followed so I thought the Stevia came out pretty good.
You can get Stevia seeds from Park Seeds if you find that you need some. We live in zone 5 and the stevia is out in the vegetable garden in the ground.
We are constantly pinching of the tops, which makes it branch off and get bushier. When we started the seeds indoors the leaves (once the plant got of good size) were just as sweet as they are now. We had them under fluorescent lights. I saw that letter in Countryside also and was surprised to see that someone thought it was difficult to grow from seed. I didn't have nearly the problems with Stevia as I have had with some other fussy seeds.

I use it to brew tea. Chocolate mint tea and stevia or lemon balm were big hits. Any kind would do. I also dried it then put it through a clean coffee grinder to make a green powder. I read afterwards you can grind the leaves and stems! I threw the stems away before I read that. Green stevia powder isn't as expensive as the processed white stevia at a local Whole Foods store but it is still expensive, $162.00 a pound! I haven't used the green powder yet, just put it in a bottle. I am using the white powder ocasionally to cut back the amount of sugar in recipes.

I have many pages on stevia. Here are a couple. I have never grown it but I have encouraged others. Ken

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Here is what I have learned about stevia as of today. I have six additional pages and 20 additional pages in a file on growing it in the home or on the farm. Ken Hargesheimer

Where I am coming from: . It is a natural, non-caloric sweetner. Also, I am searching crops to be grown and sold at farmers markets by market gardeners and small farmers here and in third world countries.

You can grow it in your home and grind the leaves to a powder. It is 20-30 times sweeter than sugar. Processed it is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is available in health food stores or by the pound over the internet or in grocery stores in parts of Mexico .

Japan uses it in over 70 food products, including candy, ice cream, cookies, soft drinks, pickles, and chewing gum. Today stevia is used as a sweetener in many countries, including Paraguay, Brazil, Korea, Thailand, and China.
No negative clinical reports have appeared in any of these countries where stevia is readily available. I have read that Coca Cola uses it in South America.

Subj: Re: Stevia-a sugar substitute
Date: 7/24/99
From: pracko@earthlink.net (Paul n Shelley)

Ken;
Just got off the phone with John Lingle of Lingle's Herbs in Long Beach <
http://www.linglesherbs.com>.

The deal with processing the "powder" is by drying the leaves and then
breaking them up through a series of finer screens that will turn the dried leaf into a powder. It is often sold in Latin American stores.
(Note from Diane: I just dried my Stevia and ground it up in a small coffee grinder and turned it into a fine green powder that I keep in a spice jar.)
The liquid form is processed by taking fresh leaves, steeping them in water, and then crushing the leaves into a green liquidy paste which tastes somewhatlike green tea, but very sweet.

It is used in baking , drinks and teas and to sweeten foods which have already been cooked, e.g. sprinkling it on top of oatmeal.

The reason it's not used in processed foods in the US is because the FDA will not approve it as a food additive due to pressure from the sugar industry.
When you realize that Stevia now costs six times more than sugar, yet is 300 times sweeter, you can obviously see the economic advantage of using Stevia. Of course, the key to cheaper Stevia is an economy of scale, and complicated processing is not required as it is with sugar.

For a sweeter future,
Paul Racko, Executive Director
Long Beach Organic, Inc.
Http://longbeachorganic.org

The FDA approves Stevia as a herb but not as a sweetener. Aspartane is owned by the Monsanto Corp. Many people believe, including me, that Monsanto's powerful lobby prevents the FDA from approving it as a sweetener. The FDA is on the same side as the multinational corporations instead of on the side of the consumer. In the USA, you can grow it, sell it, etc but do not advertise it as a sugar substitute and all will be legal. A store in Arlington was "invaded" by the FBI saying that they were going to destroy all
books on Stevia. The owner told them his wife was going to video it. They left. ¿¿This in America?? Just proof of how powerful the multinational corporations are within the US government.

Books:
Now that you have it growing what do you do with it? Check out Jeffrey
Goettemoeller's new book Stevia Sweet Recipes: Sugar Free---Naturally. There are recipes for everything from Breakfast to Dessert. Jeffrey Goettemoeller 221 South Saunders Street, Maryville, MO 64468.
<jgoettemoeller@hotmail.com>
.

"My cookbook utilizes both green stevia powder and white stevia extract. The green powder can be made by simply processing dried leaves (no stems) in a kitchen blender. I grow stevia here in MO. It grows even in humid summers, but I like to use raised beds, mulch, and a soaker hose. Pinch the tips out every month or so to promote branching. Check out my web page for some links dealing with stevia:
http://homestead.com/stevia/";. Jeff

"Stevia Rebaudiana, Nature's Sweet Secret" 2000 edition with growing info.
<
jgoettemoeller@hotmail.com>
http://www.steviaplant.com, www.rain-tree.com/stevia.htm

Growing Stevia:
http://res.agr.ca/lond/pmrc/faq/stevia.html,
http://www.stevianow.com/growing_stevia.htm
http://www.fastlane.net/~kirkland/stevia/stevia.htm

Using Stevia:
http://www.diabeticgourmet.com/forum/sweeteners/
http://www.healthfree.com/stevlife.htm
http://www.samplegalleria.com/steviaread.htm
http://www.gks.com/library/stevia/stv-faq.txt,

Stevia plugs are available from: <mvg@spiralcomm.net>, <
mulberrycreek@yahoo.com> & Canada- <orderdesk@richters.com> Seed are available from <http://chatlink.com/~herbseed> <johnnyseed.com>.I have many pages on stevia. Here are a couple. I have never grown it but I have encouraged others. Ken

GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK
Box 1901, Lubbock TX 79408-1901
Tel 806-744-8517; Fax 806-747-0500
minifarms@aol.com + www.minifarms.com
Workshops in organic, biointensive, raised-bed agriculture:
gardening, market gardening, mini-farming, mini-ranching worldwide in
English & Spanish

Sounds like you are following similar procedures as I used with the seed starting mix and lights. Lights shouldn't have hurt your plants so it must be somehting else. Only use hard water, never softened. Don't water too much but don't let them dry out either. The lights should be very close to your plants, at maximum a few inches above.

When plants die overnight it is sometimes a condition called damping off. It is a disease that will kill a plant quickly. We always use Milled Sphagnum Moss for seedlings that are prone to damping off. You can spot this disease by looking at a plant's stem. The stem will look rotted at the soil line. Place a spoonfull of the Milled Sphagnum Moss around the plant on top of the soil.

I received a message from some else about starting rosemary from seed, which so far has been unsuccessful for me. I am sending this email also to you in hopes that there is something in the directions that will help you with starting Stevia; sometimes hard to start seeds can be assisted by similar methods.

Here is her email to me:
Dear Diane:

Greetings, came across your letter in this issue of Countryside regarding your problems with growing Rosemary. My name is Neil and I am the Owner/Grower of Creative Earth Herb & Perennial Farm LLC located in Southeastern, Idaho. Currently we grow about 135 different herbs including several types of Rosemary. First, Rosemary can be a problem depending on the type that you are growing and the quality of seed that you are using. I recommend Rosemary officinalis 'Arp' this will survive outdoors in Zone 6 without winter protection and to Zone 4 with protection. It is a fast upright growing strain. Seeds can be costly, so look around before buying. Once you have your seeds, use a standard 1020 flat or a box about 10 x 20 inches. Fill half of the box or flat with vermiculite, do not use potting soil or perlite. Vermiculite come in three grades, Course, Medium, Fine. We use Medium, Fine, if we can find it. Sprinkle your seeds on top of the vermiculite and mist the seeds until the seeds and vermiculite are soaked. Now cover the seeds with about 1/8 to 1/4-inch of dry vermiculite. Do not mist again, the moisture from the bottom wet vermiculite will be pulled to the top by the dry vermiculite. Now cover your flat of box with 1 mil plastic. You can buy 1 mil plastic at any hardware or paint store. Painters use it to cover the floors and furniture. It comes in a 8 x 12-foot piece and costs lest than $2.00. Or you can use plastic wrap like you use for covering left overs. Both work great, but the 1-mil holds together better and is easier to work with. When the flat or box is covered put it in an area where it will remain about 75-degrees 24-hours a day. If you don't have a germination room put it on top of your fridge. A fridge top will maintain a constant 72-76 degrees. Do not uncover the flat or box for at least three days and keep an eye out for germination. After three days pick up the box or flat and check the weight of the vermiculite. If the flat or box is light, take off the plastic, place the flat or box on a large cook sheet and water from the bottom. Just pour the water on the cookie sheet and the Vermiculite will suck up the water it needs. Usually about ten minutes and recover. If the flat or box is still heavy do not uncover or water. When you start to get sprouts, uncover and place in shaded-warm area. Each night, recover the flat or box with plastic and put it back up on top of the fridge. Due this daily until all plants are up about an inch tall. Plants are now ready for transplanting. One of the biggest tricks with Rosemary is watering. Do not over water Rosemary, keep it dry. Also. water from the bottom and let the water be sucked up, do not mist or overhead water. That's the fastest way to kill Rosemary starts. We start about 1500 plants every year with this method and it seems to work pretty good. Should you have any problems or it I can be of help to you, just give a yell. Our Web Site is, www.Creativearthonline.com or you can E. mail me at Creativearth@cs.com. Happy planting, Neil
Sorry to say that I used all the free seeds sent to me from Parks. I plan on ordering them from Parks next year because I had good success from theirs. My plants never flowered, no flowers, no seed. Maybe it is a perennial in some climates.

We have a running thread about Stevia on our Web site- www.homeandgardensite.com that has some ideas on using it. Once you are at the web site click on 'Garden Question and Discussion' page. Then, enter, and click through to the 'conferences' and click on 'Perennials' conference. You will find a 'Stevia' thread there.

I have had several emails regarding Stevia. I was sharing the leaves tonight with a group of girls and their moms that came out to the gardens for a meeting. They were all very impressed with the leaves.
Mine is a small green plant with leaves that are longer than wide and
serrated edges. I am not sure about dry weather. Mine were mulched and taken care of because they are in the veggie bed.

I have heard that in South America they grow very large and are perennials.

I don't know if it is a perennial in my zone 5 but I think it is in warmer zones. I left some plants in the ground just in case.

I use it to brew tea. Chocolate mint tea and stevia or lemon balm were big hits. Any kind would do. I also dried it then put it through a clean coffee grinder to make a green powder. I read afterwards you can grind the leaves and stems! I threw the stems away before I read that. Green stevia powder isn't as expensive as the processed white stevia at a local Whole Foods store but it is still expensive, $162.00 a pound! I haven't used the green powder yet, just put it in a bottle. I am using the white powder occasionally to cut back the amount of sugar in recipes.

Sorry to hear about your stevia plants not living. Did you contact the company and ask for a credit. I always do when things don't make it.

I would think they would live in Florida, they sure were happy here in Michigan during the summer and it was a hot one! I think I remember reading that they can be a perennial in warmer zones.

Mine were raised from seeds. I started them indoors under fluorescent lights. They did great. Some of my friends who don't start their own seeds bought plants from a local herb nursery.

They didn't require much care. I run a Community Supported Agriculture program and so we had 14 families picking from them all summer long. You just pinch the branches off half way up the branch. This will cause them to become bushier. You can also pick off the leaves and new ones will grow back.

Before frost I picked all the leaves off, dried them and then ground them in a little coffee grinder. Supposedly you can even grind the stems, I didn't know this when I did mine.

The green powder sells for 162.00 a pound at Whole Foods and the refined (white) for 200.00 a pound! I use the green powder for things that the color won't bother them and the white when I don't want green stuff in it. The refined is a lot stronger.

If you like tea, grow chocolate mint and lemon balm (these are mints so they can become very invasive, be careful where you plant them and don't let the lemon balm go to seed) along with your stevia and you can make the most awesome teas.

Pat, I noticed while rereading the emails that there was reference in the above material to check out a running thread in the perennial conference about Stevia in our Garden Forum. I have bought a cookbook from an Internet supplier of Stevia, called 'Stevia Sweet Recipes' by Goettemoeller. Web address is www.sweetvia.com or call 888-878-3842.

The above info should get you started,
Diane