Plants, Fruits & Herbs at our farm (S - Z)

Name	Uses	Availability
Snake Gourd	The young fruits are cut into pieces and boiled in curries or as a substitute for French beans. Locally, only the Indians consume this dish. As the fruit ages, it becomes bitter and fibrous. Like so many other bitter fruits, the bitterness is viewed as a tonic and hence finds much use in native medicine.
Sorrel	The leaves are used in salads and chopped into soups.
Soya Bean	To make tofu, to make Soya bean oil. Soya Oil cakes, made from the fibrous residue left over after the beans have been crashed for oil extraction and it provide rich protein feed for cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Soya beans also serve industrial purposes. Processed, the by-products of Soya are used in the manufacturing of plastics, shoes, floor tiles, cosmetics, paints, electrical insulation and soap.
Spearmint	Young leaves and shoots in salad, roots fried in butter, leaves in soup.
Sponge Gourd/Luffa	The fruit is peeled, cut into slices and cooked as a vegetable. The other species of loofah, L.cylindrica, has greater commercial importance, being employed in the cleaning of glassware, utensils, dishes, etc and commonly called dish rag gourd. It is also used in Chinese medicine.
Sunflower	Seed is use for oil and birds food.
Sweet Basil	Fresh leaves use with tomatoes, mushrooms, egg dishes, sausages, stuffing, sauces, chicken, French dressing and many meat dishes.
Sweet Marjoram	Fresh or dried leaves in meat casseroles shortly before serving, sausages, stuffing, bouquet garnish, with mushrooms, egg dishes, cheese, to flavor vinegar.
Sweet Potato (Orange)	The roots tubers are usually boiled and eaten as a dessert. They are sweet in taste owing to the presence of sugars, the quantity of which is increased by boiling or baking. However, starch is the main constituent and flour can be prepared from the tubers. The leaves cooked with dried prawns and chilli form as cheap and palatable dish.
Sweet Potato (Purple)	The roots tubers are usually boiled and eaten as a dessert. They are sweet in taste owing to the presence of sugars, the quantity of which is increased by boiling or baking. However, starch is the main constituent and flour can be prepared from the tubers. The leaves cooked with dried prawns and chilli form as cheap and palatable dish.
Tansy	Tansy is used to expel worms from the body. Externally it is used to treat cuts and bruises. It is also used to repel ants and other insects.
Tarragon	Tarragon is more common in Continental than in English cookery, and has long been cultivated in France for culinary purposes. The leaves, which have a fragrant smell in addition to their aromatic taste, make an excellent pickle. The herb should be used fresh, because the aroma of dried tarragon is usually very weak.
Thyme	Fresh or dried leaves added to roast of grilled meat before cooking kebabs, poultry, use in fines herbs, bouquet garni, cheese dishes, salads, marinades, vinegar and oil, lemon thyme in custards.
Tomato	The fruit is eaten raw or fried and often used as a salad vegetable. It can also be processed to make juice, paste or puree. The presses cake is used as a fertilizer or stockfeed.
Water Spinach (Kang Kong)	The young plants, leaves and shoots form a common leaf vegetable with Asians. Owing to its high iron content, it is often fed to patients who are suffering from certain type of anemia.
Watermelon	This melon is eaten as a fruit.
Winter Gourd	It is primarily a food plant in India and China. It can be eaten raw like cucumber but more commonly cooked as vegetable. The globose or ovoid fruit of winter gourd, hollowed out from one end, can be used as a soup bowl.