Gynura procumbens or Longevity Spinach is a versatile perennial vegetable that we grow all over our campus at the ECHO North America Regional Impact Center. Personally I love the young tips cooked with eggs or tossed into a Italian Sausage Soup instead of spinach. The other thing I love about Gynura procumbens is how easy it is to propagate by tip cuttings.
Using scissors or pruners we remove the top 4 inches (10-12cm) trying to make sure we have 4 nodes.
We snip off all but the top 3-4 leaves, which we leave, but cut in half.
If we do not have enough tip material to make all the cuttings we need we will use the next 4 nodes down, but we usually stay away from the thicker stems towards the base of the plant.
The bottom 1-2 nodes are stuck into our seeding up soil mix in a plug tray and placed in our 60% shade green house. They often do not require much extra care other than intentional watering. We’ve never had to use rooting hormone with them.
What is your favorite recipe for Gynura procumbens - Longevity Spinach?
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Here’s one of my favorite recipes! I think the longevity spinach has a nice texture that complements okra nicely. Longevity spinach is a great plant to keep right outside of a house, often as a groundcover underneath trees or other plants since it grows low. If left uncut, it will start to vine and I’ve seen it grow straight up into a jaboticaba tree. Unlike other vines, it does not cling to branches and so is easy to trim down or simply pull down if that growth habit doesn’t work for your system. On the other hand, that growth habit could be utilized to keep the leaves away from potential ground or manure contaminants…either way it’s a helpful plant!
2 Tablespoons oil (coconut has a nice flavor)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 handful fresh thyme leaves
1 Scotch Bonnet habenero pepper, de-seeded, chopped small (I’ve used many other hot peppers and they all work well, just determine your preferred spice level)
4 Cups chopped okra (roughly 1/2 inch slices)
1 Tablespoon salt
black pepper to taste
3 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 Cup chopped longevity spinach (about 2 handfuls freshly harvested)
1 cup cilantro (I often use less depending on what I have)
lime juice to taste (optional)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
heat oil and saute garlic, ginger, onion, bell pepper, thyme, and scotch bonnet pepper until onions are soft. add the okra and sear on high heat for a couple minutes to your liking (if you like okra less slimy, cook longer until seared and crispy, if more slimy, cook less long). season with salt and pepper, add tomatoes and half of the cilantro. cook until tomatoes are soft, may need to add water to the pan. add longevity spinach and stir well, cook until wilted. garnish with remaining cilantro, lime juice, and coconut flakes. enjoy! This dish pairs well with fried green bananas!
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