𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓭 𝓰𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓻, 𝔂𝓸𝓾

𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓯𝓮𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼
𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓾𝓵𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽
𝓸𝓯 𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵
𝓰𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓷. 𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓱𝔂 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹 𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓭𝓰𝓮 𝓸𝓯
𝓪𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓬 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝔂 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓭𝓭
𝓪 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝔁?

𝕄𝕪 ℍ𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝔾𝕖𝕞:

I must admit, I am one of those people who always tries to justify a visit to my local plant nurseries, and regardless of the reasons that got me there, I always make a point to take a walk through the entire place with the hopes of discovering a new plant that I can add to my garden collection, and every now and then, I discover such a gem.

This was the case on one of my more recent visits there. As I walked through the herb section of the plants I noticed one plant that looked a bit out of place, so I walked closer to investigate and much to my surprise it was a Candyleaf Plant just waiting for me to take it home.

Stevia Rebaudiana also known as the candyleaf, sweetleaf, or sugarleaf.

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕠 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝?

The leaves of the Stevia plant contain steviol glycosides, mostly in the form of stevioside and rebaudioside; meaning that they are about 250 – 300 times sweeter than sugar – ounce per ounce – hence the nicknames: candyleaf, sweetleaf, or sugarleaf

These leaves are used to produce a natural sweetener to use as an alternative to normal sugar, and is readily available for purchase in most health stores ~ FOR AN ARM AND A LEG OF COURSE!

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕆𝕨𝕟:

Making your own Stevia Extract is a much more cost-effective way to get your hands on this sweet treat, and I would like to add it is also much easier than you might think, and today I will explain to you how it is done, so that you too can reap the benefits of Stevia.

𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕎𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔹𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕒 𝔼𝕩𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥:

You will need:

Half a Cup of Dried Stevia Leaves (Tightly packed)
One Cup Water.
(Makes +/- half a cup liquid extract)

Here is What You Do:

• Place one cup of water in a small saucepan and heat to a simmer. DO NOT LET THE WATER BOIL!
• Add the dried Stevia leaved and gently stir.
• Cover the mixture in the saucepan and let it steep. (+/-40 minutes)
• Strain mixture to remove the leaves.
• Pour the liquid yield into a container. (preferably a glass jar)

𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮: 𝓐 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓼 𝓳𝓪𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓔𝔁𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓾𝓹 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝔀𝓸 𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓴𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓸𝓻.

𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝔸𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕙𝕠𝕝 𝔹𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕒 𝔼𝕩𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥:

You will need:

Half a Cup of Dried or Fresh Stevia Leaves
Edible Alcohol e.g. Vodka (Enough to cover leaves)
(Makes +/- half a cup liquid extract)

Here is What You Do:

• Rinse and spin-dry leaves thoroughly.
• Break or chop the leaves roughly. (if you are using dried leaves try not to get the powdery parts in)
• Place the leaves in a resealable glass jar and then cover with the alcohol.
• Seal theclearly marked jar and then place in a cool dry place with no direct sunlight.
• Mix or shake the mixture two to three times a day, for the next two days.
• Strain the mixture through a coffee filter. (the leaves should be a pale yellowish colour at this stage)
• Place the strained Stevia liquid in a small saucepan and place over low heat. DO NOT BOIL
• Gently simmer for 20 to 30 minutes to reduce the alcohol. (The mixture should now be a bit thicker and darker)
• Strain the mixture through a filter again then place in a small dropper bottle. (If you do not have one, a vanilla extract bottle or something similar should work well)
• Use drops as needed.

𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘:

IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE RUBBING ALCOHOL!

• 𝖀𝖘𝖊 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖘 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖊𝖝𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙 – 𝖆𝖛𝖔𝖎𝖉 𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖘.
• 𝕯𝖔 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖑𝖊𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝖙𝖜𝖔 𝖉𝖆𝖞𝖘, 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖌𝖊𝖙 𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗.
• 𝕸𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖑𝖆𝖇𝖊𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖇𝖔𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊.
• 𝕾𝖙𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖆 𝕬𝖑𝖈𝖔𝖍𝖔𝖑 𝕰𝖝𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙 𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖘 𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖍𝖘 𝖎𝖋 𝖐𝖊𝖕𝖙 𝖗𝖊𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖉.

But if you are not up for making your own extracts, you can always just use fresh leaves directly from your plant or pre-harvested dried leaves to sweeten your eats or drinks to taste.

𝔾𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕒:

And to really sweeten the deal, the Sugar leaf plant is a reasonably easy grower and can adapt easily to gardens as well as pots. And although slightly labor intensive at first, the rewards are very well worth it. So why not grow your own?

𝔾𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕒 𝔽𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕊𝕖𝕖𝕕;

• Take the seeds that you would like to grow and place in a planting tray.
• Cover the seeds lightly with a 1/8 inch layer of potting soil or vermiculite.
• Settle the planting medium in by gently spritzing water over the top layer.
• Cover your planting tray with a transparent plastic sheet. (USE RECYCLED MATERIAL IF POSSIBLE)
• Ideally the temperature should be approximately 75-80˚ F.
• Initially your seeds will need lights twenty-four hours of the day, this can be gradually tapered down to 15 hours of light by the third week.
• Once your seedlings emerge you should remove the plastic cover.
• Seedlings should emerge in 7-14 days.
• Seeds should be watered every 3 – 5 days, ideally from below.

ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕆𝕦𝕥 𝕒 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕒 𝕊𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘;

1. Allow your seedling to reach at least 5 inches tall before you plant it out.
2. Promote branching out by trimming one to two inches off the main shoot, then transfer your seedling to the desired pot. (as they get bigger, you can move them to a bigger pot.)
3. If you would like to plant your Candy leaf out into the garden – make sure that you wait at least 8-10 weeks before doing so. (This gives the plant enough time to harden a bit)

Tips on helping your plant harden:

• Move the seedlings/pots outdoors. (Still keep it protected from direct wind and sun)
• Start by placing the seedlings/pots outdoors for and hour or two a day.
• Gradually increase their time outside as days go by.
• Once you see that the plant is able to endure the outside conditions for extended time periods, you can move your plant into direct sunlight.
• When plants have had a chance to acclimate to the full sun a bit better, then they are ready to be planted into the garden.

Well...? What are you waiting for?

Get Planting!

Thanks For Your Time,

Wishing You a Sugar Coated Steemalitios Day!