NIGHTSHADE GREENS, Njama Njama Landrace

Solanum scabrum 

Approximately 70 seeds in each packet.

Germination: 71% Packed for 2023

Used as a food, a dye, and as a medicinal herb, Njama Njama (pronounced jahma-jahma) is known in English as “garden huckleberry.” While this plant produces a profusion of anti-oxidant-rich purple to black berries (and occasional green-when-ripe berries), many of our African friends say they mostly consume the leaves.

We were introduced to this West African landrace variety of Njama Njama by our friend Ergibe Boyd, an Eritrean-American immigrant farmer based in Prince Georges County, Maryland. She harvests them for the leaves (though she also likes to put a few of the antioxidant-rich berries in her smoothies). Her seed came from a variety of sources, mostly from Cameroon.

IMPORTANT NOTE: While this plant is commonly grown and consumed as a vegetable in Africa, members of this genus are known to contain potentially harmful alkaloids, so care should be taken when eating it for the first time. Like any new food, it's worth being aware of the potential for allergic or other adverse reactions. That said, millions of people enjoy this plant every day.

GROWING NOTES: Can be direct-seeded, but is best started in flats as you would tomatoes. Start a few weeks before last frost and plant starts outside after all danger of frost has passed.