In one of the online international conferences I participated in, one of the key points I got was that 'households that have trees of economic value tend to be resilient during economic hardships.'
This is one of the findings of researchers on the global lockdown due to Covid19 in different developing countries including Nigeria.
But due to my current space constraints and cemented premises, I have been growing trees in sacks ...mango, almond, pawpaw etc
Sighsss... as the trees grow from seedling into trees, they are outgrowing the sacks. They may not grow to fruiting stage but do you know virtually all fruit trees have beneficial leaves? So you can't completely lose out if you grow trees even in small containers like sacks.
I saw a fellow herbalist on Instagram who has produced tea bags from leaves of Bush mango (Ogbono) and African Cherry (Agbalumo) .
So I am encouraged to plant more trees in sacks - I have recently also planted Soursop and African Cherry (Agbalumo) and even Pomegranate but not sure that could germinate because the pomegranate was bought in a supermarket and I don't think it's organic.
But there is only one tree planted directly in the ground soil in my premises - Neem tree (Dongoyaro). Not wanting it to threaten built structures, I have tried so hard to get it killed - I have called an artisan about three or four times to cut and wipe it out competely and rubbed engine oil to the part we were unable to uproot.
But it takes only some weeks and a little rain, this tree would sprout again from that point and grow back to tree size in few months.
So I watch it regularly and when it's blooming, I would weaken it's growth so it wont become massive, by cutting off it's parts.
I have to do this regularly - calling an Artisan to come on time isn't always possible. So I now cut off the tree parts by myself regularly using cutlass. Do not worry o, I do this sort of work not because I am forced to but because I can and I don't mind doing such. Even when the chips are down, I have a caring, supportive family but I choose to be up and doing.
I found out that to truly enjoy life, you have to be hard working as well but when there are truly smarter options, you can of course explore it to achieve your aims. But having a lazy attitude to life would eventually entrap the person - so try to do as much as you can.
After cutting the Neem leaves, I dry these leaves which have several uses such as:-
1 - the leaves can be burnt in a metallic bowl to drive away mosquitoes and other insects - unlike manufactured insecticides that pollute the air due to chemical elements, Dongoyaro leaves purify the air -e.g. get rid of bacteria.
2 - I use small quantities in compounding two of the body cosmetics I make for furure commercialisation and which I currently use for a smooth, clear skin - hence I don't need heavy makeup to hide anything.
3 - I make the leaves into herbal concoction for health-related purposes which I won't detail yet until I get certified as a herbal medicine practitioner.
4. Neem leaves are also well used on farms and gardens to prevent or curtail insect attacks.
A pity that the space issue is preventing me from allowing the tree grow massive to fruiting stage - the green fruits of Neem tree contain Neem oil which is like agricultural liquid gold because it is very pricey.
Recently I noticed that whenever I have been doing lots of physical exertion in the garden, my body starts craving for good food - for someone who used to have loss of appetite on some days, that is really good.
After working real hard in the garden, these last days, it was as though my body was warning me that if you dare not eat and eat well, I will protest o! - .so I knew bread and butter or any mede-mede (junkie) food will not revitalise my body - it must be nutritiously healthy food if I still want to use this body to do other things later in the day such as reading/researching, writing and processing ingredients I use for tests of the home-made beauty products.
So this Monday morning like last week, I peeled beans and soaked, went to continue the gardening work and cleaning the environment.
I plucked pepper leaves from the garden, squeezed it , also squeezed scent leaves - basil.
After blending the beans, I added the juice of these healthy leaves, added other ingredients and made moin-moin this time around.
After early morning farm or garden work, a breakfast of herbs-garnished moiin-moim and corn pap sweetened with honey is the real deal - it kept my brain tuned to reading frequency.
Garden herbs can help not just to prepare/ eat simple meals but to medicate for healthy body.
Being so intentionally active is one of the ways I keep this 50 year old body strongly intact.
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