HARVESTED FIRST ALMOND FRUIT FROM TREE GROWING IN DRUM

This morning I plucked one of the few almond fruits on the three-year old almond tree in my mini-garden.

I never get tired of telling the story of how this almond plant must have been cultivated for me by a bird three years ago😂. The growth of the tree has been phenomenal  - it has survived odds, even growing  to a sizable tree in same drum with other crops -yam, turmeric, ginger.

The leaves  of the almond  tree have been very useful as wraps for food like moin-moin and as manure for other plants in the garden.  The leaves can be boiled and taken as tea or soft drink with sweetener added. Even the chickens relish eating the leaves for vitamins and minerals.

While the leaves of fruit trees have many uses, we all look forward to the fruits. I learnt that the nut inside the almond fruit is as protein-rich as egg.

According to EatingWell online publication, this nut is a powerhouse, offering a range of nutrients, including fibre  and antioxidants, both of which contribute to good heart health.

Almond nuts can be used in making salads, in baking and in making drinks.

When almond fruit ripen very well before plucking, it is a very delightsome fruit snack to eat.

Uuuummm, many human eyes, if not all, are almond-shaped, I am perceiving that eating almond fruit would be good for eye-health - that's mini-garden researcher thinking deep. . .

Should I be thanking the birds that bring powerful seeds into my mini-garden? Well, I don't think these birds do such service selflessly o- they also compete intensely for the fruits when they mature and ripen.

So the next challenge to tackle would be when the fruits ripen, harvesting them before the birds eat them or pluck and take them away - you know they fly and we humans   don't.

But I am excited because it's obvious now that seeds brought by these birds are so powerful, they grow very vigorously - well let me not be selfish sha- maybe I should let the birds take away some fruits or seeds from the tree to bless others like they brought from elsewhere  to bless me.

Oh, how I wish  the birds would bring me pure seeds of avocado  so I wouldn't have to go through the hassles I have been having  with germinating seeds got through humans.

Gardening can be interesting with all these dynamics

#almond
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GROWING PLANTS - FOOD THAT HEAL THE BODY

While all healthy foods  have healing effects on the body,  certain foods  are super-healthy. 

 These super foods have curative effects on even a sick body and help the healthy body maintain good health.

You don't even need much quantity  at each meal or in drinks.  I am focusing today on two spices- ginger and turmeric.   Why is it important to grow these  even in any little space you have if you can?

Apart from cutting the costs on buying them,  you can also control the quality i.e. ensure they are truly healthy.

You may already know that these spices especially ginger is so very highly commercialised because of its high demand. That is a major reason chemicals such as pesticides  are used in growing  and preserving them. That introduces health hazards into what is supposed to heal the body. In fact these spices are not just healing foods, in addition they are widely used in body and hair care products and as medicine.  

I've been doing  a lot of studying on the liver and other body organs and functions - while the liver helps to remove toxins from the body, continuous high intake of toxins through food, drugs, drinks especially alcohol, perfumes, sprays etc can be damaging to the liver. 

Since  food and normal drinks are  what people always take, you can understand how wrong it is for any food and regular drinks  to have toxins   - it is feeding people slow poisons and this is   unnecessary stress on the liver, kidneys and other body organs. These predispose even people who are just innocently eating what they consider good food to diseases like cancer.  Food that messes with the gut can also predispose people to depression or poor mental health.

Except everyone can produce their own food, we continue  to be at the mercy of most commercial food growers and food handlers  who prioritise profit over consumers' health and wellbeing.  

But there are still some measures we can take to strengthen the liver and other body organs  by regularly taking  healing  super foods like ginger and turmeric . They are  spicy and give food and drinks great taste as well. We can include them in our food and drinks. So its better we grow these if we can. 

If the plants get attacked by pests or diseases, rather than use chemical solutions, there are organic solutions - such as soaking Neem leaves in water  for at least a day and spraying on the plants in the early morning or evening. We may also use orange peels, garlic etc

According to Food Network, ginger contains a variety of powerful antioxidants  which researchers have linked to improving heart health and possibly helping cancer treatment (some initial animal testing has shown positive results).

 

Turmeric according to Webmd 

 has been used  as medicine in places like India for centuries to treat issues such as breathing problems. Lately, turmeric has been touted as a super food that can fight cancer, ease depression.

I know Tumeric is good for liver health. These spices if grown through truly healthy means are also good for eye-health. But take in moderation as large consumption can also lead  to  excessive weight loss

OTHER GIST 

There are garden plants that have very  good scents. Instead of always spraying artificial air freshners, you can cut these plants and put inside your home or at the windows to lessen the amount of chemical air freshners we inhale - they are also very refreshing to inhale 

- see me grinning from ear to ear in the photos -details on this another day.

ORANGE LEAVES MAKE AWESOME WINE, TEA; SOFT DRINK, SEASONING

Some months ago I decided to plant orange seed in a basin.  I have  a very mini-garden with almost all plants cultivated in any available containers- sacks, buckets, drums, basins, pots.

I had intended to search and read about any possible benefit of orange leaves and other citrus leaves.

Then on Social Media  I saw a post by a woman on use of citrus leaves as tea and not long after another post by a man on how orange leaves make nice tangy tea.

So few days ago  since I have a seedling of orange plant in my mini-garden I decided to try the leaves  in making drinks.

WITH AVOCADO SEED

Incidentally that day I was also grating Avocado peat (seed). I usually process the avocado seeds  as one of the ingredients  for my home-made  body care products.

The seed can also be used in making drinks.  But hardly can one find avocados that have not been messed up with some chemical elements  these days because it is so highly commercialised. So much toxicity has been introduced into our midern food systems  in bid to boost yields. The question begging answer now is 'Is making food available enough justification to supply food damaging the health of people?

Fortunately last Wednesday I saw  a vendor with some few Avocado  fruits that I perceived were organic-grown and not been ripened with carbide.  I decided I would use  the seeds  as  drink.

DETOXING
I had been experiencing body distress signals- acute inflammatory  effects from cooking and eating beans and days later, eating rice bought in the market. So I decided to boil freshly  grated avocado seeds with some orange leaves plucked from the garden to start detoxing.

THE MIXED DRINK
Aaahh! See the colour in the initial photos  - the combo looks like an exotic red wine! 

The taste even without sweetening is not bad at all. You can sweeten with  honey or sweet fruit juice like lemon, grape. With or without sweetening, you can drink as wine, soft drink or tea. To preserve, add turmeric.

GROW TREE SEEDLINGS
So even if as an urban dweller, you cannot grow trees to fruiting stages, to enjoy fresh drinks that have loads  of health benefits, do plant seeds of fruit crops  e.g pawpaw, orange, lemon, lime, mango, almond etc- you will be glad you did.

USES
Even before I read of its calming effects, I noticed that drinking the fluid of the orange leaves has a calming effect on the body, mind and emotions so it should  be a healthier alternative to tranquilizer pills with all the side effects.

Apart from making great drinks, citrus leaves generally can be used as seasoning in cooking just like you would use bay leaves.

You can use in roasting or grilling  chicken, turkey, fish.  You can crush the leaves and squeeze out some fluid from them to add or just dice them and put on the food to be cooked. You may want to remove the remnants of the leaves after cooking before eating.

BENEFITS
The health benefits include  calming the nerves thereby reducing or alienating anxiety Since  the leaves are rich in anti-oxidant, they can be used as natural detoxification for the body, they  will help regulate blood sugar, help in weight loss management , they curb inflammatory effects of inorganic materials in food, drink , drugs we take. They also help the body combat intestinsl parasites,  prevented limit  common illnesses like headaches, common colds . After helping to detox the body, appetite will be boosted.

The orange leaves guard against palpitations, hypertension, reduce asthma and coughs.  But if having any of these conditions, consult with your health care practitioner.

ANTI-AGING
While studying on it, I read that  it is good for anti-aging . Many people especially females spend so much money on snti-aging products- well, if they are safe, okay. You can in addition plant these leaves that God the Creator has so  thoughtfully  blessed  us with.  That way there'll be safe, natural beauty therapies within  reach.

WITH PAWPAW LEAVES
I also mixed  the orange leaves with pawpaw leaves in making drinks- looks like green tea

I can't say for sure now which of the fruit tree leaves is more powerful. 

What I just like about the orange leaves is that the taste is not bitter.

 So when I mix with pawpaw leaves or any other bitter tasting leaf or seed,  the mixture may not need sweetening to drink.

#orangeleaves
#citrusleaves
#orangeleavesuses
#orangeleavesbenefits
#pureagriculture 
#agricutureversusgoodhealth
#minigardenresearch
#growingcornindryseason
#growingcornallyearround
#throughbredseeds
#purebredseeds
#agriculturalmedicine
#gardeningindryseason
#growingcropsindryseason
#growingcropsinsacks
#growingmaizeinsacks
#spaceconstrainedgarden
#gardeningincementedpremises
#gardeninginsacks
#growingplantsinsacks
#minigarden #urbangarden #urbangardening
#minigardening  #integratedgardening #gardening #gardeninginsmallspaces #integratedgardeninginsmallspaces  #spaceconstrainedurbangardening
#intercroppinginsoilsack.