We have a number of Moringa trees on our property. These trees grow very easily here. They’re native to South Asia, and are a draught resistant plant. You can eat everything on the moringa tree. The leaves which are small and round are highly nutritious. Eaten raw they have a peppery taste to them. I like to put them in soup. It’s a little tedious picking all the leaves off, and because they’re small you need a lot of them. The leaves have the following nutrient value:
- 9 times the protein of yogurt
- 10 times the vitamin A of carrots
- 15 times the potassium of bananas
- 17 times the calcium of milk
- 12 times the vitamin C of oranges
- 25 times the iron of spinach
The plant also has bean pods. You can eat them when they’re smaller, just like a green beans, or if you wait until their slightly larger, you can eat only the inside of the bean as the outer shell becomes too fibrous. It’s still really good this way, and in fact, I actually prefer them.
You can eat the Moringa flowers as well. They can be eaten raw or lightly cooked, but you can’t cook them too much as they lose their nutrient value. Eat too many, and you might have to make several trips to the bathroom. They too are quite nutritious. They have a lot of calcium and potassium, and are known to reduce inflammation in the body. The flowers can be made into a tea as well. They’re also not supposed to be eaten if you’re pregnant, however they are good for nursing moms. Always good to check these things out if you’re pregnant or nursing.
And finally the bark, yes the bark can be used as well! There are quite a number of medicinal uses for this as well. There’s a process to make it into a paste. I haven’t done that yet, and probably won’t until I do further research. I have, however, eaten all the other things off the tree. They’re also a really pretty tree, especially when it’s flowering.
Other happenings around the garden …
We picked the first red coffee beans, they’re in my in laws yard, but we’ll be getting ours very shortly as well. So it’s officially staring our processing season.
And most exciting … I wrote a little about our dragon fruit, but the really exciting part is we have bees!!! Lots of bees. I’m not sure if they’re coming from a neighbor who keeps bees or they’re wild, but they’re pollinating the flowers and doing a bang up job if I may so say myself!!
all kinds of bees too. I love having them around!
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