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Stories from the farm - a closer look at the people, the place and the bio-diversity at 5EyesFarm
Plants for medicine
—01
One of the wonderful things about being here is that growing a wide variety of food just happens almost by its self. Walking around the farm, we will come across various types of ginger coming out from underneath the roots of trees and sometimes in very tall crops by themselves. Their cousin, turmeric, and a bunch of other ground roots turn out to be really tasty and really healthy as well.
We make all natural, organic and hand prepared traditional medicines and remedies to order.
—02
We brush past many varieties of flowers that we are discovering are edible and many of them are very beneficial. The globe amaranth makes a great tea mixed with blue pea flower and pandan leaves. And it is very beneficial. And it’s not just insect attracting flowers that are edible from the gardens but banana flowers and other fruit tree flowers along with such things as cloves which are a small dried flower in their own right. There are many spices and other edible ground crops and parts of plants that are useful too. Extracting oil from coconuts, jelly from aloe vera, and the powders of nutmeg are a few examples.
—03
So all these strange foods ranging from common (lemongrass and mint) to exotic (gingers and vanilla) are referred to as medicine. Some have been studied extensively in university labs. Others have stood the test of time as remedies for all sorts of ailments. None of them by themselves is a cure-all but long have we known of the benefits of strengthening the immune system and curing cuts and colds and even more serious ailments.
—04
Some of the traditional medicines we grow
- Turmeric is good for reducing inflammation, blood flow, and building immunity.
- Globe amaranth is good as a tea for throat, cough and chest.
- Coconut oil is good for skin and hair as well as for eating.
- Aloe Vera is good for skin and hair and burns as well as smoothies (once the bitter slime is washed off).
- Cloves are good for teeth and gums and digestion.
- And the list goes on. We have been making remedies from the ginger family for aches and pains, strains and twists, muscles and joints. These are heat applied after cooking to good effect.
- Nutmeg is also magical and finely powdered and mixed with water is a good balm for ailments of the muscular and skeletal kind.
—05
We have a lot to learn in this interesting field that gives us both a new appreciation of modern pharmaceutical medicines and a new level of discernment about taking that for granted. Yea like just taking the first thing on offer because someone said. Looking into it a bit is really helpful. There are good global resources readily available and then more specific scientific and ‘research’ materials like this one. We even have a string of small success stories that are growing in number as we experiment with all this. Have a look at what you can grow in your garden or in pots on the windowsill.
Farm to You - Traditional Medicines and Remedies
Turmeric capsules: grown organically on farm and hand prepared by us. Rosella Jam – with all natural herb & spice variants. An array of teas – all grown organically and tested for best taste and benefits. We also make up remedy and immunity building packs from the ginger family. See our workshops for more
