farmeric January 2nd, 2011
Moringa or malunggay seed powder can be used as a quick and simple method for cleaning dirty river water. The powder joins with the solids in the water and sinks to the bottom. This treatment also removes 90-99% of bacteria contained in water.
Using Moringa to purify water replaces chemicals such as aluminum sulphate, which are dangerous to people and the environment, and are expensive.
Twenty litres of water can be treated in the following way:
- Remove the wings and brown seed coat and discard any seed kernels that have dark spots or any other signs of damage.
- Pound the kernels to a fine powder.
- Add 2 grams (2 small spoons) of powder to one cup of clean water, pour into a bottle and shake for 5 minutes.
- Filter the solution through a clean cloth into the bucket of dirty water that is to be treated. Continue Reading »
Tags: Food, honey, malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera, sugar cane, water purifier
farmeric December 25th, 2010
Cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and poultry browse the bark, leaves and young shoots of Moringa. The best diet for pigs is 70% Moringa, 10% Leucaena and 20% other leaves. It is possible for their diet to be 100% Moringa but it should be no more than 30% Leucaena.
The pork from pigs fed on this diet is lean. If trees are intended for animal fodder it is useful to prune them to 4m high, but if they are not they should be pruned to 6m so harvesting for human consumption can be easily carried out.
Livestock diets are improved by the addition of Moringa products!
Tags: livestock, malunggay, moringa
farmeric December 20th, 2010
All Moringa food products have a very high nutritional value. You can eat the leaves, especially young shoots, young pods, flowers, roots, and in some species even the bark. Leaves are low in fats and carbohydrates and rich in minerals, iron and vitamin B.
It is particularly useful as a human food because the leaves appear towards the end of the dry season when few other sources of green leafy vegetables are available.
Fresh leaves
Of all the products of the tree the leaves are used the most. They become tougher as they get older so it is best to pick the growing tips and young leaves. Remove the leaves from the woody stem, as this will not soften during cooking. The leaves can be used in the same way as spinach. An easy way of cooking them is to steam 2 cups of freshly picked leaves for a few minutes in one cup of water, seasoned with an onion, butter and salt or other seasonings according to taste.
Dried leaves
A leaf powder can be produced by drying the leaves and crushing or pounding them. You can sift the powder to remove leaf stems. This powder can then be added to Continue Reading »
Tags: Food, malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera
farmeric December 19th, 2010
All of the parts of the tree can be used in a variety of ways. Moringa is full of nutrients and vitamins and is good in your food as well as in the food of your animals. Moringa helps to clean dirty water and is a useful source of medicines. It provides lots of leafy material that is useful when using alley cropping systems. There are many other uses and these will all be described in this site:
Human food
Animal fodder
Water purification
Natural medicines
Fertilizer
Living fence
Alley cropping
Natural pesticide
Domestic cleaning agent
Fuel wood and other uses
Tags: malunggay, moringa oleifera, moringga
farmeric December 15th, 2010
How Does Moringa (Malunggay) Grow?
Rainfall and altitude
Moringa requires an annual rainfall of between 250 and 3000mm. It is drought resistant, though in drought conditions it may loose its leaves. This does not mean it is dead and it should recover when the rains arrive. It grows best at altitudes up to 600m but it will grow at altitutes of 1000m.
Temperature
It will survive in a temperature range of 25ºC to 40ºC but has been known to tolerate temperatures of 48ºC and light frosts.
Soil
Moringa prefers neutral to slightly acidic soils and grows best in well-drained loam to clay-loam. It tolerates clay soils but does not grow well if waterlogged.
Tags: malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera
farmeric December 13th, 2010
What is Moringa oleifera?
Moringa oleifera, known as Moringa, is native to north India but is now found throughout the tropics. Moringa is also known as horseradish tree, drumstick tree and mother’s best friend. It grows fast and reaches up to 12m. The bark is grey and thick and looks like cork, peeling in patches.
It looses its leaves from December to January and new growth starts in February to March. Moringa produces cream coloured flowers when it is 8 months old and the flowering season begins in January and continues through to March. The fruit ripens from April to June and the pods are triangular in cross section, 30 to 50cm long and contain oily, black, winged seeds.
source: Moringa oleifera A multi-purpose tree
Tags: malunggay, moringa, moringa oleifera
farmeric November 30th, 2010
If you usually eat a tuna sandwich for lunch, you might want to consider changing your menu. A Consumer Reports study found out that tuna contains enough mercury to pose a high risk to some women and children.
Mercury, in large amounts, can cause nerve and brain damage. It’s specially dangerous for unborn babies and young children because it can hamper their development.
Whether through factories or natural resources, mercury find its way into bodies of water - and fish. The bigger the fish, the more mercury it has. That’s because the fish got bigger by eating other fish, which also contained mercury. For example, white albacore tuna has about twice the mercury levels of light tuna, which comes from smaller fish.
Most people don’t eat enough fish to be in serious danger of mercury poisoning, but women who are pregnant or nursing and children under 5 years old should be careful.
To be safe, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines, a 132-pound woman should limit herself to one can of white tuna or two cans of light tuna a week, A 44-pound child should eat only one tuna sandwich a week.
farmeric October 3rd, 2010
While coffee presents risks for people with high blood-pressure, it can be a big help on certain short-term situations.
Here’s an example. You eat dinner, then stand up from the table and feel lightheaded or dizzy.
It’s fairly common occurrence because your blood pressure drops after meals. This low blood pressure, or hypotension, may even cause you to faint.
Luckily, there’s a simple solution. Drink a cup of coffee or tea right after your meal, and the caffeine will boost your blood pressure just enough to prevent these potentially dangerous symptoms.
Exercising does the same thing, and a post-meal stroll is a good way for younger people to ward off a temporary drop in blood pressure.
But if you’re older, your best bet is to drink a caffeinated beverage first. Once you feel stable on your feet, then go for a walk.
Tags: coffee, high blood pressure
farmeric September 21st, 2010
You could be getting a lot of less calcium than you suspect. This warning comes from Dr, Robert P. Heaney of the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University.
It means your body can’t absorb the calcium from fortified soy milk as easily as it does from cow’s milk. In fact, you absorb about 75 percent less. The problem lies within the certain chemicals in the soy milk called antiabsorpers. These sees to limit how well your body takes in and uses the calcium.
This problem isn’t going away anytime soon since the FDA regulates calcium as food and not as a drug. That means the government measures how much calcium is in a product, but not how much your body will absorb.
Heaney has three recommendations if you’re concerned about getting enough calcium from soy milk.
Look on the labels. In its natural state, soy milk contains low levels of calcium - only about 10 milligrams (mg) in every cup. And remember, your body absorbs only a small percentage of that. On the other hand, a cup of cow’s milk contains over 350mg of calcium and you can use most of it. So, soy milk producers fortify their products with extra calcium to make them more Continue Reading »
Tags: calcium, Osteoporosis, soy milk
farmeric September 7th, 2010
The Ifugao Honey by Juan B. Dait, Jr,
THE RARE IFUGAO HONEY is not cultured. Pure and unadulterated, it is made from the nectar of wild flowers which colonies of bees gathered in the distant forests of Asipulo town in Ifugao.
Honey season in Asipulo starts from the month of March and ends in August. During these months, swarm of honeybees settle in in the forests of some barangays in Asipulo and busy themselves making honeycombs in the branches of trees. The yearly appearance of the honeybees in Asipulo reminds one of the annual migration to the Philippines of flock of foreign birds ti escape the cold Siberian winds.
The seasonal migration of honeybees in Asipulo is a boon to the natives of the far-flung barangays of the the town who earn good income by gathering the “manufactured” honey and selling the sweet liquid in bottles in the nearby markets of Kiangan, Lagawe, Lamut, and Banaue. The rare honey even reaches the markets of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Baguio City.
Ifugao honey is ripe for gathering one month after the bees start making beehives. The natives traditionally gather the manufactured honey by smoking to drive away the bees from their hives. The honeycomb is then pulled down and opened to allow the honey to flow out into containers.
There are two kinds of Ifugao honey: the Uyukan and the Alig. The Uyukan bees are bigger and Continue Reading »
Tags: alig bees, asipulo, ifugao honey, uyukan bees
