The Mini pharmacy in your garden.

Dear friends,

After seeing so many of your garden pictures could not come back. I love gardening as many of you know from my previous posts.definitely inspiring.

I prepare my own compost and also the soil that goes for the next pot.

But this post is not to talk about the container gardening. but to talk about the benefits of some of the plants that can be easily grown with a little patience and attention to detail. I grow these plants now.

Tulasi - The leaves of this herb are good for building immunity. a few leaves in the drinking water, enhances the taste. the leaves can be chewed raw, they are very much helpful in curbing migraines, reducing fever, helping in increasing the Red blood count. A tea made of this leaf helps in reducing cough and cold.can be grown from the seeds from the plant. you need to prune the plant to allow for good leaves. did you know that there are 4/5 varieties of tulasi. Karunthulasi, Senthulasi, Naithulasi, Nilathulasi, Kalthulasi and Multhulasi.

Curry leaves (kariveppillai) - The leaf that gets thrown out in a feast :rant. this humble leaf is very useful in controlling diabetes, blood pressure.It helps in reducing gastric problems. increases apetite. it is believed that this leaf helps in hair growth. this plant also can be grown from the seeds. people do pour sour buttermilk for a more flavourful leaves.

Vadanaraya leaves ( Delonix elata) - it is grown as shrub in many houses as a decorative plant, as the color of these leaves are so beautiful. This leaf has a heat nature. it is prepared with dhal and taken. The main benefit of this plant is controlling joint pains, arthiritis and bone related problems and also swellings in knee cap. a weekly intake helps in general helathy. a small branch can be used to grow this plant. i have done it and you can see a few new leaves on the branch.

Aloe vera or the sotrukatrazhai..that was earlier sold as a evil eye evader is a great medicine and a resourceful plant. latest product from aloe vera is a saree (even a ilite has posted details about this somewhere)
the pulp is full of aminoacids and proteins no wonder this is being marketed as a multivitamin syrups, juice. a little of the pulp applied on the skin reduces blemishes, and other skin problems. a little pulp taken in helps in reducing body heat. this herb is used in liver and eye disoders.
our ilite friend satya had given a hair oil using aloevera.

A small bulb is enough to get a good yield. i have a friend who removes the pulp and make a gravy. have not tried it.:hide:

Karpooravalli.: The fleshy leaves have a pungent aroma. the juice of these leaves work as a great expectorant. a tea of the leaves along with tulasi taken regularly reduces the occurence of cold/cough. The juice of this plant, when boiled with gingelly(sesame oil) can be used as externally on the head to reduce cold. apart from this it is used to reduce bees stings. relieves sore throats, breathing problems. Heard that it also has analgesic properties and anti oxidants.
a small stem is enough to propagate a new plant, excess water leads to rotting.

 

Manathakkali : The leaves have antiinflammatory and analgesic properties. that is the reason it is very much recommended when somebody has ulcers.
a few leaves chewed relieve you of mouth ulcers. the fruits when ripe are used in treating mouth ulcers and intestinal ulcers. the leaves have a cooling property.

a few ripe fruits are enough to propate this plant. one tree can yield a lot of fruits. the non-ripe are soaked in curds and dried to be used later called vathals. fried in ghee is given to people who have nausea.rich in vitamin b.

Ponnaganni : though it is painstaking job to clean this leaf. the medicinal qualities of these leaves is too many to neglect it. it improves eyesight, fever and indigestion. it is recommended for lactating mothers as it promotes BM.
Next time you buy a bunch, don't forget to put them in soil. they grow well.

Keezhanelli : resembling a touch me not plant, the small leaves contain the great medicinal uses. it is used it treating jaundice. the small leaves, help in getting rid of toxin and purifying blood.
it grows just like that.:biglaugh

Pasalai keerai: touted as the south indian spinach, is rich in iron, proteins and vitamins high in calcium too. a cooler.

a small stem is enough to propagate. it is a climber.

 

Hibiscus : there are many varieties in this particular flowering shrub.
the traditions five petal leaf (red) variety if consumed regularly helps in strengthening the heart. today you get a hibiscus sherbet in the gramodyog shops.
The leaves of the hibiscus crushed in water make good shampoo conditioners for hair.
A stem with a correct node can be used for propagation.

Arugampul : the grassy leaf that we offer to ganapathi.the juice is a very famous drink very popular because of the medicinal properties. it reduces body heat, and purifies blood. it is known to reduce excess blood sugar. the paste of the grass when taken is known to help in control of haemorhhroids.

this grass grow in random.

Mint : the leaf that looks so appealing to the eye, packs a punch with its medicinal value.
The main one is it keeps mosquitos away because of its smell. it is a dieuretic, and flushes out toxins. it helps in reducing irritated bowel syndrome. it has anti-itching properties. so the juice relieves bee stings.
a single stem when planted, grows fast if there is no excess water and the soil is rich.

sangu pushpam : the plant that has flowers like a tongue. the tea of these flowers relieve excessive tiredness and also relieves liver disorders. the leaves reduce excessive sweat.

 

Deepu,

thanks. this thread is to share the information with others. we do come across these plants and some of us do not look at them twice isn't it.

nothing is useless i suppose.

 

I know shel. i have to water it twice to keep it green. as i have already mentioned the water shortage makes me look at the skies frequently.

the 3rd picture is used as a decorative plant in lot of apartments and houses. it is the vada narayanan that i have talked about it in the first post.

a branch is enough. it does not need pampering. you just take the leaf, wash it thoroughly, pinch of the centre vein, chop it fine and cook it as any other leaf.

Out of focus are
tomatoes (i just crush out the pulp if i condemn a tomato, before throwin it into the compost bin), last year i got around 2.5kgs of tomato until the plant wilted. pushpavalli srinivasan mam was the inspiration.

then i plant the onion if i am going to condemn it. so there is spring onion, and shallot greens (a little stronger smells),

since we are not garlic user, i just have one/two of them...,
chillies too.methi and mint.too

Aloevera, the benefits are endless.

 

Thanks crossiants. do try gardening in the balconies you have. i have tried both in bahrain and oman too..