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09/12/2021

30/06/2021

Organic gardeners will often go to any length to keep their plants happy and safe, but without the use of harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Here are some old tricks and a few new ones

28/03/2021

Should you occur to be a newbie gardener, or appear to at all times neglect to water your crops or have a brown thumb, we’ve some excellent news. Not all home crops require common watering and care and intensive backyard experience. These crops just about develop by themselves or could be grown in...

08/12/2020

How does Cleome gynandra works?

In herbal medicine, C. gynandra is used to treat diseases such as rheumatism, piles, thread worm infection, conjunctivitis, convulsions, malaria, tumour, fever, headaches, and prevent sepsis when applied on the surface of wounds.

It contains phytochemicals such as flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, phenols, cardiac glycosides, tannins and saponins which are responsible for its medicinal properties.

Depending on the type of disease one wish to treat, these phytochemical compounds can be extracted from C. gynandra using infusions, decoctions, tinctures, or macerations.

Preparing an infusion is much like making a cup of tea. Water is brought just to a boil and then poured over the leaves and fresh tender of C. gynandra. It is covered and allowed to sit/steep for 10-15 minutes or so before consumption.

To prepare a decoction, powdered leaves, barks and roots of C. gynandra (usually the same ratio of 1 teaspoon powdered or 2 teaspoons of cut per 230 g of water) is boiled for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from heat and cool slightly. If using cut herbs, strain the mixture through a tea strainer into a teacup. When straining, make sure to press on the cut herb pieces in the strainer to get as much liquid/decoction out of the herb pieces as possible. If using powdered herb, allow the powder to settle to the bottom of the pot and then pour off the decoction from the top into a teacup and consume.

Source: Ndaka Research Centre

16/09/2020

" I cannot grow anything, everything I touch dies - I even kill fake plants!"

We get a lot of calls and messages from people who are inspired by our work here at Naledi Farm and want to start their own vegetable gardens. Some send us pictures of complete gardening kits that they have bought but are too intimidated to start. They think that they don't have what it takes to make plants grow.

Here is a simple truth, as much as gardening is about passion and art, it is also about practice and method. You must get out there and do the work - PRACTICE. But not only that, you don't just do what you like, there are scientific principles you need to follow - METHOD.

Visit our blog today and find out why gardening is also for you! www.blog.naledifarm.co.za

Let us help you set up your food garden.
Naledi Farm, Centurion
🌼bookings@naledifarm.co.za

31/05/2017

botho namaste ubuntu nkulunkulu modimo

Passionflower is one of the most beloved nervine remedies in Western herbalism, finding its way into formulas for insomnia, menstrual cramps, headaches, skeletomuscular pain, stress, shingles, anxiety, and pain from injury.

Passionflower is helpful for insomnia with circular thinking, as when someone is lying in bed mulling over an unpleasant situation in his or her life or something he or she said that day, and just can’t let it go. To imprint this scenario and passionflower together in your mind, picture the circular quality of the flowers. Passionflower is beneficial for both sleep onset and sleep maintenance insomnia (when you wake in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep). I frequently combine it with valerian (Valeriana officinalis), skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), and, less commonly, hops (Humulus lupulus).

Passionflower is a notoriously fickle germinator, but I’ve had excellent success with the following protocol. First, you want to scarify the cleaned seed with sandpaper and then stratify for two to three months. The seeds germinate best with bottom heat, or they’ll simply bide their time until the soil is very warm. Passionflower is a sporadic germinator; the seeds won’t necessarily all come up at once. Don’t discard the seed trays after the initial flush of seedlings emerges. The seed germinates in one to four weeks, sometimes longer, at 70–80°F (21–26.7°C).

~ This is an excerpt from our Online Herbal Immersion, which features how to grow and use all of our most beloved garden medicinals and wild weeds. For details: www.chestnutherbs.com/immersion

Passionflower illustration by W. H. Fitch, 1839