As many of you know I started growing Moringa last year. It is amazing to think that it has already been one year since starting? Since I have been growing Moringa for a year what do I have to show for it? Am I super healthy and over flowing with energy? Did I grow all the Moringa that I wanted and needed? It seemed that I would never have Moringa to harvest, but as time when on the trees grew until we were finally able to make a leaf harvest, and It really did not take that long, but you know how it is when you are waiting. The problem was not so much that I did not have enough Moringa but that I did not know how to use it. Last year when our leaves were ready to harvest we cut them down to about 1 foot; we washed the stems of leaves, then removed the leaves, bagged and froze the leaves. When I made a smoothie I could just put some frozen leaves in with the fruit, it was great. For some unknown reason we did not make that many smoothies, so we still have frozen Moringa. This year when I harvested my Moringa leaves I dried them. I hung the Moringa stems in my kitchen till they were dry enough to crumble, then I put the stems in a clean plastic bag and crushed it till all the leaves fell into the bag. Once all my leaves were removed from the stalks,, I crushed them even more, but had many small stems that I would have to strain out unless I felt like chewing little sticks but after straining the powder for a while, I finally put them in the blender and viola home grown power Moringa, to me it is beautiful. Greener than any commercially prepared Moringa.. While I did put some in capsules, I think my favorite way to use the powder is in my breakfast cereal, oatmeal. I use 1 teaspoon Moringa. It tastes great because I also add Coconut Milk Powder and a little cane sugar. My husband has been adding about ¼ teaspoon to his Green Tea in the Moringa. Other ways I have used Moringa; Fresh Moringa leaves in Basil Pesto, just sub out some of the basil for Moringa. I have added it to salad dressings ground up fresh, and now that I have powder I can see adding it to the salad dressing instead of fresh. You can add Moringa to soups, stews, sauces, pesto, dressings; probably anything you could imagine with some experimentation. When I first learned of Moringa I was so excited I wanted to put it in everything I ate, but now I have settled down to reality Moringa is a Super Food, it works well to supplement my diet, If I only eat it daily in my cereal I am getting a boost of nutrients. How do you use Moringa? Fresh or Dried? Did any of your Moringa Trees grow pods, mine did, lol I got a total of 5 pods. But while not the bumper crop I had wanted, I did get to see and taste them and now know what they look like up close. Has anyone noticed that Moringa Flowers have a delightful aroma,, I was pleasantly surprised.. How I am growing the Moringa We started with one 4x8 bed, we planted 50 seeds in rows of 5 x 10, we covered the seeds with a layer of compost, but not sure that is required, they will sprout if kept wet. Then we just water them till they grow to 3, 4, or 5 feet then crop them back to 1 foot tall and let them grow back, then repeat the process every time the foliage gets high. We got one harvest last summer, and so far 2 this summer. I might get 3 if I do not kill them with manure. I put a bag of manure on the bed that recently had been harvested.. Waiting to see. I sent this out earlier: The 2014 Moringa Oleifera Seed Crop is in These come from Gambia Africa, and are not sprayed I am told that they are not fumigated at the border. Last years crop had a very high germination rate, I got 100% with most of my plantings I can deliver to Pam Williams Drop,, use this discount code PAM if you want to pick up at The Williams http://blueyonderurbanfarms.com/2014/07/moringa-seeds/ Karen Coghlan Blue Yonder Urban Farms http://blueyonderurbanfarms.com info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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