You can Grow Your Own Food

     So, I'm on my way as usual and stop by the shop to look at their ornamental potted plants they have outside and there was the beautiful Soko(yokoto) aka lagos/African spinach, celosia Argentea. I know some Yoruba but upon research, it has never occurred to me that it apparently meant "make husbands fat and happy". Funny.

     On a serious note, There ought to be more of a gardening/grown your own food culture among Nigerians. In a country where malnutrition, hunger and poverty are issues with a large percentage of the population, technology and
education are wanting, and agricultural resources are often scarce, this among many other unexploited indigenous as well as other everyday food plants such as tomatoes, peppers, greens, fruits, and herbs will help a long way towards a more nourished, healthy, self-reliant people and economy/nation. This one especially grows with a minimal input of effort and
resources, grows in most climates and soils, withstands drought and heat, has few problems with pests and disease, is easy to prepare,
highly nutritious and tastes good, and produces large
quantities of seed.

     Very beautiful-ornamental as you can see. Very good for wildlife ; attracts bees, wasps, birds? Etc. If everybody grows their own little something, there is less cost, less trips, more health, less demand on farmers and markets, more responsibility and acquainting yourself with a little bit of nature. We will start. Break that concrete in your compound haha!

#soko #sokoyokoto #lagosspinach #spinach #celosiaargentea #pottedplants #growyourownfood #selfreliance #subsistence #gardening #farming #nature #lagos #nigeria #africa #foodsecurity #nutrition #beauty #indigenouscrops #ruraldevelopment #stewardofthearth

The Locust bean Tree

Locust bean (Tree).❤️ 100 years ago or even less was there anything like stock cubes? What did our people of the past use to flavor their food? People are so reliant on stock cubes like Maggi and knorr, like it's been in and part of African cuisine for centuries haha.  I'm just in awe of locust bean. Some people don't like the smell, I do. We can learn to love it. Ive been using in my food whenever I can. Stews, beans, efo, beans especially. Its so special. It's also very nutritious as you can hear in the video plus it's a Tree!! Takes care of us and the earth. Wow. No need for maggi. Nature is sweet enough.
I would really love to find these trees and even grow them and also handle locust beans with my hands. I've only ever just bought it or seen it at home.

It is amazing that the rather humble locust beans tree has amazing features or characteristics, it helps to fertilize the soil, providing shade to other food crops and it's nutritional profile.
The lovely locust beans is mostly made or processed by women as a way to earn income and they also use it cook meals for their families, that way the reliance on stock cubes is reduced. Mostly grown in Uganda, Senegal, Nigeria etc, this unique beans is bought to season our meals and to give it that unique flavour we are used to in certain dishes.This tree has and can even further push rural development and the economy forward.

Video Source: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

#locustbeans #fermentedfood #nigeria #organic #harvest #greens #herbs #vegetable #organic #garden  #gardening #urbanfarming #urbanfarmers #organic #agriculture #healthyeating #healthyfood #eatclean  #bestofvegan #vegan #veganfood #plantbased #plantstrong #vegansofig #healthylifestyle #eatplants #vegan #growfood  #organiclifestyle #lagos #nigeria #naija #lasgidi

Nigeria's Tomato Situation

    Tomatoes are one of my best plants/fruits to grow. I love the experience from seed to maintenance to harvest upon harvest. Tomatoes are actual gold worldwide, especially in Nigeria which I know of, where it is always in high demand as it is a staple fruit/food. Most people can easily and should grow tomatoes for their household. I remember growing it absentmindedly as a child behind my house and also seeing it by the street sides till now.

    

      I'm quite concerned about the state of tomato. Nigeria has the climate all year round to grow tomatoes but unfortunately as usual inadequate or lack of post harvest management, storage, processing facilities and food wastage apparently costs Nigeria $15 billion in post harvest losses annually which is 45% or more of the harvest that is lost annually. 66 billion tonnes of tomato paste costing abt 15 billion annually is imported. Tomato scarcity is still a thing.

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      We all know the solutions to this problem. The problem lies with the government, importers and people/consumers and I'm sure many other inbetween problems. I don't know everything. All go hand in hand. Instead of always looking outward, ignoring and refusing to fix the problem why not just look inward. We have everything we need. I'm not even saying noone is doing anything about it. I'm sure things are happening

     Anyway I also went and dried some plum tomatoes and they taste amazing. In the oven of course for almost a day on veryyy low heat. In the sun would take about two weeks. even More concentrated flavor and still as nutritious. They keep for months. Soaked them in water to get them soft again. I chopped and fried, I blended, even had it raw. and it's been great.

#tomato #tomatogold #nigeria #foodsecurity #sustainability #tomatoscarcity #growyourownfood #driedtomatoes #postharvest #foodloss #foodwaste #zerowaste #agriculture #gardening #farming #stewardofthearth #lookwithin

Vegetable and Herb garden setup

      Great things start small. From nothing to something. (creating) The circle herb/flower/veg garden 2017. It used to be a bare, sandy, weed(couch grass)infested patch of land. Covered for a while to kill weeds and the rest dug out manually.  See progress.
The usual herbs like lavender, thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, chamomile, chives, parsley and mint were grown. Flowers included marigolds, poppies, chamomile, lavender, borage, cosmos which were great for the insects, bees and other wildlife in general. A few vegetables/greens grown were lettuce, chard, and runner beans which tbh were not the most exciting of things for me to grow and eat, but nevertheless. It was beautiful, and served good purpose. That's what matters.

  
    Paths were dug out for beds to be created, also mulched with straw and then woodchip to prevent weeds. Beds needed a lot of irrigation, compost and mulching in most areas due to the really sandy soil but also luckily most of what we planted here, especially the herbs and flowers were well able tolerate dry sandy soils and drought conditions. It was quite productive and fairly easy to manage. What else? It was beautiful, it was circular, diverse, quite therapeutic and enclosed to work in compared to open straight lines. Would it be commercially functional? Not sure, unless you had a couple of circles and many hands lol and it were in more of a permaculture setting. I'm quite biased towards the circle or a few little gardens/enclosed spaces for different things rather than one open field. No to monoculture though. We ought to try as much as possible to imitate nature.

     For a Next time herb garden which I don't know when that would be, I would put in loads of ginger and turmeric- lovely leaves and flower.. and plant, loads of African basil,, aloe Vera, lemongrass, garlic, efo tete(amaranth greens) and even bitterleaf.. and so !any easy grow edible greens and veg.Etc what else? We will see. Im still looking out for what native tropical pure flowers and plants exactly that are good for insects and wildlife in general.

#thingsineverposted #circlegarden #valeheadfarm #herbflowergarden #medicinalgarden #gardening #farming #agriculture #permaculture #biodynamics #growyourownfood #biodiversity #nigeria #stewardofthearth

Trees for Life: Crucial Importance of trees

Trees. What is a tree sef?
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Trees give us food and medicine
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Trees provide shade and shelter
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Trees prevent erosion and flood
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Trees provide oxygen and cleanses the air
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Trees provide ecosystem for birds and animals
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Trees replenish the soil
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Trees absorb and block noise
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Trees help settle out and trap dust, pollen and smoke from the air especially for cities
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Trees support agriculture, preserving biodiversity, protecting water supplies and moderating the impact of climate change

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“Reaching deep into the earth, tree roots draw up groundwater, purify it, and let it evaporate through their leaves. This moisture gathers into clouds before returning to Earth as rain. Without this primordial cycle there would be no agriculture at all.
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Agriculture also depends on healthy soil, which trees protect from erosion. Trees regulate the temperature of the air and earth, and make moisture available to crops. They prevent soil salinization, shield crops from violent winds, and produce nutrients for all that grows around them. By providing a habitat for bees and other pollinating animals, they also contribute to crop fertilization.” (Ecosia)

   But apparently Nigeria has lost 96% of its forest due to deforestation??? according to the Nigerian conservation foundation??? crazy ridiculous and sad if this is exactly true because i also know that apparently more than 40% to 50% of farmable arable land in Nigeria is still yet to be touched and used. Therefore there should still be some forest there right?? and Nigeria is very big..especially the north and other areas, compared to lagos and the other south west states crammed into lower left corner of Nigeria.

      Any way the matter is that We need these treeesss!!! Let people farm let people also conserve. There should be a way to work with the natural lay of the land and the natural vegetation there to establish your farm or anything else. No slash and burn, no bulldoze everything down, killing and driving away life. Many times i think that the reason why in Precolonial times past, the reason why towns and villages had an “evil forest or a sacred forest” was to keep nature free and functioning on her own and conserve the natural habitats. Nature was much much sacred and esteemed then. Also it was to keep man from interfering too much and tearing and harvesting the forest down or settling for his own benefit and interest.That may have been the case or maybe not, but it makes sense.
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I'm always appreciating and crying for trees and hoping to do something soon enough. Social media is not enough sometimes. You know how you feel when you're in the midst of many trees or even away from the city.

#investintrees#Reforestation #ClimateAction #Environment #Sustainability #Search #OneTreeAtATime #landscape #discoverearth #exploretheglobe #earthfocus #ourplanetdaily#investinyourfuture #trees #forthelove #stewardofthearth

A little post about Chickens

   

 Free range, natural chickens. I love caring for chickens. There is always so much drama watching them... Watching them in the morning as they come out to eat and going about their daily activities. Chicken life can also be harsh sometimes.. Also love them for nostalgic reasons. Let's stop putting them in cages all their lives shall we. It's sad and unhealthy. Thats not original chicken.Its in their nature to roam freely and develop as they should. Caged chemical chicken farming is even more expensive..and I know there is “agribusiness”, demand, money to be made and some may not care how their food gets to their tables as long as they can eat but doing what is ethically and naturally right is what matters.

    There would still be enough healthy eggs and meat for us if our diet is right and If chicken(farming) is not concentrated amongst just a couple of mass producers. We also dont need to eat that much meat. It is only a culture we have become accustomed to. Most humans never used to eat meat the way we do now. Meat should be a luxury. I dont want to sound like a crazy radical vegan, but animal life is also precious. Im not saying dont eat meat. Downsize, Spread out and diversify: our diet and food chain. I don't know much. Just saying.
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  With free range chickens You get good friends and company, you get great nutritious eggs, high quality proper natural meat and very rich manure. For your soil. Probably much more. They get to run around free and do their own things and be themselves and eat what they find and much more. How much better can it be? Plus  I believe my spirit animal is a bird. Don't know which one yet but I do know a few people who are chickens.. And even pigeons lol. #chickens #freerange #eggs #meat #birds #farming #livestock #health #wealth #capitalism #spiritanimal #life #stewardofthearth #2kobo #agribusiness #agriculture

Nursery Lessons: record everything

   Old picture, old post but its(been)that time of the year again. Sowing, Nursery raising/propagation and eventually planting out. Tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil and other herbs?..Wonderful(fun) stuff isnt it?! ..if you swipe left. Also there is my face, myself sharing a photo with the kids 💓. I thought smiling would have been cheesy at that moment.

------One thing I have learnt so far and am trying to get better at consistently doing and have seen it to be so important is recording every single little thing that happens or is observed on the farm. That was a little issue i came across this year. Of course you record your basic info like seeds sown, variety, dates planted, location, quantity, problems and so on but in the hustle and bustle and flow of activities, certain details and little important things end up being procrastinated and forgotten to be recorded. Things like how much compost you put on a certain bed or what period a crop was ready to be planted or when it was ready, or cropping plans that changed slightly.  I overestimated my young memory but alas it fails me, you cant remember what you did last year like a mumu and you fall short and have to research again or guess, or start again and patch up. Im definately better and more efficient now. Have so many photos and words from last year till now. No slipping.

  
--------To be able to solve problems, progress, recreate, innovate or improve or even take stock, one needs to look back at what theyve done(and recorded obvs) to learn from it or even repeat, that way one can move ahead faster and land well. You can only look back because there is nowhere else to look. You can can look to your left and right, at others but their ways can only help a bit because everyones problems and ways are different. The situation, set up, soil, costs and even weather conditions of your habitat/space/farm/garden is unique. At the end everyone will have to find or come up with personal systems that work for them. Going off on a tangent here but you get the gist. record lol. You can only look back and/or within to go forward. This is applies to all spheres of life.

#recordkeeping #seasons #spring #summer #rainyseason #agriculture #stewardofthearth

Flowers for Life

l just love flowers, they just make everything much better and pleasant.. thats why God made them lol. I have been obsessed with flowers since i was a child. Having them in polytunnels, farms and in most of our growing spaces benefits us and all the other plants and creatures. You get a whole complete experience with flowers. All your senses are filled and engaged. Youre working ,moving, touching, seeing, smelling and even eating at the same time! Well that was my experience. Flowers provide a mostly very visual aesthetic and aromatic experience for us, but we can even eat and drink some of these flowers.

  

 ...They also add to the biodiversity of a farm, garden, home or any other space as well as protect and feed the habitat. flowers attract many more beneficial insects and creatures that can feed on and reduce pest and disease cycles without the use of pesticides/insecticides. These insects and other creatures they attract, help to pollinate a lot of the plants and trees we eat, which leads to fruit and crops so we definately need flowers and insects. Especially innour urban areas. Its also helpful to let some of your plants/crops go to flower/seed.

    Flowers shouldnt be underestimated. They should be part of what complete a farm(organism), a garden, a home, urban areas etc and balance it for the sake and love of beauty, nature and biodiversity. We would be doing a huge service to the nature and wildlife of our spaces by planting flowers and diversifying and encouraging and providing for  other many other creatures as well as just for the love of it! As for me, flowers will always be a part of my life. Can you imagine what our farms, gardens, homes and public spaces would look like with more flowers?? So much colour, beauty, life and much more. God has given many god gifts and options and we can choose all. why not.

#flowers #flowerboy #flowersonthefarm #gardening #farming #agriculture #flowerfarming #biodiversity #sustainability #nature #harmony #stewardoftheearth

Unlearning and Relearning Nature

 Nature, the plant kingdom is full of so much knowledge and mysteries to uncover. Such a wonder. I am always curious and aspire/hope to enter further into the inner workings of nature as far/deep as I am allowed...for the fact that it is there to be tapped and for benefit of man and earth. My mind is always blown. " We are also faced with a great inner transformation in nature. The natural Gifts, naturally inherited knowledge, traditional medicines, and so in that have been passed down from ancient times are all losing their value( and being forgotten).

   We need to acquire new knowledge in order to be able to enter into all the interrelationships of these things. Humanity has only two choices:  either to start once again,(or continue?) in every field of endeavour, to learn from the whole of nature, from relationships within the whole cosmos, or to allow both nature and human life to degenerate and die off. There is no other choice. Today, no less than in ancient times, we are in need of knowledge that can really enter Into the inner workings of nature"- Rudolf Steiner, 1924

What do you think?

#nature #agriculture #rudolfsteiner #stewardoftheearth #crucial #longwaytogo  #personaljourney #herbalism #artsandscience #spirituality #sustainability #goodearth#mushroom #dandelion #someflower #bluebellkingdom

Protecting our Soil: Soil cover and mulching

    This is the market garden field which had crops in it before, now left alone for a while. Different beds at different stages. The ground is now covered in a carpet of a combination of grass, green manure and weeds(if you want). The one with the tyre marks is tractor damage and compaction. If you continue to observe nature, you can see that she is always trying to cover herself up. Common sense. The soil is like her skin and everything that grows on it is her clothing plus the leaves that fall down to mulch the soil.The soil(most)when left bare wants to be covered, to be protected from constant wind, rains, the sun- strong elements which can strip and deplete the soils of nutrients, structure and life which we depend on for our food and actually mostly every other thing.

    Also the soil has so much life and biodiversity of creatures and micro plants, networks, communities and world's(organic matter) which we cannot see which make the soil what it is enrich it and help plants grow to give us the best they can. When the soil is exposed and cultivated, ploughed or whatever, this life that is so essential for soil function, plant life and health is destroyed and they have to work to start over again to build a soil structure and cannot support the plants/nature as it should. I don't like to till the soil. It's like injuring yourself and opening up the wound again and again as its trying to heal. "A lot of our soil is moderately to highly degraded  due to erosion, loss of soil organic matter, nutrient depletion, acidification, compaction and chemical pollution. However, sustainable soil management and careful farming techniques can reverse the trend of soil degradation and ensure current and future global food Security"(unfao) as well as our health

    
     I know it's great and exciting that awareness, interest and development in agriculture and organic agriculture is increasing and on hype but let us please make sure we are working in harmony with nature and not doing the opposite- destroying for our profit. Or else there will be nothing left eventually.

   Let us not take our soils for granted. Every other thing depends on it. Farmers, gardeners let us live and practice agriculture & co. sustainably. Cover your soils, with green manure, or mulch with farm garden waste, weeds, woodchip, leave your crop in , till/cultivate less(another talk for another day) or not atall. This way you will build up and feed your soils not just feed the plants. this is how nature herself works. The creatures in the forest do not lack. Do whatever you can to protect your soil. A healthy soil produces healthy nutritious food. It even ends up being less work overall..and relatively though. I don't know much, I'm just trying to practice what is right. Be a steward of the earth.  

All the love💕, Folu, steward of the Earth.

#conservationagriculture #sustainablefarming #protectoursoils #saveoursoils #naturalfarming #permaculture #harmony #nature #greenmanure #mulch #covercrops #notill #buildoursoils #stewardofthearth #postharvest

Holistic Herbs

    I'm always drinking my agbo/herbal teas and infusions (which is a more right word). They are nice, and help me keep away from any illness and stay on top of my immune system. Just trying to treat my body the best I can you know. Last week I was on efinrin/scent leaf/African basil, I've had a bit of dried soursop leaf, turmeric, juiced beetroot and apple+acv and moved on to sage leaf, with lemon grass..all separately o  and at different times(best options I had atm) because I actually fell quite ill with a cold/flu !!with all the symptoms and have been sneezing my head off, coughing and feeling really horrible. I thought I was invincible! Low-key. Lol.

    It made me think, " what about all the herbs I've been drinking!?weren't they meant to help me and try to keep these things away"? So sometimes I do question my faith in herbs a little even though I know they work and I have seen them work. Sounds crazy. They don't work like our instant off the counter tablet medicines which we may have been used to and i have to always remember. I can't just fight off a flu in a few hours but rather will probably be healed in a few days , or next day even.

   True natural whole healing does takes it's time. In some cases, at once! It never happens in isolation but as a whole. It's never just one thing or always so straightforward. It's a holistic process not a quick fix.  I know I have been up very late most nights and not getting enough sleep. Maybe need to eat less. Can't think of any other naughty things right now but that's probably what I need. A knowledgeable friend also said that, at times, the feeling of poor health is a healing process. Fever and inflammation are two important ways the body removes damaged cells or stored toxins. So the flu may be a sign that the herbs are working. Makes sense.

I can also relate this spiritually. In the past, and even sometimes I question my faith in God even though I know anything is possible with God but I have to always realize that God is not man and God is higher and works in his own ways. Regardless I will always say, let us keep drinking our lemongrass tea, our nettle, our sage, turmeric, our juices and every other thing God has provided for food/health. Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food.

Take care.💕

#health #medicine #holistic #herbalism #Yoruba #Nigerian #natural #lemongrass #agbo #self-care #God

Easy Green health

  So I'm drinking and using nettle this weekend. Sometimes you feel tired of normal tea and coffee and just want something different again and to take care of yourself.  Anyway I briefly brewed about two handfuls of dried nettle leaves in a pot and let it soak overnight. You can also do it the other way round. It got stronger, more potent and darker. I drink every now and then and use it on my hair/locks and scalp in a Spray bottle which you can see in the picture. I think i can testify that it does promote healthy hair growth and overall thickness,/combating sparse hair growth and detoxify the body and generally enrich/fortify my system.  

   Of course it is a good strong tonic helpful in detoxifying and cleansing the body . It has high highh amounts of iron and vitamin c, helping those who are anaemia or have fatigue.  Apparently nettle tea helps in prevention of allergic reactions or in my case, inflammation of mucous membranes in my nose. I have a hay allergy which flares up from every now and then and it doesnt help that i lived and worked on a farm at the time I made this post. Laugh out loud! When it hits me its not funny and in the past i have tried nettle tea which i drink quite often but i'm not sure what it did for me. That case is not closed yet.  Anyway, please drink this and other good leaves and plants everyday if you can. This so called "weed " we shouldnt take for granted. Its so rich, it grows everywhere. I have even seen it in the urban city growing from the street corners or the cracks in gravel/concrete. You can also blend it fresh and raw and have it as a smoothie. Very strong green plant forces. Im off to have another drink. learn about the plants around you and use them for your health and benefit. they are many and all there, mango, orange, pawpaw, guava, and many other trees, shrubs and plants/"weeds" which im looking into. i didnt say kill yourself o. learn lol. Hopefully i will be able to help you with that in the near future.

Take care.💕 Folu, Steward of the Earth.

#nettle #stingingnettle #tropicalnettle? #nettletea #nature #locks  #locs #hair #natural #health #wealth #stewardoftheearth

Musings: Rhythms and forces of nature within and without.

    Good day humans. Recently coming back from a 3day course on "Rhythms and forces" of Nature aka Astronomy and having learnt a lot more about the cosmos and understanding it in relation to processes that happen in Nature and how we can work in harmony with it, I just want to remind us and myself to try to be more mindful of nature and continue to know and acknowledge what is going on outside around us and above.  Lets not get stuck in our heads and so fixed in our own little worlds and whats only right in front of us. We were made for Nature and it was made for us. We arent meant to be separate from it. These things do matter. This generation seems to be getting sicker everyday in all aspects of our being because we have become so detached from these things. Nothing new.

        Lets remember to look at the trees breathing and swaying, the detail in a leaf or a flower, the clouds as the move and change, the birds in the sky, the sun as it rises from the east to its high point and sets in the west, the waxing and waning of the moon.and how it affects us and the nature around us. Many lessons to be learnt from these processes and patterns about life, nature/the earth, ourselves and God. Experience the the lengths, breadths and widths of the life God has given us through nature. Or rather, the circle of life lol. It is our right. Also as someone said, If every one can take care of nature the way our creator admonished us, we will learn to appreciate each other more. Dont separate from nature. Mother nature is a great gift to humanity, to enjoy and give thanks all the time. 💕 All the love.
Folu, Steward of the Earth.

#nature #stewardoftheearth #life #sustainability #hedgelaying #thefieldcentre #sun #cosmos #spirit #organic #biodynamic #agriculture #love #musings #foodforthought