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Mar 25, 2015 2:11 PM CST
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Probably the number one plant to incorporate into a medical herb garden is turmeric. this is a YouTube video showing procedure, which can also be used for ginger, onions, garlic, and other bulbs and tubers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Beyond turmeric, you might try garlic (the traditional kind, not the elephant kind). Lemon grass, holy basil, and rosemary might be other candidates. Maybe a wall of grapes or muscadines for resveratrol.
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Mar 25, 2015 2:46 PM CST
Name: Dave Paul
Puna, HI (Zone 10b)
Live in a rainforest, get wet feet.
Plant Identifier
Hawaiians call it olena. One of the most useful plants in the garden. Good as a spice, medicine, and for crafts.

http://apdl.kcc.hawaii.edu/ahu...

http://hamakuatimes.com/locall...

http://nosprayhawaii.com/educa...
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 25, 2015 5:58 PM CST
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http://www.greenmedinfo.com/bl...

Ive read that the price of turmeric is about to go sky high, as more people find out how valuable it is. I found out about turmeric trying to help my sister through liver cancer.

I don't believe Ive ever seen the turmeric tuber. I did order several pounds of the powder from Amazon. I do regularly grow ginger.
And I do have several kinds of garlic--some of it grows wild in old cow pastures here.

What else would be in a Hawaiian medicine garden, Metrosideros? Thanks for the links.

I noticed that this discussion of permaculture was included in the reference for the last link:
http://nosprayhawaii.com/educa...
Last edited by hazelnut Mar 25, 2015 6:21 PM Icon for preview
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Mar 26, 2015 11:30 AM CST
Name: Arlene
Grantville, GA (Zone 8a)
Greenhouse Region: Georgia Garden Sages Organic Gardener Beekeeper Vegetable Grower
Seed Starter Cut Flowers Composter Keeper of Poultry Keeps Goats Avid Green Pages Reviewer
Yes, I am interested in growing tumeric but isn't it a lot of work to grind it and dry it?
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 26, 2015 12:14 PM CST
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slice - could use a food processor 3 minutes
dry in Excalibur food dehydrator prep time 1 minute, slide into baggies when dry.
grind in coffee or seed grinder 1 minute

A lot of work. Depends how well equipped your kitchen is. You could cut the tubers into small cubes, and then dry them. At that point you could use a mortar and pestle to get a coarse grind. I think the hardest thing would be to find the tubers to grow. I don't think Ive seen them around here (rural Alabama).

Or, you could just grate the flesh of the turmeric and use it fresh, as Metrosideros suggests below.
Last edited by hazelnut Mar 26, 2015 12:58 PM Icon for preview
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Mar 26, 2015 12:26 PM CST
Name: Dave Paul
Puna, HI (Zone 10b)
Live in a rainforest, get wet feet.
Plant Identifier
We always use olena / turmeric fresh. Just like ginger, it is grated into dishes. It's a must for Indian curry!

Another important herb of the Hawaiians is the ti plant. It provided food, medicine, clothing, and crafts.

It is the plain green ti which was introduced throughout the Pacific in ancient times. A steroidal saponin has been found in the sap which helps to speed the healing of cuts, sprains, and bruises.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

http://www.canoeplants.com/ki....

Other common medicinals were 'awa (kavakava), 'awapuhi ginger, and noni.

http://www.canoeplants.com/awa...

http://www.canoeplants.com/awa...

http://www.canoeplants.com/non...

The "canoe plants" were useful plants that were brought to Hawai'i from elsewhere in Polynesia. They were grown in gardens close to villages. Other medicines were collected from native plants.
Many of the plants were planted in forests and large patches to be used by all the villagers, in an ahupua'a (land division). The ahupua'a is a slice of land that went from the ocean to the top of the mountain and provided that villagers would have access to everything that they needed. The modern day system of postage stamp lot ownership leaves most people unable to provide for themselves and dependent on supermarkets and other stores. If shipping were interrupted most folks would be in trouble in a short period on time.
Last edited by Metrosideros Mar 26, 2015 1:45 PM Icon for preview
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Mar 26, 2015 1:17 PM CST
Name: Arlene
Grantville, GA (Zone 8a)
Greenhouse Region: Georgia Garden Sages Organic Gardener Beekeeper Vegetable Grower
Seed Starter Cut Flowers Composter Keeper of Poultry Keeps Goats Avid Green Pages Reviewer
I have a dehydrator and a coffee grinder so that sounds doable, now, just need to find some tubers
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 26, 2015 1:25 PM CST
Thread OP

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?... the health benefits of ginger.

Another article on the healing properties of ginger, especially for Type 2 diabetes. At the end of the article are some links for turmeric also.

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/bl...


Metrosideros' post 6075 has a link to a Hawaiian company that sells organic turmeric.
Last edited by hazelnut Mar 27, 2015 7:26 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 27, 2015 9:07 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I grow organic ginger in a big pot. It goes outdoors in the warmer months and then spends the winter indoors under lights. This allows me to harvest small amounts as needed. Can tumeric be grown the same way?
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 27, 2015 12:38 PM CST
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The method described in post # 816065 can be used for both turmeric and ginger.
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Mar 27, 2015 12:39 PM CST
Name: Dave Paul
Puna, HI (Zone 10b)
Live in a rainforest, get wet feet.
Plant Identifier
You bet Cindy!

I grow both turmeric and ginger in large pots, for easy harvesting.
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 27, 2015 12:46 PM CST
Thread OP

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I just bought some ginger at the store with some green buds. I hope I can get a start. Often in the stores, someone has cut the buds off, so it would be impossible to grow.

Do your permaculture friends sell turmeric roots, Metrosideros. I think starting turmeric here without some viable roots, is going to be problematical.
Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 27, 2015 1:20 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Sometimes ginger can be sprayed to retard bud growth (or so I've heard). I started with organic ginger to avoid that problem.
I'll check out the video - didn't take time to do that.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 27, 2015 7:18 PM CST
Thread OP

Charter ATP Member
turmeric, ginger, here's some more ideas for growing medicines from permaculture news.

http://permaculturenews.org/20...


IDave has some great photos of his herb spiral in this forum.\ also.
Last edited by hazelnut Mar 27, 2015 7:22 PM Icon for preview
Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 28, 2015 7:35 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Thanks for posting the link. I did listen to the herb spiral podcast yesterday in the car running errands.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 28, 2015 4:37 PM CST
Thread OP

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How did you get it to play in your car? There are some threads in this forum on herb spirals, also. Dave made one that Trish is especially proud of. They are in Texas.

I just found a dump nearby of concrete chunks. Im thinking of collecting some of those concrete chunks for an herb spiral (or at least an herb bed)
Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 29, 2015 8:18 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
DH loads the podcast onto his phone which can be plugged into the car. There are now three different podcasts I listen to - You Bet Your Garden, The Dirt Doctor and now ATP. Especially good for longer car trips. I did check out some of the pics online after hearing about the herb spiral.
I had some concrete chunks that I used to shore up a small corner of one of my garden beds to prevent some downhill erosion. My wooded back yard slopes down to a wetlands where a once-larger creek flows. Picturesque but home to tons of poison ivy and mosquitoes.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
Avatar for hazelnut
Mar 29, 2015 2:40 PM CST
Thread OP

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I have poison ivy too. This is how I got in trouble at Permies. com. My plan for dealing with poison ivy is to wear combat gear. Cut the ivy off at the base, and paint it with glyphosate. This would use only a minimal amount of weed killer by applying it with a paint brush directly to the cambium (growth layer) inside the bark of the plant. This does work, but its a lot of trouble if you have poison ivy by the half acre like I do. Another method that is a lot of trouble is to cut off as much ivy as possible and cover it thoroughly with cardboard. Do this after a rain so the soil is wet deeply. This method doesn't need any glyphosate. Just make sure you have several layers of cardboard. Another method similar to the first is to cut the ivy about 3 ft long. gather up the root ends and stuff them in a gallon milk jug containing glyphosate. These methods would circumvent most of the damaging effects of glyphosate, and they use only a small amount of the product (Here the price of Round Up is about $100 dollars for a 2 g container.).

Be aware that the ivy sets seeds in the fall. The plants should be treated, before they have a chance to grow a new crop from bird planted seeds. And use long rubber gloves that you plan t throw away when the job is done.
Avatar for Shadegardener
Mar 29, 2015 4:43 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I learned all about poison ivy when I first started gardening here. Started pulling stuff in a weed-choked spot in the yard to start my first garden. It was in January during a really mild spell and I wasn't wearing gloves. Couldn't figure out what the heck I had. Co-workers were afraid I had measles. I had to get shots and was miserable for 3 weeks. Now I always wear gloves when gardening as well as long pants with shoes and socks. I stock up on newspaper bags for pulling seedlings in the spring and summer. Pretty much under control except for one wild spot at the back of the property. It's in total ground cover mode beyond my property. Gives me the shivers to see that much of it. I've heard goats recommended for controlling the stuff. Sorry - totally off-topic here.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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Mar 29, 2015 9:27 PM CST
Name: Dave Paul
Puna, HI (Zone 10b)
Live in a rainforest, get wet feet.
Plant Identifier
The local lore here is that eating Mango makes you immune to Poison Ivy. Maybe eating Cashews would help to build up a resistance too. Maybe any food in the Anacardiaceae.

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