Planting and Growing Moringa Trees

Moringa trees are not only entirely edible, but they grow rapidly and boast a gigantic amount of nutritional value. In typically only takes just a few months for a moringa tree to grow large enough to be harvested for food and natural medicine.

The Moringa is a tree of many names, and even one highly descriptive nickname: The Tree of Life. Moringa trees are also commonly referred to as the drumstick tree, the mlonge, a horseradish tree, Ben oil tree, the, benzolive tree, marango, kelor, sajna, saijhan, moonga, nebeday, and the mulangay tree.

Once you read to the end of the report and learn more about Moringa trees, it will be extremely difficult to fight the urge to run out and buy 12 of your own to grow.

What Parts Of A Moringa Tree Are Edible?

Not only can every part of the Moringa tree be eaten right after picking, you can also dehydrate and powder the nutrient-rich harvested materials and sprinkle them onto wild edibles and survival food to bolster your intake and overall health and energy levels.

Moringa leaves are the most nutrient-packed part of the tree. The lowers, seeds, and pods of the Tree of Life also possess copious amounts of nutrients.

• The Moringa tree leaves can be eaten raw, dried and used as a tea or drink powder, or cooked and eaten like you would spinach.
• Pods growing on the leaf blossoms, also commonly referred to as “drumsticks” can be eater while the shoots are young and are a lot like asparagus. If you allow the pods to grow until they mature they can be eaten in the same manner as okra or cracked open and the inside scooped out for eating.
• The seeds growing inside the Moringa tree drumsticks produce a medicinal component known as ben oil. It can be eaten for health reasons AND used to lubricate mechanical equipment and possibly be used to oil firearms. The pods seeds contain approximately a percentage of protein equal to soy, as well as all nine of the essential amino acids.
• The flowers of the tree cannot be eaten raw but are actually quite tasty when grilled, fried, or boiled.
• The cases left after the ben oil is extracted from the seeds can be used to filter water to make it potable.
• The roots of the tree are also edible and are frequently dehydrated, powdered, and used to make tea.

Moringa Tree Nutrients

As noted above, the leaves are the most nutrient-rich portion of the Moringa tree. They are a powerful source of vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, beta-carotene, protein, and manganese. Even the bark and gum from the tree can be consumed for both their nutrients and medicinal properties.

Moringa Tree Nutritional Bounty At A Glance:

1. The tree possesses approximately three times more potassium than a banana.
2. Moringa trees contain about six times more vitamin C than oranges.
3. The trees also boast an important and rare combination of the following nutrients: quercetin, caffeoylquinic, zeatin, beta-sitosterol, and kaempferol.
4. There is about three times more iron in Moringa edibles than either beef or spinach.
5. The tree also boasts approximately four times more calcium than milk.
6. Leaf powder used to make tea or as a drink mix possess roughly 10 times the USDA recommended daily amount of vitamin E.
7. About 4x more calcium than milk.

The Moringa tree also has significant amounts of the following essential nutrients:

1. Phosphorus
2. Sodium
3. Potassium
4. Zinc
5. Manganese
6. Calcium
7. Iron
8. Magnesium

Growing a tree that offers such a bounty of nutrients will help keep your body healthy and cut down on grocery store reliance during good times – but it will be incredibly more beneficial during a SHTF situation.

A body that is devoid of the proper amount of nutrients will not only become weak, but can prompt a plethora of health issues that will further decrease the ability to engage in the manual labor that is necessary to secure food, maintain a clean water supply, and protect the bug-in location throughout a long-term disaster.

Moringa Tree Cultivation Facts

The Moringa tree is native to tropical and subtropical areas, especially South and Central America. Dwarf Moringa trees are likely the best option for folks not living near such a climate. Dwarf trees still produce an abundance of standard size fruit.

It may be possible to grow a standard tree in other climates if it is cut back and covered during the winter months, especially if it is cultivated in a large pot and moved into a greenhouse during the cold weather months. When the tree is exposed to temperatures below freezing, the roots will die. A tree could go dormant when exposed to frost but may return in the spring if they exposure was not too severe.

In the United States, a standard Moringa tree has been successfully grown in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, and the southern regions of Texas. The USDA lists the tree as being hardy to agricultural growing zones 9 and 10 plant.

The Moringa tree is abnormally resistant to drought and has been known to thrive in even poor soil – they tend to prefer sandy soil. They require only minimal upkeep and generally produce pound upon pound of potently nutrient harvestable edibles year around.

The Tree of Life has been known to produce sprout in only a erw days after being planted. The Moringa will begin producing fruit during its initial year of planting.

Standard trees usually grow as tall as 10 to 15 feet the first year of planting and ultimately can reach heights of up to 35 feet tall. It is recommended to cut back the tree and keep it short enough to reasonably pick the fruit, doing this does not seem to stunt fruit production. Keeping the trees no taller than four feet high keeps the fruit pods within easy reach and may encourage low limb growth to cultivate a bushier Moringa that sprouts more blossoms and fruit pods.

Some Moringa growers believe after the first year of growing the fruit develops a sour taste and choose to grow the trees as annuals instead of perennials. Because of its rapid growth pattern, the Moringa is not typically difficult to grow from a seed, but it is recommended to trim a cutting from a first year tree to cultivate into a new tree, instead.

It tends to work best to use trimmings that are approximately 1-inch thick and have decent bark on the outside as starts for new trees. Although Moringa trees are drought resistant, new starts do require some watering during the first month until they begin to thrive in the soil or container pot.

There have not been any human trials on the topic yet, but in test animals the compound derived from leaves have been used as a treatment for arsenic poisoning. Some other cautions about ingesting or perhaps even using Moringa topically include concerns the birth control impact might be permanent and not merely temporarily and could also cause miscarriages.

Also, the leaves from the tree can have a mild laxative effect and may cause stomach upset in some users.

Moringa Tree Healing Properties And Health Benefits

1. Ingestion of Moringa tree edibles has been known to help decrease cholesterol and lipid blood levels.
2. The harvestable goods from the tree can also behave as a natural anti-inflammatory agent.
3. Moringa tree edibles have also been used to both help prevent and treat enlarged prostate issues.
4. Leaves and other edibles from the Tree of Life may also give the immune system a boost.
5. The Moringa tree produce has also been used to help reduce the growth of colon and prostate cancer cells.
6. The edibles on the tree may also help reduce or eliminate cramps and ulcers while also supporting the health and functionality of the pancreas.
7. It may help stabilize blood sugar levels.
8. The Moringa tree might also be able to help slow down the signs of aging due to its high content of chlorophyll and other essential antioxidants.
9. The beta-carotene levels and high amount of lutein in the Moringa tree may also help promote good eye health.
During a long-term disaster you will not be able to call 911. Growing your own apothecary is integral to the sustainability of the family’s health. Preventative as well as emergency natural medicines should be grown and preserved, as well as dehydrating them into powder to mix various tinctures, salves, and homemade medicinal capsules.

How To Use The Moringa Tree

• Make a poultice out of 2 parts fresh leaves and 1 part water and press it onto the wound.
• Rub fresh leaves against the temples to reduce or eliminate headache pain.
• Leaf poultices also may produce anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties when applied to either wounds or bug bites.
• Leaves have also been used to treat mucus membrane inflammation, both ear and eye infections, various types of fevers, and bronchitis.
• Eating edibles from the Moringa tree can help reduce and correct malnutrition because of its high content of both fiber and protein.
• Powdered Moringa tree edibles sprinkled onto food can help treat anemia.
• Eating dehydrated leaves has been used to treat diarrhea.
• Ground up seeds from the trees has also proven successful in treating bacterial skin infections – like scurvy.
• Extracts created from leaves have may be useful in treating diarrhea, fungal skin problems, and gastric ulcers.
• Making a juice out of the flowers has been known to help increase both the production and quality of a woman’s breast milk and to treat urinary tract infections. Lower pedals are boiled in water then they are strained away to make the juice. The drink can be consumed cold like a juice or ingested while hot to be more like a tea.
• The Moringa pods can be eaten raw and used like a dewormer to cleanse the spleen and liver.
• Raw seeds have been consumed to help treat gout, skin boils, epilepsy, arthritis, sexually transmitted diseases, and rheumatism.Roast the seeds, pound them and then mix with coconut oil before applying to the infected area. The seed consumption treatment has also been used to treat both Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa because of their high content of terygospermin – a natural antifungal agent.
• The products from Moringa trees have also been used as an aphrodisiac and as a method of birth control.

Moringa Tree Roots and Bark

The properties in the bark and roots of the tree are far more concentrated than in the leaves and are used sparingly in natural home remedy recipes. There is heated debate over ingesting the roots of the Moringa tree. Some growers believe it is the most potent and healing part of the tree, others believe consuming root products is highly poisonous. The roots of the tree contain a nerve agent called, alkaloid spirachin.

The bark and roots have been used to treat circulatory and cardiac issues after being mixed into a tonic.

In India and parts of Arica, Moringa tree roots are pounded into small bits and then mixed with salt to use as rheumatism and articular treatments.

The gum from the Moringa tree is often used as a natural astringent and diuretic and to treat asthma sufferers.