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How is TI..EE..DI different from other organic farms?

After embarking on this quest to build a forest garden, we get confronted with this query a lot.

It isn’t easy answering the question, because apparently not every curious mind can see a local frame of reference. We are different…and yet we’re doing what the folks here, and almost at every other tribal culture, have been practicing since the ancient times, what we call Permaculture now. But ancient stuff is considered ‘old fashioned’ right? So let’s see if we can come up with a better description of the mode of farming that we are practicing.

We practice organic farming? Yes, but we also forage and harvest our food from our forest garden, so in some sense we are foragers too. Hence, till the time that the world catches up with what we are doing or corporate marketing folks get the wind of it (aren’t they just great at selling old wine in a new bottle!?), remember that you read about Forganic Farming first here at Take It Easy. 🙂

Here’s a glimpse of some super foods that we forage from our forest:

Nepali Name: Ningro

English Name: Fiddlehead Fern

Scientific Name:Matteuccia struthiopteris

Fiddleheads have antioxidant activity, are a source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and are high in iron and fibre.

 

 

Nepali Name: Chingfing

Common Name: Nepali Hogweed

Scientific Name:Heracleum nepalense

The root of the plant is used as a digestive, an aphrodisiac, a carminative and an antidiarrheal in folk medicine. The fruit of the plant is used in a local recipe for making a lip-smacking chutney.

 

Nepali Name: Alaichi

Common Name: Cardamom

Scientific Name: Amomum subulatum

Black cardamom ensures gastrointestinal and cardiovascular health, provides respiratory relief, ensures dental health and it is also an effective diuretic. It is also known as the ‘queen of spices’ and most of us might have tried the dried version of it as a spice but the seeds are delicious when plucked and savoured straight from the plant.

 

Nepali Name: Boke Timbur

Common Name: Tumbru / Toothache Tree

Scientific Name: Zanthoxylum Alatum

Boke Timbur is one of the most potent food that we have come across lately. According to this blog on Ayurveda, it is a super food that seems to have a cure of almost every ailment. However, for now we relish it as a natural mouth freshener and in a hot chutney as per the traditional recipe.

 

 

We have recently been introduced to the tender shoot of a certain Citronella family of plant as an edible food. It is milky, chewy and delicious too! As of now we have no idea of it’s scientific or english names but we will be researching some more on it and updating our Flora database with its details.

 

We will be officially opening up the farm for resident volunteers from 20th Sep’2016. Come hither all ya free souls, let’s grow/forage some real food! 🙂