Grow your own Manure

Mary invited the local Womens Guild to come and discuss their issues at the farm in Lusangazi, well they really invited themselves, as they are looking for someplace to meet with a kitchen, ane we are going to try and meet the need.
The pic shows some of the group on a mission of discovery through the 86 varieties of plant that we have, with guide Benidicto. They were fascinated with the velvet bean which we grow as a green manure to put nitrogen and organic material into our soil.
The brought home eveything from Carrots to camomile and coliflower to try out; all plants they had never seen before. Great feedback on beetroot, turnips and parsnips!!
These strong women indicate a great hope for the future of Malawi, with their intelligence and will to work and succeed.
As we say; watch this space.

Velvet bean has an amount of toxicity and we tell our people that they are poisonous, and only for nitrogen fixing, but look at what they are used for elsewhere

In Central America, velvet beans have been roasted and ground to make a coffee substitute for decades; its goes by the common name of "nescafé" in these regions, as well as in Brazil, for this reason. It is still grown as a food crop by the Ketchi indigenous people in Guatemala; the bean is cooked as a vegetable. In Brazil the seed has been used internally for Parkinson's disease, edema, impotence, intestinal gas, and worms. It is considered a diuretic, nerve tonic, and aphrodisiac. Externally it is applied to ulcers. Velvet bean has a long history of use in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, where it is used for worms, dysentery, diarrhea, snakebite, sexual debility, cough, tuberculosis, impotence, rheumatic disorders, muscular pain, sterility, gout, menstrual disorders, diabetes, and cancer. In India it is considered an aphrodisiac, menstrual promoter, uterine stimulant, nerve tonic, diuretic, and blood purifier