I noticed a strange-looking plant in our place. It was planted very carefully in one of the pots. My relative had visited a few months back and planted this and placed it behind a structure and that's why I was not able to notice it until later. Upon asking my husband, he told me that it is a plant that is both beneficial and deadly.
This is the plant I am talking about. It is commonly known as Milk Weed.
The latex if enters the eye causes instant blindness and if taken inside, death.
It seems the leaves are a good cure for rheumatoid arthritis but they should be carefully placed on the area of pain and not squeezed even.
I am not sure why this plant was even brought to our place. I agree that it has excellent benefits like curing snake bites and other such health problems but only a person adept in preparing the natural medicine from this should do it otherwise it spells danger.
If anyone knows about this, please write about it.
The second plant or creeper that is very luscious is the passion fruit. We had a very bitter variety sometime back but it somehow died out after giving fruit for many years.
Now, a sweeter fruit has started growing. The fruit pulp is taken out of the pod-like ball-shaped fruit and drank as such or mixed with sugar. It is delicious and provides instant energy besides having several health benefits like providing vitamins.
The third plant that I am going to write about today is the common green chilly. Green chilies grew abundantly in our place until the heavy rains began. The plants are very frail and usually die off if there are excessive rains. We have now planted some seeds and the saplings are growing well. Hopefully, we get a good harvest and be able to collect seeds before the monsoon arrives this year.
Chilies are said to be very bad for the body according to some gurus but many people cannot even dream of eating a meal without chilies being included in the curries. So, it would be better to grow your own chilies instead of buying them from the supermarket. Recently, I noticed that the chilies bought from the market looked extremely greenish and also it did not have any 'hot' taste. It was just abnormally plump. I am not even sure what went into it to make it look that way but I am certain it was not organic at all.
Anyways, I do hope we can grow more vegetables like before. It is not only healthy for us all but it will discourage those who apply a lot of pesticides on plants to make them look great. Customers are often fooled by the vibrant colors of the veggies, especially tomatoes, and capsicum.
When you buy vegetables and fruits, always note if they have flies near it. If there are no flies within 2 kilometers, then you can be sure, those are smeared with pesticides or worse, wax coated. I am most afraid when I buy grapes. Those have a white coating. So, I immerse it in hot water and wash it at least four times before eating.
I hope to write more about other plants soon.
images - sayee
