BASIL DRINK WITH LEMON AND HONEY

Let me share with you the recipe for a drink using basil, lemon and honey.  This drink is believed to help calm  ones nerves as basil is used in traditional medicine as an anti-depressant.

BASIL WITH LEMONADE (3 - 4 SERVINGS)
What you need to make the drink
5 Teaspoon of honey
1 cup hot water
1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves (remove the stems)
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
3 teaspoons of brown sugar.

What do do
Add the honey and brown sugar to the hot water in a bowl and stir until it is dissolved. Then let it cool.
Blender the basil leaves. After that sieve to remove the blended leaves.
Fill a jug with water, add the lemon juice and the honey mixture. Stir.
Cover the jug and place inside the fridge for a few hours to let it steep.

THAI BASIL

One of the herbs that I like to buy from the market is Thai Basil (O. basilicum var. thyrsiflora). I love the unique aroma of this basil. It is also known as Asian basil. My late Aunt May used it as garnishing for steamed fish and prawns. She said that it adds to the flavour of the dish. What do I do with it? Well, I use it as one of the ingredients for a herbal bath. I also add it to the herbal concoction that I make to keep stress at bay. Thai Basil is said to be useful as an anti-depressant.

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS GRAPE-LIKE FRUIT?

Someone posted this picture of what looks like grapes in my Facebook account. He wanted to know if I had any idea what it is called. Unfortunately, I don't. Does anyone out there know? If yes, do enlighten me.

VERSI BAHASA MELAYU
Gambar pokok ini yang mempunyai buah seperti anggur dipos dalam akaun Facebook.  Orang itu ingin menanya tentang nama pokok ini.  Malangnya, saya tidak ada idea apa nama pokok ini.  Ada sesiapa yang boleh membantu?

CHECKING HOW MY FRIENDS ARE DOING

Here in Malaysia, it is the school holidays and so I need not go to school. However, I make sure that I go back and visit my Green Friends in the Herb Garden to see that they are okay. Thankfully, it is the rainy season now and the plants are thriving. See how happy and beautiful my friends have become after having their fill of Sky Juice.

VERSI BAHASA MELAYU

Cuti sekolah telah bermula di Malaysia dan ini bermakna saya tidak perlu ke sekolah.  Tetapi saya balik sekali-kala untuk melawat Kawan-kawan Hijau saya di Taman Herba untuk memastikan mereka sihat.  Mujurnya sekarang musim hujan dan pokok-pokok tumbuh dengan baik.  Tengoklah bertapa riang dan anggun kawan-kawan saya setelah disirami oleh Jus dari Langit.

SABAH SNAKE GRASS (CLINACANTHUS NUTANS L.)

 

The news vendor for our school, Mr Chong shared a herbal tip with Miss Cheah, Ustazah Roslina and Puan Asiah yesterday. He told us that his brother who is suffering from leukaemia is trying a type of herb called Sabah Snake Grass or Belalai Gajah. Mr Chong read about this wonder herb in the Chinese newspaper and managed to get hold of it for his brother. It seems that after taking the Sabah Snake Grass for a week, Mr Chong's brother is feeling better.
This morning when he came to the library to send the newspapers, Mr Chong brought along the Sabah Snake Grass for me to plant in the Herb Garden. However, he said that I need to place the plant in a container of water until roots come out before planting. Hopefully, I can grow a lot of the plants in school so that whoever needs them can get it from us.
To find out about the medicinal uses of the Sabah Snake Grass, please click here, here and here.


VERSI BAHASA MELAYU
Mr Chong yang selalu menghantar suratkhabar ke sekolah saya kongsi maklumat tentang sesuatu herba dengan saya dan rakan-rakan di sekolah.  Beliau maklumkan yang abangnya yang menghidap penyakit leukaemia diberi makan satu jenis herba bernama Berlalai Gajah atau Sabah Snake Grass.  Menurut Mr Chong, keadaan abangnya bertambah baik setelah makan herba ini selama seminggu.   Kami dapatkan pucuk pokok Berlalai Gajah dari Mr Chong untuk ditanam di Taman Herba.
Untuk maklumat lebih lanjut tentang herba ini, sila klik link here, here dan here.

BUNGA TELANG (WHITE VARIETY)

The Bunga Telang or Blue Pea Vine is a natural colouring used to give colour to rice and kuih. One needs to sun dry the blue coloured petals of the flower before boiling them in water to cook a pot of rice which is known as Nasi Kerabu. The rice would naturally turn blue.
The Bunga Telang is also referred to as Clitoria flower as it resembles the female genitals. Recently, while I was talking a walk in my housing area in Ipoh, I spotted some white coloured clitoria. This got me excited and I went to talk a closer look at the flowers. Since they are white in colour, the flowers would be of no use as a colouring agent. Still, it drew my interest.










HERE IS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE WHITE VARIETY OF CLITORIA:

Botanical name : Clitoria ternatea Linn (White variety)
Family : Fabaceae

PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
English : White Clitoria flower

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
In traditional medicine, the clitoria flower is used to treat migraine, skin diseases, bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, ascites, ulcers and fever, jaundice and skin diseases. The seeds are used in abdominal cramps.

Useful part : Root, leaves, seeds

LINK: http://ayurvedicmedicinalplants.com/plants/2462.html

BUNGA CHEMPAKA

About five years ago, I bought a Bunga Chempaka (Magnolia champaca) plant for the Herb Garden. Its English names are Champak and Champaca but then here in Malaysia we refer to the flower by its Malay name. In the first year, the plant bore a few flowers. Interestingly, the plant bears both yellow and white flowers. Recently, I noticed that the plant is bearing more flowers. It could be because I was always pruning the plant and using the leaves for herbal baths.
The flowers are used for worship at temples or at ones home. The Indian ladies like to wear them in their hair as an ornament. One can float the flowers in a bowl of water to scent the room. The perfume like fragrance of the flowers is really sweet and heady.
I managed to pluck three Champaca flowers from the plant and placed them in a small pot on my work table in school. As I am writing this post, the wonderful scent of the flowers fills my room. Ahhhh! What wondrous pleasure nature's bounty gives.

KEMUNING (MURRAYA PANICULATA)

Name/Nama Cina/ 中文名：九里香 别名：千里香、月橘

Scientific name/Nama Saintifik/学名：Murraya paniculata

English name/Nama Bahasa Inggeris/英文名：Common jasmine-orange,Orange-jasmine,Hawaiian mock-orange,Chinese box,Jasmine-orange.

Nama Melayu: Kemuning/Bunga Sedap Malam


Khasiat:
*  Untuk merawat bisul, sakit gigi dan rheumatik
*  Melangsingkan badan

Medicinal properties
*  To treat boils, toothache and rheumatism
*  helps in slimming


Rujukan
http://kiathidupsehat.com/tanaman-obat-manfaatkhasiat-kemuning-murraya-paniculata-l-jack/

MY YOUNG APPRENTICES

Since it is now the fasting month, school dismisses at 1.30 p.m. and so I have more time in the afternoons to devote to the Herb Garden.  For the past few weeks, I have been training a few of my students to identify and choose the herbs that could be used for a traditional herbal bath.  This afternoon, I was teaching them about which herbs to choose to treat skin diseases.  One of the teachers was bitten by some insects when she visited a wooded area and had developed a big rash and so I was getting herbs for a medicinal bath for her.  The herbs that I told them to get from the garden were the leaves of the Lemuni, Inai, Starfruit, Sirih, Kaduk and Hempedu Bumi.  I also got herbs for a few other teachers in the school with the help of my young apprentices.  After they had selected the herbs, they helped to sort and pack them.


MALAY VERSION

PEMBANTU-PEMBANTU MUDA SAYA
Pelajar-pelajar di sekolah yang saya berkhidmat balik ke asrama pada 1.30 petang pada bulan puasa.  Oleh kerana itu saya dapat lebih masa untuk menumpukan perhatian kepada Taman Herba.  Sudah beberapa minggu saya memberi latihan kepada tiga empat orang pelajar saya untuk mengecam dan memilih herba ynag boleh digunakan sebagai ramuan untuk Mandian Herba.  Pada petang ini saya telah mengajar pelajar saya tentang herba-herba yang boleh digunakan untuk merawat penyakit kulit.  Salah seorang guru kelas kami telah digigit oleh hutan semasa beliau ke hutan minggu lepas.  Kulitnya rasa gatal akibat gigitan itu.  Oleh kerana itu saya berusaha untuk mendapatkan herba untuk beliau.  Herba-herba yang boleh digunakan untuk merawat penyakit kulit adalah lemuni, sirih, inai, hempedu bumi, kaduk dan belimbing besi.  Pembantu-pembantu muda saya menolong mencari herba dan juga membungkusnya.

KEWANGIAN SERIBU BATU: BUNGA KEMUNING

I went for traditional massage treatment recently as my blood pressure reading was high. While waiting for my turn to be treated by the traditional masseur, I caught a whiff of some fragrance. When I went to investigate, I found that the fragrance was coming from the flowers of a certain plant in his garden. His wife told me that the Chinese name of the plant was "Chien Lei Heong" or A thousand Mile Fragrance. In Malay it is known as Bunga Kemuning (Muraya Paniculata). In traditional medicine, it alleviates pain, removes toxic substances, antispasmodic, antagonizes muscular spasms, rheumatic pain, skin eczema, improves blood circulation.


MALAY VERSION
Saya mendapatkan rawatan urut tradisional kerana tekanan darah saya tinggi. Semasa menunggu giliran saya di tempat tukang urut, saya dapat menghidu bau yang wangi. Bila saya menyiasat, saya mendapati yang kewangian itu asal daripada bunga satu pohon bunga di taman rumah. Isteri tukang urut memaklumkan bahawa nama Cina pokok itu adalah "Chien Lei Heong" atau "Kewangian seribu batu". Dalam Bahasa Melayu, ia dikenali sebagai Bunga Kemuning (Muraya Paniculata).  Dalam perubatan traditional, kemuning berkhasiat sebagai pemati rasa (anestesia), anti toksik, antispasmodik, antiradang, anti-rematik, pelancar peredaran darah dan penghalus kulit.

LABEL THE HERBS CONTEST (PERTANDINGAN MELABEL HERBA)

My school library held an exhibition on Traditional Herbal Baths from 15th June until 21st July.  One of the activities that was held in conjunction with the exhibition was a "Label the Herbs" Contest.  There were two categories.  One was for the Students and the other for Teachers & Staff.
The contestants had to label 28 types of herbs that could be used as ingredients for a traditional herbal bath.  They were given the names of the herbs and needed to match the herbs with their correct labels.  This was one way to promote the use of herbs among teachers, staff and students.

VERSI BAHASA MELAYU

PERTANDINGAN MELABEL HERBA
Perpustakaan sekolah saya telah menganjurkan satu pameran "Mandian Herba Tradisional" dari 15 hb June sehingga 21hb Julai, 2011.  Salah satu aktiviti yang telah dijalankan adalah pertandingan "Melabel Herba".  Terdapat 2 kategori, satu untuk pelajar dan satu lagi untuk Guru & Staf.
Peserta perlu melabel 28 jenis herba yang boleh digunakan sebagai ramuan dalam Mandian Herba.  Mereka diberi nama herba dan perlu padankan herba dengan nama yang betul.  Itu adalah salah satu cara untuk mempromosi penggunaan herba di kalangan guru, staf dan pelajar.

BELUNTAS

Nama tempatan/Common names:  Beluntas, Luntas, Luan Yi, Indian Camphorweed, 
                                                              Indian Fleabane
Nama Saintifik/Scientific name: Pluchea indica (Linn). Less
Famili/Family:  Asteraceae
Genus:  Pluchea
Kegunaan dan khasiat

• Pucuk atau daun muda yang lembut boleh dibuat ulam. 
• Hilangkan bau nafas dan badan. 
• Pucuk beluntas boleh juga dibuat kerabu. 
• Digunakan untuk mengubati demam dan jusnya dibuat ubat cirit-birit. Untuk melegakan demam, daun pokok beluntas yang telah dikeringkan direndam dalam air suam dan diminum.
• Untuk mengubati ulser, luka dan kudis, ambil beberapa helai daun pokok beluntas, tumbuk sehingga lumat dan ditampalkan di tempat yang sakit.
• Daun muda dan pucuknya dijadikan ubat pupuk untuk mengubati lumbago.
• Merawat rheumatisme.
• Antioxiden

Uses and medicinal properties

• Eaten as ulam.
• Eliminates bad breath and body odour.
• Used to make Kerabu.
• Helps to lower fewer.  Its juice is used to treat diarrhoea. To help relieve fever, the dried leaves of the beluntas are brewed in warm water and drunk.
• To treat ulcers, wounds and skin diseases, make a poultice from the leaves and place them on the affected area.
• The young leaves and shoots are used to treat lumbago.
• Treats rheumatism.
• Antioxident.

Rujukan/References:
http://khasiat-herba.blogspot.com/2007/11/daun-beluntas-hilangkan-bau-nafas.html
http://rawatantradisional.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html