Homesteading: Planting and Processing of Oil Palm Fruits + The important of palm tree to humanity

Greetings #ecotrain, I wish you all a lovely time ahead.

I'm a lover of Palm tree because it's very unique and it's products are not wasted. I'm here to search my homesteading experience from planting new and old breeds of palm and how to use the palm for different productions.

In my family, I came to see my parents plant, harvest and process palm oil manually or locally and I'm here to share how this is done from a personal experience. Please be attentive in order not to miss out of any of the procedures. It's @nwakamau saying hello to all my new friends in the ecotrain community.

Palm tree is a plant that grow from the soil, palm tree is a living things, palm tree have different parts: the root, stem, leave and fruit. Palm have different sizes like short and long.

THE USES OF PALM TREE
Palm tree is used for many things which includes:

• palm friut is used for making palm oil
• For making soap.
• For making broom
• it is for making cream.
• it is also used as firewood for cooking. Although, this is not too healthy to the environment, but due to hardship, people mostly in the rural areas resort to the use of palm fronds as firewoods.
• It is reach in vitamin A.

The procedure on how to make Palm Oil From The Fruit Manually

• When the fruit is reap cut it down and remove the riped fruits from the bunch.
• After that put it inside pot, add water into the pot,set fire and boil it for 30 - 40 minuts it will get soften.
• put it inside mortal and pound it well, bring it out put it inside basin of water, wash remove the kernels and the chaff from it.
• Now collect the oil from the surface of the water.
• boil it well so that the water will dry up you will see red oil in your pot.

**The Procedure on how to make Cream From the Palm Kernels:

• Break the kernel with stone or any metal available at your disposal, you will see the nut wash it and sock it for something.
• place a fry pan on fire and fry, as you are frying you will see the Palm Kernel oil.

It is very very good to our skin and also good for baby it is medicinal.

The procedure on how to make the Broom and basket from the Palm tree leave

• Cut the palm fronds and select the stick from the leave.
• use razor blade or sharp knife and scrape the palm fronds to see the tiny sticks.
• after that tie it together and use it the broom to sweep.

To make a basket, remove the leave from the stem, use sharp knife and slice the stem into 12 pieces, set it in 3's to cross each other to form a star, hold it at the center, use another stem to go round one after the other and you have to bend the stem softly to make a basket.

How it is used for making Soup and stew the friut (Banga)

• First it depends on the quantity of soup you want to make, half custard measurements of palm fruit (palm fruit is called Banga in Igbo land).
• Wash the banga, put it inside pot add water, on your stove or gas cooker and boil to soft.
• Bring it down use spoon to collect it and put it inside mortal and pound it well, bring it out into basin add water to wash out the kernel and chaff, filter the water and use the water to cook your delicious soup, and stew.
• add your ingredients, meat, fish allow it to boil well put vegetable and salt for taste bring it down and serve with fufu, garri, tuwo, flour etc, it is every sweet.

For stew allow the water to boil well add meat, fish and other ingredients, also add leave
sent leaf for your good flavor. It's ready to serve, with rice, yam etc it contains protein.

Palm tree is a very useful tree that everyone needs to have, its good I love it. The palm fruit contains fat and oil. The fruit (Banga) you can chew it fresh or fry or roast it on fire. All the parts of Palm tree important enjoy it.