Advice on using plants that’s in your garden + my roadtrip

I am really grateful that I am home after being away for three weeks.

Myself, my husband and our nine month old daughter went on a roadtrip from Johannesburg to Cape Town from 15 September 2016. The driving distance from Johannesburg to Cape Town is more than 1300 kilometers.

WHY THE TRIP?
My husband, a musician and composer had a few gigs [music shows and a workshop for learners] in Cape Town. We stopped for shows at places which included Richmond, Paternoster, Bellville South and Tulbagh.

We arrived back in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening, 4 October 2016. On Wednesday, I had time to do some washing and other admin, while the Princess went to her pre-primary school.

BACK TO REALITY
I went back to work on Thursday 6 October.
It’s great to be back.

Back in my own bed – we slept over at a lot of places in Cape Town. This included staying over at friends and family, and guesthouses.

I kept asking myself the question: “Is this baby-friendly?”
This was whether it was food or wherever we were staying. My heart jumped for joy when I saw carpets at a guesthouse, because that meant Princess could crawl around.

It also helped that we brought along a blanket for her to play on. Another thing I learned: travel with a flashlight or candles. You never know when loadshedding will strike in an area.

I didn’t like that this one guesthouse didn’t have bowls nor plates in the room.

I loved that the one guesthouse in Paternoster we stayed at, had magazines. Princess gets bored easily – so anything to keep her busy, makes me happy.

I realised that being out of a routine was taking its toll on all of us [especially on the Princess].

TAKING THE HERB
My highlights of the trip included the creative writing workshop my husband and his friend, Loit Sols, facilitated.

 

The other highlight was learning about the different herbs and plants that can help heal or cleanse your body.

The day before we headed to Paternoster, husband became ill. I had a bit of flu already, but I had been taking some herbs as medicine. It was the first time I had eaten garlic whole – with nothing to wash it off.

Whenever my throat is not well or if I get itchiness, I cut raw ginger into my black Rooibos tea. I then eat the ginger and wash it off with the tea.

Our friend, Loit Sols told me to eat the garlic raw. It tasted horrible, but I felt good afterward.

He also made a herbal concoction for us to drink. This included herbs and plants he had in his garden.

I heard that stinging nettle burns the germ you have inside your body. I never knew this before – growing up I heard that you should get rid of the stinging nettle in your garden, because it’s harmful to the other plants.

Apparently, the above statement is wrong. Stinging nettle helps heal your body. It’s good to take another herb with the stinging nettle, says Loit. [Afrikaners know the stinging nettle as “brannekil” or “brandnetel”.]

One of my aunts confirmed Loit’s statement, because she had read up about this herb. She had bought stinging nettle at a health shop [and it is sold in a green box]. I told her she could use the stinging nettle in her garden.

Another thing I learned is that these herbs [or rather plants] you don’t have to rinse. You shouldn’t boil it in water neither. Instead, make it as if you do tea. Boil water and then throw the water on top of the plants and let it soak in a tea pot.

The herbal concoction I drank [made by Loit], had the following ingredients:

Hotnotsgooigoed

Stinging nettle

Mint

Lavender, and
Buxu [known as boegoe]

You can use any of the above plants together – whatever you have in your garden [or whatever is in your neighbour’s garden]. We used all of the above plants.

Do not drink sugar [when you take the herbal concoction], because apparently this is bad for the immune system.

You may however use honey [because it has natural sugars]. You can also add other ingredients like lemon.

I know lemon is good for cleansing your system. I used to boil water and then pour it over a slice of lemon. Once it had cooled down a bit, I drank this in the morning [first thing] at least an hour before I eat breakfast.

I think learning about the different things I can use to make me feel better, made my trip interesting.

Besides that, I enjoyed spending time with some of my family and friends. If I didn’t see you, it’s not because I don’t love you. Our schedule was just a bit tight.

Thank you for reading about my experience.