Aloe Vera

[GaryD]

Hi,

While not a food plant, aloe vera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_vera) is a very useful plant.

It is also extremely hardy.

I'd probably suggest that you plant aloe vera in your soil garden (rather than in your AP grow beds) because this is one plant that will spread to fill the available space......be it a grow bed or a paddock.

The pots of aloe vera all started off with a single plant it each. They've been left for weeks without water (in fact the only water they get is when it rains) and they have been so parched that they have been totally brown to the point where I thought they were dead.

The gel in the plant is used as a salve for small burns and various nicks and cuts.

Gary

[Rew]

I have an Aloe plant, it came from a shoot of an Aloe that was passed on to my Dad from my Great-Grandmother.

She had it for over 50 years when she died in the late 1980's. Even at that age it is very vibrant and Dad has to dig out the shoots every year or two just to give it all room.

[Kaduda]

I can remember breaking off a shoot to heal a cut or two...Even had my own when I left home...Damn cat went after it...Should get another...:D

[DaveOponic]

Hi,
While not a food plant, aloe vera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_vera) is a very useful plant.
Gary
Aloe Gary,

Not a food plant? I beg to differ. There are lots of fruit juices on the market that now include aloe vera pulp. Not sure how popular it is in Australia, but in Asia, Aloe Vera is widely used as a healthy ingredient in juices.

When we lived in Hong Kong, we were in a small village surrounded by organic farms and health farms, tea houses etc. Not far from our house was a farm that grew and sold Aloe Vera and served up delicious fresh Aloe juice. The leaves were huge. I used to buy two or three each weekend and blend them up with some apple juice. The pulp is great for your insides, digestion etc. It makes sense that it can do for your insides the same as it does for your skin and wounds.

Not sure which varieties are best to eat but the ones we used to get were about a foot long and two inches thick.

Here's a recipe for poached Aloe Vera

http://www.norecipes.com/2009/05/20/poached-aloe-recipe/

Dave

[GaryD]

Aloe Dave,

Thanks for that information. I'd only seen it used as a salve for burns, etc.

Having squeezed the slimy gel out of the leaves, I doubt whether I could get it down my throat in the form of a drink.......or does its composition change when you use the gel in a drink?

Gary