Borage (Blue)

Borage is an excellent garden plant. The prolific blue flowers look like little stars in the garden. Borage provides a good source of pollen and nectar for bees and they absolutely love borage. It also has very little need for fertilizers and pest control due to its naturally vigorous nature.

Borage can potentially save a lot of money in terms of fertilizer use. Simply place a leaf of borage on top of the soil, or bury it into the soil and it will quickly break down and release nutrients for nearby plants. Adding a few leaves of borage to your kitchen waste compost bins is known to speed up the composting process and increase the nutritional qualities of that compost. Similarly, borage leaves can be allowed to steep in a bucket of water to create a potent liquid fertilizer.

Borage flowers are highly valued as an edible flower, and are sort as part of edible flower medleys. High end chefs are often on the lookout for such edible flowers to use as garnishes for their dishes. 

Leaves and flowers of this plant can also be supplied to restaurants, cafes and hotels for the purpose of infused waters. Simply adding a leaf or two of borage to several liters of water imbibes a subtle sweet, cucumber flavor which makes the water all the more refreshing and tasty. Dried leaves can be used for tea and medical uses and the high mineral content of leaves also makes it a component of some natural mineral supplements.

Borage is a remarkable plant that is a keystone of many small organic farms and permaculture systems in the west. All parts of the plant have valuable ecological benefits. The nectar rich flowers are a favorite of bees and other beneficial insects. The leaves are dynamic accumulators of nutrients and can be made into compost tea, compost or simply added to soil to supply other plants with a nutrient boost.

Borage has a deep root system that accesses nutrients trapped in deep layers of the soil. It also is a dynamic accumulator plant so collects several minerals and other nutrients which it stores in its leaves. These nutrients can be made available to other plants by harvesting the whole plant or individual leaves and composting them, fermenting them (compost tea), burying them in soil or simply placing them on top of the soil. As the organic matter is broken down, the rich deposits of minerals in the plant are released into the soil and made available to other plants. 

Fermented Plant Juice- A tool of korean natural farmers  that works as an organic plant growth regulator and fertilizer. Borage is an excellent ingredient for FPJ. To make FPJ, leaves of borage plants (that have not flowered yet) are harvested in the early morning. These are combined with an equal quantity of brown sugar/ molasses/ jaggery (by weight) and stored in an airtight plastic or glass container for . The liquid portion is then extracted, diluted (1:1000/ 1:500) and sprayed on plants to promote healthy vegetative growth!