I Harvested My Palm Kernels This Morning. Here Are Some Facts You Should Know About It

Hello everyone in the homesteading community. Hope you are all doing well and making the best out of your time.

The smile on your face when your hard work finally pays is priceless. I assure you, the amount of time and energy you put in your work will determine the result. The big smile on my face when I harvested my palm kernel this morning was priceless.

I remember my mom and I planted them like it was yesterday. Palm kernel is one of the first things we planted when we started homesteading. I was much younger then. But I was always very happy to help my mom out. We didn’t just obtain this good results in one day. No! We worked hard. Very hard.

Palm kernel/ oil palm is one of the many crops grown by most Nigerian farmers. The palm kernel is loaded with a lot of nutrients that help fight deadly illnesses. It is one of the numerous trees that is blessed with natural resources, one of them is the palm kernel oil.

Palm kernel oil is well known for its culinary purpose in most African countries. Here in Nigeria, people go for Palm kernel oil instead of other oils because it is cheaper. It is loaded with a lot fatty acids and vitamins (A, E and K)

The oil is used in making so many things like soap, cosmetics, candles, and so on. I was very surprised when my high school teacher told me palm kernel oil can be used to make cosmetics. Like, how! It wasn’t until later that I realized that the fruit is very useful in producing a lot of things.

Did you know palm kernel oil helps soften the skin? It also helps get rid of skin diseases like acne. However, the oil should not be left on the face for a long period of time.

Almost all parts of the palm kernel are important. The palm tree frond can also be used to make brooms. During my childhood days, my cousins and I used to roam around our area, looking for palm fronds to make brooms.

My mom wasn’t around, so I was left alone to do all the work. Regardless, I did it well. I must say, I’m proud of myself and what I achieved this morning.

This is the first time I’d harvest palm kernel alone (without the help of my mom or anyone). The fruit is ready to be harvested when they start to turn red. They tend to start to drop on the ground (you’ll notice about 6 to 7 fruits dropping when they are ripe). Harvesting the palm kernel must be done carefully. If you wait too long before harvesting, the palm kernel oil will be of low quality and if you do not wait long enough, the fruit will not be ripe enough. So you have to be very careful.

The palm fruit clusters can be harvested with different tools. In my case, I used a cutlass.

As I said earlier, I’m proud of what I did this morning, and I’m sure you all are also proud of what I did.

NOTE: ALL IMAGES ARE MINE.