Cypress Mulch, what you may not know!

You should really check this guys site out.. great blog. This is a very important issue: where our garden amendments come from. Have you ever thought about the Peat that you use to start plants or add to your soil? That it takes perhaps thousands of years to create it. Or the mulch you add to your garden, the fact that it make come from Illegally harvested trees, or old growth that may be impossible to grow back??

Think about it.. get back to me

I'm off to the garden.. I'll try to reply to some emails that have been waiting for a while =)

Cheers!!

clipped from www.patnsteph.net Cypress Mulch/Wood Chips Posted by Patrick on 25 Mar 2008 at 12:50 pm It seems cypress trees make good mulch, but these are old growth trees that are being harvested in unsustainable ways, and in some cases illegally. These trees are also critical for the protection and natural habitats of the Gulf coast wetlands. If you buy mulch or wood chips, make sure it doesn’t come from cypress trees! Honestly, this is just one more excellent example of why your garden shouldn’t have any inputs. You don’t need to buy anything except a few tools, a little potting soil if you start plants indoors and some lime if your soil is acidic. Otherwise, most gardens are fine with only your own waste recycled as compost. Only add other things if you are absolutely sure they are necessary! Anytime you add extra fertilizer, mulch, manure, chemicals or anything else, you risk damaging your health, natural balances in your garden or the environment as a whole.

A New Read....

Well, I picked up a new book yesterday at Clovers Natural Market. It's Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Healthy and Vitality. With a forward by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

I look forward to jumping into it and seeing what I can learn.. heres to reading!

(I'm going to have to build a Library for all the Herbals I'm accumulating! :)

Hopefully some of my readers will take up perusing Herbals with me, and letting me know what they find.

Cheers!

Ending World Hunger, One Click at a Time.

This is a great group of people. I'd encourage EVERYONE to join Facebook.com JUST to JOIN this group. What amazing people!

clipped from www.facebook.com Feed a Child with just a Click! ≡≡≡≡≡≡ Help Stop Hunger : Free Feed Clicks! ≡≡≡≡≡≡ http://www.worldofgood.com/sn/f - 5 cents a click! http://www.freerice.com - Feed Rice! http://www.freeflour.com - Feed Flour! http://children.care2.com - Feed Children! http://www.helpuu.com/ http://www.bhook.com/ - Feed People! http://www.clickbokin.ekokoro.jp/50.html - Feed People! http://www.feedsa.co.za - Feed People! http://www.hungerfighters.com - Feed People! http://www.hungrychildren.com - Feed Children! http://www.clickbokin.ekokoro.jp/floq.html - Poor kids fed! http://www.OneClickOneMeal.com http://www.pajacyk.pl/ - Feed People! http://www.porloschicos.com/PorLosChicos.NET/index_english.htm - Feed! http://www.thehungersite.com - Feed People! http://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=2335 - Feed People! http://www.okruszek.org.pl/ - Feed a Homeless person! http://www.chintai.net/contribution/index.html - Donate to MSF! http://www.kct-uk.org/click/ - Donate Cups of Tea!

Finally, something to write about!!

Well, this past weekend we broke down and bought some fruit trees! Way too many Apples but who knows what will happen, need to be ready for anything, right? :) Here's the round up:
1 Dwarf Granny Smith (I LOVE GRANNYs)
1 MacIntosh
1 Winesap (that seems to need staked)
And... a Peartree. I can't remember what type it is. I know that it's not a Bartlett, thats about it :-p
They're in the ground, got them in this last week. Everything seems ok, except the Winesap fell over during a rain shower. It got pretty soaked, not the best ground where it's planted. Need to make a point to really work the soil over the next time we plan to get something permanent.


I also got some seed Potatoes. I don't know the type but they should be delish! I just need to get them in the ground. Today was the first day that they can be planted in our neck of the woods and it was an extremely pretty day, but I have a horrid cold. So I didn't get them out. There's supposed to be about four days of rain coming up.. yay! NOT!! Arg. Oh well, I'll get them in soon.



I did however get a border of Onions around the future Lettuce bed and my Salsify and a few Radish seeds out. I hope it's not too early for the latter two. But I covered them up with a tarp til I can get some clear sheeting for a sort of LARGE row cover. They shouldn't need it though but this is the first time I've grown either of them. So we'll see.

OH, also got the Peas in. It's been raining cats and dogs for several days and this was the first clear day we've had recently.. but I'd tarped over the Pea bed and it stayed RELATIVELY dry. So they're planted.. *SIGH* I wanted them in the ground for St Patricks day but it was too soupy :(

Cheers!

Update on seedlings

Sadly, the Mesclun seedlings didn't make it. I'm not sure what went wrong. The tea seemed to do well for the fungus, but in the end I don't think the potting soil drained good enough. Same with some of the Onions. I've got Chinese Chives and Rosemary growing, and they're doing fine. So go figure.

Oh Blessed Raspberry!

My first Herbal experiences have come from the use of Red Raspberry Leaves, in tea primarily.

I've used it as a general tonic as it's high in calcium, Iron, vitamins and minerals. But it's known best by far as a tonic for the female reproductive system. A very well known Herbalist recommends using it for several months at a time for fertility.

The tea is w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l for painful menses and for bloating and general discomfort during the menstrual period (mine have been so painful that I've nearly passed out before.. and RRLT has done wonders to reverse the pain).

It's also used very commonly in the world of Midwifery for easing the pains and discomforts *Morning sickness* during pregnancy and childbirth. It tones the uterus safely during pregnancy although some report that if over used it can hasten labor, so should probably be used at it's highest frequency (of aprox three cups a day?) during the last three months of pregnancy. Although one nutritional consultant recommends only to take one to two cups a day, only twice a week for the first trimester. (Presumably going to a larger or more frequent dose later in the pregnancy). But keep in mind that it has also been linked to lowering the chance of Pre-Eclampsia when taken regularly and is also a daily tonic for morning sickness.. so go figure!

Contact a trained Midwife or Herbalist to find out what dose is right for you.

During my miscarriage, my Midwife recommended drinking a full quart a day to try to reverse it. And also as a tonic afterwards, to build my calcium and Iron back up and to tone my uterus and stop the bleeding.

The tea also helps with diarrhea. Some say to use it cold and I'm not sure why. The tea, regardless of temperature really does work for this condition and many more. I've read that it's a good digestion tonic and diarrhea reliever in children and babies, but I didn't get that from a trained Herbalist so I'm not sure if that is reliable information or not. I would imagine it is as long as it's used in moderation but please contact a professional for care of kids.

The general dose that I take for all the above is two to three cups a day, or when the condition arises. If I'm feeling crampy and fatigued due to PMS then I'll brew up a teaspoon per cup of hot (not boiling) water. If the problem is intestinal, I'll sometimes double the amount of crushed dried leaf per cup or let it steep much longer. Usually I steep it for at least 15 minutes, but some days if all that is in the tea pot is Raspberry leaf, I'll let it sit in the pot all day. It has a rather bland, "earthy" taste to it, nothing fruity about it. So generous amounts of Honey are helpful. Though I've taken a liking to it and usually have no sweetener at all (same goes for most of my Herbal teas). Peppermint adds a nice flavor to it, but as a side note: take care with Peppermint during pregnancy. It *Menthol* can be a uterine irritant and stimulant (although many doctors and Herbalists recommend that you take it for Morning Sickness.) So avoid overly large regular doses and DO NOT take the oil internally. One of my best books recommend sipping a cup in the morning for morning sickness. So it's very debatable. A fairly well known Nutritional Consultant recommends using Peppermint tea for Morning sickness as well, but she says to dilute it down. Warning.. it's also stated in her book to take it if you have a history of miscarriage which I believe that to be a misprint. It says directly after "people with chronic heartburn also should avoid this herb".. with the word ALSO used there, I believe she advises NOT to use it at all if you've miscarried before. Which is a suitable recommendation due to the fact that Peppermint is a very strong stimulant. (this is a very good illustration of the fact that you must study carefully and get professional guidance when using herbs)

In addition, Red Raspberry has been shown to induce ovulation, relax the uterus, remedy bed wetting, act as a diuretic, stimulate immunity, to help burns heal, control glucose induced high blood sugar, kill fungi and viruses including Herpes. (And I'm almost positive that I've read that it helps control or alleviate high blood pressure but I can't find it)

Last but not least, Red Raspberry tea has been used for all the above conditions in Sheep! (and other animals I presume). Four tea bags (or aprox four teaspoons I would assume) to five gallons of hot water for 8 weeks before lambing or "kidding". And also, start adding Molasses to the water of ewes or does a month before birth.

Cheers!

Tea for plants??

Recently hubby and I started some Onion and Mesclun seeds. And I started to notice some mold growing in some of the containers after a couple of days even though we'd provided ventilation.

I've been listening to the Alternative Kitchen Garden podcast and Emma Cooper (*love the girl!!*) said she'd used Chamomile Tea to treat her seedlings, to keep them from wilting. I knew it was an Antibacterial tea to help with all manner of things but I'd never thought much about using it for plants. I decided to steep some up with some Cinnamon and give it a try. I'd also known that Cinnamon was anti fungal and anti bacterial but hadn't thought of brewing a tea to use it before. I'd sprinkled Cinnamon onto pots before like I'd read, but it never worked so I gave up and thought I'd always have to use chemicals to rid plants of fungi.

I steeped one tea bag of Chamomile, and a small muslin bag of aprox. 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon in a normal coffee/tea mug for probably 10 or 15 minutes. Long enough for it to be a deep caramel/red color. I then put it in a misting bottle and sprayed liberally two or three times each day this week. It has worked wonders. The fungi is gone and I have no chemical guilt! Yay!

Cheers!

Nuin