Herb Mentor

Herb Mentor .com is a great site to get loads of herbal remidies and education. It uses your kitchen and naturally grown items native to your area such as your garden! The education info your get here will save you money from Dr. bills for those common ailments of every day life. Check out their free e-books at this link:

RT @herbmentor is giving away the Way of the Herbal Ninja webinar. Uses 17 herbs you have in the kitchen:  http://www.herbalninja.com/

DO NOT USE CAT FECES NEAR VEGETABLE GARDENS

Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is the infection that can result if the tiny parasite Toxoplasma gondii inhabits the human body. The only way to catch toxoplasmosis is to ingest the parasite. This happens if the owner touches their mouth or doesn't thoroughly wash after coming into contact with cat feces or cat diarrhea. Most healthy people's immune systems can keep the parasite from causing symptoms. For the unborn fetus, toxoplasmosis can cause serious defects. Pregnant women and other people with compromised immunity should avoid cleaning the litter box or should wear gloves and make sure to thoroughly wash their hands after litter box cleaning. It is important to note that only cats who themselves have come into contact with the parasite will have infected cat feces. If a cat eats raw foods, their feces might be more at risk for the parasite. Most indoor cats do not have the parasite in their feces and a cat can be tested for the parasite. It's best to treat all cat feces as if it is infected, however.


Read more: Health Risks Associated With Cat Feces - VetInfo

arsenic in chicken !!!

Here is some information that you must read. I receive emails from the Natural News Insider Alert news letter. I subscribed for free as a suggegestion from my college SWIHA. I have never been sorry. Now you too need to read this important information:
NaturalNews Insider Alert ( www.NaturalNews.com ) email newsletter
(Unsubscribe instructions at bottom)
Dear NaturalNews readers,
The FDA has finally admitted what NaturalNews has been reporting for years: There's arsenic in your chicken meat. And why is it there? Because they feed arsenic to chickens to control parasites. So if you're eating non-organic chicken almost anywhere in the world, you're gobbling down cancer-causing arsenic, too!

Not surprisingly, the FDA says this is all perfectly safe for you and there's nothing to be worried about:
http://www.naturalnews.com/032659_arsenic_chicken.html

fennel

I have never used fennel very much but the class I am in now is whole foods. We are making some very nice recipes. The one I tried today was to take pita pocket bread, split it so it is thin and cut into chips. I then brushed with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and ground fennel. I baked them till crisp and ate for a snack.

They were very good and I would make them again. They would be a nice addition to any dip plate. The fennel surprised me as to the fact that when I ground it it smelled like licorice, but the taste was earthy and just tasty.

The book we are using is The Garden of Eating by Rachel Albert and Don Matesz
It is A Produce-Dominated Diet 7 Cookbook

As I try these recipes in our class I will keep you posted on the results.

As for the garden it is growing great with one exception. The wild rabbit ate all my cucumbers down to the dirt and all but one of my zucchini. So now it has a fence to keep nature out. Replacing the cucumbers will set me back on time of harvest. It will still be glorious to harvest my own veggies.

I am toying with the idea of going as vegetarian as I can to improve my health by reducing weight. My job some times requires eight hours of walking and on various levels of ground surface. I hope this will be a plus to help me lose the weight.

happy memorial day

Today we did what most do, bar-BQ and get together as a family. it was lovely to have the grand children over and get out the blow up pool for the squeals of delighted children. life was simple and fun. no cell phones, TV, computers, or battery powered toys. Just old fashioned fun.

I also thought of my Grandfathers dedication to his military life and the wars he had fought. he has been gone since 1961, but a flag has always been placed on his grave as a memorial on this day. he was a veteran of foreign wars. His life was orderly, planned, and he raised the flag on the flag pole daily with a salute.

We as a people do not think of our lives daily and the sacrifices made for us. We go about our days and without meaning to be, selfishly, think only of our needs. Our military is out there with our boys going into the fight for freedom any where they are told to go, without question. Do to their unselfish acts, I say thank you. We are in troubled times. Times that are hard to understand. Not too confusing to know when to be appreciative of our boys, and the long standing of sacrifice.

New blog

Please follow my writings on bloggingbyjeanne.blogspot.com for experieces of my writing class at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

Now for the garden, it is finally in place. We turned the soil and put mushroom soil in it. We tilled it all in several times. I was given 11 Roma tomato plants and then bought eight of various varieties of the larger tomato plants including one yellow tomato.

I also planted zuccini seeds, water melon seeds, pepper plants of green bell, red bell, yellow bell, and halopino. Then I planted scallion seeds and beet seeds. it has been along wait as we have had heavy rain and mild flooding for weeks here in Pa.

I also planted a new herb garden as only two plants lived from my previous plants I brought from my other house. The lemon verbena and a mint. Flowers and herbs for generations have had specific meanings especially to the victorians who engulfed themselves in hordiculture.  The medaphysical meanings of my herbs are:
mini Roses for Love, Psychic Powers, Healing, Love, Divination, Luck, Protection
 Lavender for Love, Protection, Sleep, Chastity (with rosemary), Longevity, Purification, Happiness, Peace
 Rosemary for Protection, Love, Lust, Mental Powers, Exorcism, Purification, Healing, Sleep, Youth
 Thyme for Health, Healing, Sleep, Psychic Powers, Love, Purification, Courage
Oregano for  happiness, tranquility, good luck, health, and protection
Mint for  Money, Love, Lust, Healing, Exorcism, Travel, Protection
Basil for Love, Exorcism, Wealth, Flying, Protection. Causes sympathy between two people and soothes tempers between lovers. Add to love sachets and incenses. Place in cash register or on doorsill of business to attract customers. Use when invoking elemental salamanders or communing with dragons. Also used for courage.
Taraggon for protection

For more information see:

Victorians and the Language of Flowers

 http://www.herbcompanion.com/Gardening/VICTORIANS-at-Home.aspx

Magickal Uses of Herbs A-G - Earth Witchery

Since most herbs are known by many folk names, use your Find command to find specific herbs on this page. For a more detailed look at the properties of the herbs ...

www.earthwitchery.com/herbsa-g.html

will the garden ever happen

I have had so much torrential rain for weeks that my plants still sit in my home awaiting some sun to peep out. I think I live in a rain forest with all the wet we have had. Many friends have things up in the garden but if it does not dry out soon they will lose them to the floods. The roses seem to be doing well but then the rain is mashing the open flowers. Sadly most of my herbs from the other house did not make it and gave up and died. Despite the talking and cooing over them once outside within two weeks they gave up. Now I will be starting again to replant what I have lost.

Due to the late start I will buy plants and then plant seed to follow the first crops. It is usually warm enough long enough, to get two plantings here. If we too are not flooded out.  The neighbors have peas up and some young early lettuce. Not much else except the berry bushes are green with hints of flowers. The spring onions have already been pulled.

Rumors came to me that vVermont is still brushing off snow!

Well till next time, check out Tasha Tudor's web site it is lovely.