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Jul. 27th, 2006 @ 03:15 am Rugosas -- Prickly perfection: Antique Roses, Part 2
by Carol Wallace

When my neighbor retired he announced that he was going to spend his new freedom growing roses. This puzzled me. He had freed up at least 40 hours a week. How could he possibly fill that with roses, in his very small suburban yard?

To read more )
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Blue flower
Jul. 27th, 2006 @ 03:02 am Growing and Harvesting Rose Hips
Tags: ,
Roses can do more than grace our landscapes and floral designs. Like its cousins the apple, pear, peach and cherry, roses produce a fruit. Rose Hips are a valuable source of vitamin C, containing as much as 20 times more vitamin C than oranges. They are also an excellent antioxidant.

Growing Roses for Hips
When growing roses for hips, you'll want to select a variety that produces a reasonably large fruit that is high in vitamin C. Look for disease and insect resistant roses that won't require the use of chemical sprays.

Rugosas are an excellent choice for quality hips, and they are also a beautiful addition to the landscape, whether used as a dense hedge or a specimen plant. The flowers have a delightful fragrance and you'll be tempted to cut armloads to bring indoors, but try to resist the temptation. Remember, the more flowers you cut, the fewer hips you will have.

Harvesting and Preparing Rose Hips
Rose hips ripen after they are touched by the first fall frost. The color of rose hips varies, but in general, orange hips are not quite ripe, and deep red hips are overripe. Overripe hips are sweet, but have lost much of their vitamin C.

Rose hips will have the most nutritional value when used immediately after harvesting. To prepare rose hips for tea, cut off the bloom stem, cut the hip in half, and scrape out the seeds and hairy pith. This can be very tedious with tiny hips, so you may want to save the smallest hips for jellies. Rose hips used for jellies don't need to be seeded or scraped. A half and half mixture of rose hip juice and apple juice makes a tasty jelly. {Recipe here http://savants-kitchen.livejournal.com/31294.html}

{http://www.chamomiletimes.com/articles/growrosehips.htm}

Definition of Rose hips:
Rose hips are the fruit of a rose that develop after the peddles have fallen. They were used in Britain during World War II to prevent scurvy during a shortage of citrus fruit. Since then, rose hips have been used as a source of Vitamin C and in fact, have up to 60 times the Vitamin C of citrus fruit as well as containing the bioflavonoids that aid in the absorption of Vitamin C. Used to fight infection & curb stress. It is the highest herb in Vitamin C content and contains the entire C-Complex.
{http://anrvitamins.com/glossary/rosehips.html}
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Blue flower
Jun. 14th, 2006 @ 08:31 pm Indoor gardening
Today I decided it was time to take care of some of my indoor plants that have thrived but not gotten too much lovin' so far. All the plants in the window are either succulents or cacti. The work done today was on the middle planter. I added more succulent/cacti soil to the planter which I believe has lost half it's original soil by now. I have know idea what most of them are. I chose the end plants in the middle planter for looks. I do know that the middle most one is a hens n' chicks and the right most in the white pot is a grafted cactus.

The top shelf of my kitchen bay window )
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Blue flower
Jun. 12th, 2006 @ 12:49 am Started 6/11/06
2316
I decided that it was time for a break from the PC this morning and headed out to work in the yard. I leveled out the ground around the lavender and moved the excess to a barrel where it will provide much needed filler. Then I carted the mulch over to the boarder on cat litter tub at a time. This worked really well and made for a very nice edge where mulch meets grass. I will take pictures tomorrow when I get home. Or at least before I do more work on it. I put the mulch in the spaces between the bricks and then around two of the barrels and then I ran out of mulch. I made sure not to cover the side I still have to plant lavender because I would just be rucking it up again.

Once I had done all I felt I could do out front I put those tools away and got out the tools for working with my roses. I made it half way around the bunch of them. I pulled the weeds and grass that had grown too close to the base of the canes. Then I pruned each one for growth and took a few roses for the house. The yellow rose took the longest as it seems to grow the fastest and have the biggest blooms. There was lots of crowding and due to pruning I got most of the flowers and some buds for the house from it. I came in to get the house flowers in water before they wilted too badly. And that was when Brian asked if I wanted to go shopping. He asked what he had wanted to go for and I reminded him of the sink drain. I finished laying the rose petals I had collected out for drying on the screen as he got dressed.

We went to Home depot first for obvious reasons. It is still hot and humid as hell and meat would have gone south in a hurry waiting for us to play in the handwear store. I bought the last of the lavender plants for the boarder and will get them in the ground Tuesday at the latest. I got 6 more bags of mulch and fertilizer stakes for the roses. I think it is a pretty sure bet that my white rose died this winter though. I am hoping that I have enough mulch left from the front for the lavender area out back.

After the boarder is good my next goal will be recreating the boarder around the yard out back. I have let it go to hell after we moved in and it is time to get things back in order. I am going to take a roll of the plastic and as I turn over and weed a section I will roll the plastic over it and weigh it down with rocks until we have enough money for more mulch. And I will buy the bags of that a few at a time until I have it done.

FOr now I think I am going to sow some of the sage seeds out there between the lavender just in case the ones in the house die and the ones out there do not.
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Blue flower
Jun. 7th, 2006 @ 08:31 pm Started 06/07/06
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: RIHANNA - Pon De Replay (Hey Mr.DJ Turn The Music Up)
1841
Yesterday my knee felt well enough to finish weeding the front boarder and digging out the cracks in the wall to stuff with mulch so I can stop trying to weed the damn area. Today I raked it and with a little help from Brian decided where to start the lavender. He helped me place two and then cam up to get ready for AA. I finished up and then watered them all good. Tomorrow I will put the mulch down. Maybe even go get the other two plants I need to finish it.

I decided to plant them 2 feet apart so I had room for the sage. I need to start two more of those as well. I keep thinking that maybe I should just start them in the ground. I tend to kill plants that I grow early in the house.

Pictures!! )
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Blue flower
Jun. 6th, 2006 @ 08:18 am Started 06/04/06 - My garden
0050
Today, err yesterday I finally began my boarder project. *Happy dance*

It stared with an innocent jaunt to Home Depot to exchange the grill. We did that and got a cast iron grill now. WOOT! I love cast iron. IT will prove a challenge to keep rust free here in Oregon though, as Brian pointed out after we got it home. But he found and told me how it would fit both ways with just a little trimming via the cut off wheel. Then we decided on a shower curtain and this is where we parted ways.

I went to the gardening section. Per my studies I learned that it is much easier to buy lavender plants then grow them from seed. SO I started with the Lavender for the boarder and settled on 4 English lavender plants. Then I wavered between the instant gratification of sage plants of the same size with pretty purple spikes of flowers or waiting for the seeds to sprout and putting the baby plants in later. I looked for seeds at first and picked out a nice board leaf. When I went in to get the seeds I also found an aloe vera plant to replace the baby that died this last winter. I think the mama may still be living so I held off on replacing it.

On my way back out tot the open air section I found more of the grown plants and I opted for the gratification. I then grabbed 3 bags of mulch, which I prefer over bark chips. And headed out to find Brian and Derwin. After walking around a bit, I succeeded and then I changed my mind about the sage. I kept thinking how I had wanted to use the sage flowers for poupuri and I rubbed the spikes of the plants I had chosen and they had no scent at all.

SO I made a decision and marched my cart back and put those sage plants back and grabbed my seeds again where I had left them. LOL On my way back to Brian and Derwin again I decided to see if they had any small ferns. I always liked the idea of ferns in the house. They did not have any but I did find a pink poka dot plant and another tropical foliage plant that is a nice deep red. I grabbed smaller bags of both specialty soil for transplanting the aloe and potting soil for replanting the other two. Then I saw the African violets and remembered how much I missed them in my room/life. I used to grow them so well. *Wistful sigh* So I chose a 4" plant with frilly purple flowers and went back for a small bag of the potting soil for those and decided enough was enough and went to get B&D. We got out of there with a small ransom but lots of good stuff.

After we finished taking stuff back and shopping we arrived home unloaded and I decided where to start. I figured that I would start by weeding the corner by the last barrel and only rose bush in the front yard and go from there.

I figured that I could space the lavender 2' apart and that will give me enough room for the sage later on. I felt my knee kind of start to tweak painfully but stopped the movement before it tweaked out right. and I continued on. I worked a section and then took a break. Gardening FlyLady style. I moved west from my starting point and got most of my intended starting area done. I think I have between 2 and 4' left to dig up before I pull out the rake and get the small loose stuff and then measure to make sure of evenness and dig the holes.

I drank water one break and had lunch another. Then I noticed that two of my hens and chicks looked different then I had ever seen them look and went to take photos of them. on the third one I was crouched at an odd angle and I felt my knee, I can only imagine it is dislocating when it does this. I know it hurts like hell and makes me cry and my leg, from the top of my knee down, go numb for a while. Then it gets stiff and hurts like a mother fucker. I have had it be so bad that I limped for days. I have decided that I need to talk to my doctor about it. Brian picked me up off the porch and comforted me. He helped me to the chair and made me an ice pack. Even went and grabbed the ace bandage so I could read without holding the pack in place.

Shortly after Amanda arrived, Duh! In my excitement then pain I had forgotten she was coming over. We talked and then when Brian asked to go to the store I asked her to take him. Then feeling that my knee was sufficiently numb I undid the wrap and went about repotting the indoor plants. The arrived back as I was starting this. Photos of all my new baby plants to follow. =D
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Blue flower
Apr. 10th, 2006 @ 05:39 am Today in my garden
Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Reba McEntire - I'm A Survivor
Well, I finally relented. I bought vegetation killer for the mold in the driveway on the wall and for the unpaved parts of the driveway. I hate the idea of doing because most are nothing but repackaged bleach which as we all know is bad for the enviorment , er planet. I just couldn't stand seeing it go like that any longer.

I would have rather had the energy and motivation to shovel the drive area and remove the weeds by hand and get a power washer to remove the moss, not to mention the growing population of wasp nests in our eves. But right now I feel that is well beyond the scope of what I am willing to do. I will start with the boarder out front and work from there.

As it is Brian is afraid that last night's/today's rain may have washed it all away and made it pointless. I hope not. It looked like it was starting to work before the light was failing so. *crosses fingers* If nothing else I will buy more when the weather is nicer and more predictable.

I passed on the potting soil for now. I will do that next month or at the very least at the very end of this month. I might just get lucky and find some bags posted on Craig's list.
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Blue flower
Apr. 6th, 2006 @ 09:56 pm Todays garden log
Current Mood: tired
I got out in the back yard after my walk today. I cut back both my lavender and sage pretty severely. The Lavender had about a foot of wood stock before the green which was starting to come out on them. I think that's a bad thing. The sage might need to bed restarted all together. But it did have green growing and I left the tiny shoots at the base. I figure they will both be in shock for a month.

Michele suggested that I buy bone meal and add that to the hole when/if I transplant the lavender from the back to the front. Then I can spread the sage out. When I planted them originally I had no idea they could/would become so wide. That also means that i could spread the Rosemary out as well. I have 3 plants rosemary in about a 3 foot area, 3 sage plants in a 3 foot area and 4 lavender plants in a 2x3 foot area. Can we say cramped much. I have lots of boarder area that has nothing but rose bushes and weeds. Unfortunately it is rocky crap dirt. I would need to bring in soil to make raised beds if I wanted to REALLY do anything with it.
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Blue flower
Mar. 29th, 2006 @ 02:26 am My garden today
I planted three more cloves of garlic I found growing in my kitchen when I went to make stock. I think I might plant the parsley over them. Not quite sure yet. I need more potting soil first. And yes I know that it really is the wrong season to be planting garlic.
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Blue flower
Mar. 28th, 2006 @ 02:35 am today in the garden
Brian came home and finished mowing the back yard. I went and did some planter cleaning on the front porch. I cleaned the chickweed out of the catnip cage and planted my catnip seeds there. I will have to do LOTS of separating. Maybe I can find someone local that wants catnip starts. I also weeded the cilantro, moving a baby hens & chicks into a barren pot instead of that one. I weeded and de-mossed the holly plant too. I also planted two garlic bulbs that had started sprouting. I aerated the top few inches in all the pots I weeded as I went through them.

Not to bad for my first venture in the garden. When Brian took me out to show me how easy the mower was to start I saw that my lavender and sage look gangly and my rosemary is flowering. Is that a good thing or should I cut it back?

I will get to cutting the first two back tomorrow if it stays nice. I will also be getting the shovel out and digging up the front boarder. Turning it over at least to prepare for the boarder I am planing. I might even get the rose transplanted. I will need Brian's help for that I think.
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Blue flower
Mar. 18th, 2006 @ 02:10 am Seed list
Yes I know that I am probably pretty late buying my seeds but well that's my relationship with my garden at this point, hopeful yet behind.

Yesterday when I went to Fred Meyers, a bad place for me to go, way too many departments for me to browse through. Anyway! I bought some gear. New gloves for tackling the roses with. A belt pouch for holding my shears and cell phone while I am gardening. Two 12" terracotta pots and 4 terracotta trivets for that size pot. 3 plastic seed growing trays for those little pellet expanding soil things to sit in. And lots of seeds.

Seeds~
Basil~ Italian large leaf {Organic}
Catnip
Thai Basil~ Siam queen {I love the look of this plant}
Parsley~ Forest green
Parsley~ Italian, Dark green~ Plain/flat leaf
Mesclun~ Mixed salad green~ Gourmet blend X2
Chili peppers ~ Mixed varieties {could be Cayenne, hungarian wax, Serrano, Habenaro, hot cherry or other hot chillies}
Pepper~ Early Jalapeno
Okra
Tomato~ Napoli~ Roma type
Tomato~ Pik red VF Hybrid~ early beefsteak type
Tomato~ Oregon spring
Tomato~ Principe Borghese
Pumpkin~ Howden
Watermelon~ Crimson sweet

I will need to clear out some barrels for the tomatoes and put fresh potting soil in them as well. I also need to clear out the rose cuttings from the back yard. =/ Not to mention cut back the lavender and sage.
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Blue flower
Feb. 26th, 2006 @ 11:04 pm In the indoor garden
Current Mood: sad
I seem to have killed both my baby and mama Aloe vera. I don't know how I manage it. I feel cursed. I want to grown good plants. I know things die or get out of hand because I tend to forget about them. There is just so much I want to do that I have a hard time making time for it all. SO when I can I will be buying two new Aloes and probably some african violets once it warms up. Then I will try my best to make time to enjoy and care for them.
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Blue flower
Feb. 26th, 2006 @ 10:54 pm African Violet
Related links
http://www.theplantexpert.com/africanviolets/
http://www.projectsandhobbies.com/howtogrowafricanviolets.htm
http://www.african-violets.com/tips.htm
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Blue flower
Feb. 26th, 2006 @ 10:41 pm Aloe vera
From botanocals.com )
Found at http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/aloes027.html

Related links
http://www.aloe-vera.org/
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/aloe~vera.html
http://www.iasc.org/
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Blue flower
Feb. 26th, 2006 @ 10:37 pm Things I would like to get for my garden
Tags:
~A tool shed
~A growing light for winter
~bark chips or mulch
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Blue flower
Feb. 26th, 2006 @ 06:54 am My plans for this year... so far
~To grow heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, chives, basil, mint, cat nip
~To plant a boarder in the front yard
~To find some shade loving plants to go next to the porch, preferably flowers
~To clean up the boarders in the back yard and plant herbs around the rose bushes
~To make pesto
~To gather blackberries in the summer, even if I must do so alone
~To clean and store all my gardening tools properly
~To weed out gardening tools we never use or have too many of {I only need one hoe assuming I can find a good one}
~To organize my gardening tools and utilize them
~To put most of my seeds from the last few years in the compost pile
~To harvest and preserve what I grow properly.
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Blue flower
Feb. 26th, 2006 @ 06:24 am In the garden
Today {Saturday the 25th} was my first time spent in the garden, I use this term rather loosely, since Christmas. And that was only to pick herbs for the ham. I went to get fresh sage for a meat rub for dinner. I wound up pruning all 11 rose buses that I have planted in back. I also cleaned the wheel barrow which I had left half full of rose cuttings and Brian leather work gloves to over winter. O_o

Yes, I have been very bad to my gardening tools this past season. My gardening tools that would not fit in my little gardening table/shed thing by rubbermaid were left to rust in the weather on the back porch. I kept hoping that I would fine at least a small shed on Craig's ist to shelter them but it never happened. I have also lost both pairs of my own gardening gloves as well as my best pair of gardening shears {lost last year sometime}.

Last year Brian showed me what I was doing wrong with trying to start the weed whacker. I plan on learning the secrets of the lawn mower this year. Starting with getting it ready for the new season after wintering over. I think it would be good for me to take on that responsibility since I am hear the most and would benefit most from the exercise.

On top of being bad to my tools I think I was pretty terrible to my plants as well. My Sage is in need of radical therapy, I think I have hacked it too severely the last two years. My lavender is over grown and ratty, having had no trimming since planted. My aloe vera in the house seems to be dyeing and I am not sure if it is the cats laying on it in one case or lack of water in the other. Last year I even killed my African violets which I am notorious for doing well with.

Now that I have listed my lackings.

I did get black plastic down in a good portion of the unused boarder space to keep weeds down. Though I need more bark chips to cover it. I did buy enough of that plastic to go around the rose bushes as well. I do have weed and feed for the lawn which is over run with weeds, also known as wild herbs gone rampant. I have learned quite a bit about the growing of herbs since I started this venture.
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Blue flower
Feb. 15th, 2006 @ 04:47 pm Garden/Herbal books
Herbal Books - Good Books to Pass Along. )
I will be adding more of my own later.
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Blue flower
Feb. 14th, 2006 @ 11:38 pm Wormwood
(Artemesia absinthium)
Family: Asteraceae (formally Compositae)
Common names: Absinthium, absinthe, old woman and green ginger

Cultivation:
Identifying characteristics: (directly from book for accuracy in future identification)
Part Characteristic
Stem Numerous, branched, firm, leafy steams, sometimes woody at the base, 3’ high, and covered in fine silky hairs.
Leaves Divided, feathery leaves with pointed tips, covered in fine hairs. They are whitish in color.
Flowers Pendulous, greenish-flowers tint and quite small.
Fruit Ripe fruits are not crowned by a tuft of hairs as are the majority of the plants in this family.
Root It is woody, with a branched crown, with numerous fibers below.
Taste Leaves and flowers are extremely bitter. The root tastes more warm and aromatic.
Odor Strong and characteristic (dried herb with flowers has a strong and aromatic odor).

~ Part used: Herb, flowers and essential oil (externally)
~ Collection: Gather flowering tops during the late summer as they peek, and dry quickly for best results
~ Growing:
~ Sunlight: Shady
~ Soil: average
~ Water: average
~ Propagation: Root division or seeds sown soon after ripe in the fall
~ Foraging:
~ Where it is native to: wild in Europe, north and south America, Asia and south Africa in temperate regions.
~ Where may it be found: Widely found as a garden plant throughout the world

Properties:
~ Recommended preparations: fluid extracts, infusion, oil, powder, tincture
Dried:
~ Part used: Leaves
~ Smell: A strange sweet smell
~ Color: Green-gray with tan flecks of leaves and whitish stems
~ Taste: Extremely bitter
~ Texture: Soft and fluffy with some small steams
~ Preparation: Infusion: ½ oz herb to ½ pt. Boiling water, steeped for 20 minutes
~ Color: Dark reddish brown, could barely see through it
~ Smell: Slightly bitter
~ Taste: Disgustingly bitter
~ Immediate effects: My nose wrinkled, so bitter my first reaction was to spit, it almost made me want to vomit

Active constituents: volatile oil (made of absinthol or thujone, thujol alcohol and iso-valeric acid), glycoside absinthine (narcotic, analgesic, tannin, resin, starch and potash)

Therapeutic action: Anesthetic, anthelmintic, anibilious, antiseptic, aromatic, bitter, cathartic, carminative, cholagogue, febrifuge, hepatic, nervine, sedative, stimulant, stomachic, tonic

Uses: what can it be used for?
~ Medicinal: to treat: anorexia, biliouseness, bruises, constipation, diarrhea, dyspepsia, fevers, flatulence, gout, jaundice, liver troubles, nervous conditions, neuralgia, pin worms, round worms, sprains, swellings
~ Around the house: In sachets to repel pests
~ Cosmetic: none found
~ Culinary: As a liqueur (banned in many countries due to its lethal and addictive nature)
~ Aromatic properties: as an insect repellent, or in sachets or as a tincture or infusion to repel/deter moths and other bugs

Magikal properties: (personal correspondence and further information)
~ Gender influence: Masculine
~ Ruling planet: Mars
~ Elemental influence: Fire
~ Deity influence: Iris, Diana, Artemis
~ Basic magikal powers: Psychic powers, Protection, Love, Calling spirits
~ Specific magikal uses: used in many forms for protection, to develop psychic powers, and burned sometimes in graveyards to help facilitate communication with the dead
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Blue flower
Feb. 14th, 2006 @ 11:34 pm Pumpkin seed
(Cucurbita pepo)
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Common names: pumpkin, English melon, common melon, and muskmelon

Cultivation:
Identifying characteristics: (directly from book for accuracy in future identification)
Part Characteristic
Stem It is creeping, several meters long, with many laterals. The tendrils help the plant hold on and support itself.
Leaves The leaves are dark green with prominent veins and are very hairy.
Flowers The flowers are bright yellow and star shaped on a short stem.
Fruit The ovary of the flower develops into a rounded, large yellow or green pumpkin the contains oval or flattened white seed
Taste Nutty, tasty
Odor Slight

~ Part used: The ripe seeds, as fresh as possible
~ Collection: Harvest the pumpkins when they are ripe. Once but open remove the seeds, wash them and spread them out in a warm, dry, shady location
~ Growing:
~ Sunlight: full sun
~ Soil: rich soil
~ Water: average
~ Propagation: from seed directly outside
~ Foraging:
~ Where it is native to: north and central America
~ Where may it be found: Highly cultivated around the world

Properties:
~ Recommended preparations: emulsion, infusion
Dried:
~ Part used: seed
~ Smell: none
~ Color: dark to light green
~ Taste: slightly nutty, very slightly bitter
~ Texture: smooth flat ovals
~ Preparation: Infusion – ¼ ox crushed seed to ¼ pt boiling water, steeped for 20 min
~ Color: white with a slight green tinge, opaque
~ Smell: very lightly nutty
~ Taste: like water, with a light unidentifiable taste in the back ground

Active constituents: Nutrient rich, especially the minerals calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, silica, and the fatty acid; linoleic acid, niacin, thiamin, and a well balanced blend of amino acids including cucurbitin, lecithin, phytoserin, oil, sugar compounds, albumin, myrosin and arsenic.

Therapeutic action: Anthelmintic (taenifuge), demulcent, diuretic, and nutritive

Uses: what can it be used for?
Medicinal:
used to expel worms, as a diuretic, for urinary troubles, cystitis, fluide retention, kidney troubles, prostate troubles, and urine burning and scalding.

Cosmetic:
the oil can be used in body care; massage and fragrance oil base and the pulp of the plant may be used in body treatments; wraps or masks

Culinary:
they make a great snack, either raw or toasted

Magikal properties: (personal correspondence and further information)
~ Gender influence: I associate it with the earth goddess
~ Elemental influence: earth
~ Deity influence: the Mother, in the trinity (maiden, mother and crone)
~ Specific magikal uses: Use it to represent the womb, and giving birth

Personal use:
~ They are one of my favorite seasonal snacks around Halloween.
~ I am suing the infusion to help with weight loss in the water retention area.
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Blue flower