Knot a Chance

When I lived in Short Beach, the neighbour 'down the road' was constantly at war with Japanese Knot Weed. He cut it off at the ground level only to have it grow back twice as fast in a month. He hired a tractor in early Spring to dig it up by the roots only to have it come back in the Fall. He even poisoned it plus his well and still it grew...one day he asked me what I would do to get rid of it. I told him to buy some pigs as they would eat it plus any roots. It would take a year and he would have two good size pigs to butcher or pets, whatever the 'wife' decided. He laughed.  

I did add he could start eating it himself but he didn't like greens. He still have Knot Weed growing 15 years later on him property and he still waves to me when I pass...

(photo- tender new shoots of Knot Weed)

If you know Japanese Knot Weed has had poison applied, I wouldn't harvest it. It takes years for it to come out of top soil and could make you sick. If you have a personal patch, try this recipe : )

Nippon Knotweed Salad

*Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum)
Serves 4. *google “itadori recipe” for more ideas

3 young shoots of Japanese knotweed, steamed for 3-5 minutes, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 Roma tomato, chopped finely
1 small red onion chopped finely
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil (sesame flavor compliments Japanese knotweed well)
2 teaspoons Japanese soy sauce, such as Kikkoman
juice of one-half lemon
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried dill

Toss together in wooden bowl and serve.

                                                    Video-  How to ID Japanese Knot Weed

Burdock- Natures Food

Burdock is a plant native to most of the habituated world and has been used for medicine, food and ground cover sense Adam ate the apple. My horse always manages to find a plant in her pasture , just to give me something to do as she nibbles her oats in the mornings.  The plants must be at least 3 years old to have a nice size edible root but the young leaves are a very tasty green most of the growing season.

How to Grow Burdock

Arctium, Biennial

Early settlers brought Burdock to the U.S. American Indians liked it, and included this vegetable in their gardens. Today, it can be found growing wild in many parts of the country. Burdock is an edible root, native to Europe, Asia and Japan. Actually, the leaves and tender, young stems are edible, too. Roots can be eaten raw or cooked. Leaves and stems are usually cooked like spinach.

Burdock has been used in a wide variety of herbal medicines. The most common is treatment of skin and scalp problems, including combating hair loss and dandruff control.  Burdock has also been used as liver treatment, to stimulate the digestive system, colds and sore throats, and even for treatment of leprosy.

Caution: Diabetics should consult their physician before eating Burdock. It could interfere with medication.

Burdock Trivia: George de Mestral invented Velcro after studying how burdock burrs clung to clothing and animal fur.

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Propagation:

Burdock  is grown from seed. Sow Burdock seeds in your garden as early as the ground can be worked. Cover seeds with 1/2" to 3/4" of fine garden or seed starting soil. Tamp soil. Water lightly, if the soil is dry.

Seedlings germinate quickly, in about 4-7 days.

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How to Grow Burdock Plants:

Burdock is easy to grow. It grows readily in the wild, without day human assistance. The attention you provide to it in your garden, will promote bigger, deeper roots, and more plant and seed to harvest. Burdock likes full sun, but will tolerate partial shade.

The soil should be rich, and drain well. The most important characteristic of the soil, should be loose and free of rocks and stones up to a depth of a couple of feet. This allows the roots to grow long and straight.

After seedlings have grown a few inches, thin to 3" apart in rows two feet apart. Weed frequently, especially when plants are young.

Keep soil moist. Apply a general purpose fertilizer once a month.

Did you Know? The roots of some varieties of Burdock can grow four feet long. Some plant varieties can grow up to nine feet tall.

Keep flowers and burrs picked, to promote growth of plant and root.

Tip: Fewer leaves allow denser plants and a higher yield. If you are growing Burdock just for the roots, prune some leaves as the plant grows.

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Harvesting:

Pick leaves and tender young stems for eating fresh. Cook like spinach.

Roots take a long time to grow, over 100 days. Pick when roots are one to two feet long. Peel and eat raw or cooked. Use in soups, salads, and stir fries.

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Insect and Disease:

Insects can be an occasional problem. Treat with insecticide or repellents, as needed.

link-

~How to grow Burdock

~Burdock Recipes

                                                                     Burdock New Growth

                                                          Sticky Old Growth my horse likes : )

Finding the Perfect Spot

  - - - 

I remember back years ago now, when I was trying to learn to meditate.  I started with

 pre-recorded guided meditations. These usually try to lead you back to that perfect 

spot in your consciousness and find a symbol of importance to the mediator. A focus point

 of sorts. Sometimes it was an animal guide, a symbol of childhood of God or just

 a missing part of what you need to succeed. I usually found a cupcake…

 I do not know it I needed a cupcake; it was a symbol for me of something 

I looked forward to, a sweet treat.

I soon got bored of meditating that way, even though it does help beginners to
learn to focus. I began to look for others in meditation groups. I was lucky enough

 to find on Face Book some Buddhist practitioners who found me a local group

 of wonderful friends, Buddhists who were willing to take me in and teach me the silence.

 The wonderful silence…. I remember the first gatherings to practice and the literature

 I received to help me. The practice was to sit comfortable in a quiet spot, relax, 

count to 21, then start again. I did this every day for at least 15 minutes and Sundays

 we practiced at the center for two + hours once a week. I learned walking meditation,

 received sessions with other teachers on Buddhist teachings to help me and found

 a new family.

With the meditation, I soon realized how our mind is constantly in shifting thoughts. Even when we are thinking there is always the sub-conscious adding to the internal conversations. We do not realize this until we begin to slow down the jumble consultations our mind puts on for us. Its endless what we can realize once we do quiet that un-needed thought.

So slow down, listen to the parley and learn we can listen   : )

Link to Basic Meditation-Learn How to Center

Connecting Tree Auras

Tree Auras-

Energy to grow by…

I have often wondered as I have walked the softwood
 cloaked trails of my local area, if anyone else takes
 the time to stop and notice the trees. There are lots 
to learn from watching trees. They

 grow into the environment they inhabit, depending 
on the minerals found in the soil, the terrain and 
water available. They provide a home, safety for
 birds, windbreaks for humans, plus other things
 as recycling carbon monoxide into oxygen for
 the whole planet.

Sitting with them during meditation, one can often 
connect with the energy they provide for us. 
I often try to focus on one individual tree, as 
there are many varieties here in Nova Scotia. 
Quietly observing for several minutes.
 My senses begin to connect with the tree.
 I find in my mind the energy stored with-in is 
branches as it begins to glow to a halo. 
A prism unfolds with-in the branches, moving 
to the tip of every bough. Rainbow colors 
spiraling round and round the tree until it 
has filled with a lucid light. The tree speaks 
to me of all its days, as it reached to the sky. 
It tells of harder times, when the wind has ripped 
its bows, stripping it of its personal protection, 
only to have new growth there later. Its scent 
fills my nostrils with fresh fragrance that moves
 thru my body, healing my muscles, re-focusing 
my mind then returning to the air surrounding me.
 I stay as long as possible with the tree. Its time
 has no meaning, I think...I have that internal clock 
ticking constantly, reminding me of something else 
to do. How sad for me that I can't stay with the living
 wood that the Creator has provided for my enjoyment...today.

Realizing

beauty,

 my nature connection

I return

a mundane world,

walking up

the lane to

 my home…☼

Alder- a Medicial Gift

Alder is a common tree that grows almost everywhere in North America. It was once known for its nutritional value among the Native people.  It is a member of the Birch family and is a tree that likes to live near water, quite often, so close that its roots are partially exposed by the flow of a river. Along with the edible inner bark,it produces some long and hanging almost red/purple female cones along with pale green/purple male catkins.

Its Latin name is Alnus Glutinosa, the latter part of its name probably stems from the the young buds ands leaves being fairly sticky when young as Glutinosa translates to stickiness!

At first glance it may not appear to have anything of use to the forager, but on closer inspection, it is actually a very valuable tree.

Medicinally the Alder is very astringent and the bark can be used as an anti inflammatory, a tea made from the inner bark of smaller branches or the dried buds and chewing small amounts may help relieve Diarrhoea and a tea made of the bark can be gargled against a sore throat. Overdoing it may cause vomiting however and using dried bark is best.

Alder bark treated inflammations, rheumatism, and diarrhea. Bags filled with heated alder leaves helped with chronic skin diseases and burns. A gargle made from leaves and bark cured mouth ulcers and soothed tonsillitis. Alder oil and essence resonate with the Muscular System and can relieve stiffness and damp diseases, enabling us to move forward with flexibility and comfort.
 Most parts of the tree can been used to create a natural yellow dye and it is brilliant for making charcoal as it burns with an intense heat.

To make sure you have identified Alder correctly, there are a few helpful key features. most obvious is that it will have both male catkins and female cones on at the same time (as above) The male catkins look almost similar to that of hazel sometimes smaller, whilst the female organs look similar to tiny open pine cones but are approx 2cm in size. Another helpful clue is the orange lichen that grows on the bark. It's leaves look similar to that of hazel, with a much less pronounced tip, in fact it almost looks blunt and square like. Of course a huge give away is its proximity to water!

Early spring the tree will produce catkins, that some say are edible. Certainly the Red alder of the USA is edible as is all wild varieties. There road side tree is possibly a different variety of alder or it could be due to its sheltered location, be in a more advanced stage of spring growth. On the left is the town Alder catkin, the right is the "wild" Alder

Fresh both are very astringent and unappetising , the wild catkins much firmer.
I would give both the same treatment, simmering in changes of water until the yellow that leaches from them reduces. therefore reducing the astringency. However at this point, I thought it better to concentrate solely on the 'wild' catkins, seeing as i was unable to be sure that the town one was the same Alnus Glutinosa and in so be pointless to experiment with as not many people would have access to the same! Anyway continuing with the wild catkins once boiled in changes of water I thought a good test of its edibility would be to dry and then grind to a flour for use. As there was only a hand full of each the amount of flour produced was little, so enabling me to make something worthwhile, I added an equal amount of Rye flour, shaped it into a small biscuit round after adding water and baked it.

The resulting cake was fairly pleasant. It had the texture of (and you will only understand this if you are a dog owner) a dog treat!..Perhaps a Bonio??, that's not to say it had a meaty taste, but the texture was gritty and bland, however more pleasant than expected. It still retained a hint of bitterness that lingered but not unpleasant. More like the bitterness of unsweetened coco powder (if you have ever tried that!) On the whole, considering its questionable pallatibility, It came out quite well! in fact much tastier than flour I have attempted to produce from Cattail roots so I was happy with the results!! A success almost, I just hope that the nutritional benefits are similar to its American cousin, Id hate to think id wasted everybody's time!

Links- http://forager101.blogspot.ca/2013/02/alder-and-catkinsedible.html
http://www.mun.ca/botgarden/education/resources/ALDER_ACTIVITY.pdf

Apples and the Kabbalah?

,,,10 dots form the Pythagorean Tetractys, there's 10 sephirot of the Kabbalistic Tree, 10 Kingdoms,,,

I remember sitting quietly as a child, watching my Great Grand Mother and her Jewish 'sisters', old women of late 80's, peel apples for pie and jelly. One would sooner or later take my small 4 year old hand and show me the apple,cut in half, and explain where I came from. For years, till the old  women moved to Halifax and the Rock Cottage home was sold, I heard the kabbalah life tree story, So I would remember who just I really was... Thank you,Starr Women...and my true mother, Pauline...

I can't tell the secret, but this info is close...

The Pentagram in Depth

Notice: this article is copyrighted. Please do not copy any part to any web page, newsgroup, Book of Shadows, etc., other than a brief excerpt and link.
The five-pointed star or pentagram is one of the most potent, powerful, and persistent symbols in human history. It has been important to almost every ancient culture, from the Mayans of Latin America, to India, China, Greece, and Egypt. It has been found scratched on the walls of Neolithic caves, and in Babylonian drawings, where it marks the pattern the planet Venus makes on its travels- a secret symbol of the Goddess Ishtar. Scriptures, especially Hebrew, are abundant with references to pentagrams. So, why does this symbol have such a sinister reputation today?
The Pentagram in the Ancient World
The earliest pentagrams were rough diagrams found scratched into stone age caves. While they are believed to have some spiritual significance, the meaning of the star-shape to early humans is a mystery. In the civilizations that followed, it held various meanings, usually astronomical and religious. Pentagrams served to mark directions in Sumerian texts, and represented the five visible planets. Later, it was the sign of the planet Venus and the goddess.
According to the Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras, five was the number of man, because of the fivefold division of the body, and the ancient Greek division of the soul. According to Pythagoras, the five points of the pentagram each represent one of the five elements that make up man: fire, water, air, earth, and psyche. (energy, fluid, breath, matter, and mind; also liquid, gas, solid, plasma, and aethyr, or spirit) The Pythagoreans held the pentacle sacred to Hygeia, the Goddess of healing, whose name (HGIEiA) was an anagram in Greek for the elements water, earth, spirit, fire, and air.
This particular symbolism has persisted for centuries, and has greatly influenced theologies of diverse traditions. Early Christians wore the pentagram as an emblem, possibly to represent the wounds of Christ, or possibly due to connections between early Christians and the Pythagorean mysteries.* Later, the pentacle was important to many doctrines of esoteric Medieval and Renaissance belief systems- alchemy, kabbalah, and Ceremonial magic.
The Pentacle and Magick
Renaissance-era ritual magicians, like the Greeks, used the Pentagram as a microcosm of the human body. The practice of Ritual Magic was used to create a state of closeness with god through the use of symbols and rituals to imitate the divine state. It was believed that like affects like, that the connection between the world of symbols and the world of actions could also be manipulated for evil purposes. One of these magicians, Giordano Bruno, warned of such misuse of the powerful pentacle by Black magicians. (The pentagram is still central to the practice of ritual magic, and is used in the foundation of many of its rituals.)
In the Jewish kabbalistic tradition, which borrows many Pythagorean ideas, the pentagram represents the five upper sephiroth on the Tree of Life- five numbers, being indivisible by any but themselves, which represent pure archetypal forces: justice, mercy, wisdom, understanding, and transcendent splendor.
Christian Pentagram?
Christian Kabbalists of the renaissance were especially enamored of the pentagram, which they viewed as a mystical proof of the divinity of Christ – to them, it symbolized Christ as the Holy Spirit manifest in the flesh. A favorite gematric feat was to add the Hebrew letter Shin (symbolizing fire and the holy spirit of Pentecost) to the Biblical four letter name of God (YHVH, most commonly [and incorrectly] pronounced ‘Jehovah’) yielding YHShVH- Y’heshua, or Jesus. (There is a secret biblical connection, as well, in the name of the Christian holiday of Pentecost- the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles of Jesus is one of many geometrical ‘proofs’ in the New Testament disguised as stories)

...by the way, Eve wears the crown of heaven...

There are many connections between the pentagram and Christianity. Before the cross, it was a preferred emblem to adorn the jewelry and amulets of early Christians (followed by an ‘x’ or a phoenix). The pentagram was associated with the five wounds of Christ, and because it could be drawn in one continuous movement of the pen, the Alpha and the Omega as one. It was also an expression of a secret Gnostic heresy, found hidden here and there throughout Christian history- a symbol of Isis/Venus as the secret goddess, the female principle. The most notable instance of this symbolism is in the Arthurian Grail romances, which are Gnostic and kabbalistic teachings disguised as tales of knightly quests.
The pentacle as a symbol of the feminine principle was was embodied by the rose. The small, five petaled roses found in many Gothic cathedral’s ornamentation are not-so-secret pentagrams.
Now how you like that!

links-

http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta29.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoreans

http://symboldictionary.net/?p=1893

http://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380551/jewish/The-Apple-Revealed.htm

 

A Season's Greeting

I received a Christmas card from the former board members/president of Yarmouth SPCA,
Tony and Mavis yesterday. Their card to me found them well, moved to a new
 home and just back from an adventure in Hawaii where they visited volcano's by helicopter.
 How exciting!       Also my friend's Lyle and Martha have been in touch as they have moved back closer to me in Maine. Plans are in the air for a possible visit in the New Year.   Two Christmas parties loom in the near future,too, and my pagan friends have special rites for their traditional holiday blessings for me to attend, also.
  Gifts have arrived already from my friend, "Sebastian" and dinner is planned...  alone together...       
I'll be spending my holiday time with my grown children and friends. Its a busy time filled with loving friends. Hoping all is well for my fans here and your days are filled with stars. Thank you for your constant patronize and comments/messages!

Lovingly,
                Me
                          XOXOX