Sunday, May 27, 2012

food for free Ground Elder

Ground Elder, (not to be confused with the Elder tree where we get lovely fluffy bundles of elderflowers and elderberries and the promise of refreshing elderflower champagne and relief from colds….oooh more another time)  As I was saying, ground elder is a bane in my garden….. well until I discovered that one can eat it, now it is a friend….. Its Latin name is Aegopodium podagraria, herb gerard, bishop's weed, goutweed, and snow-in-the-mountain, is a perennial plant in the carrot family (Apiaceae) that grows in shady places.  It is actually very pretty when it flowers but is so invasive I have a running battle with it every year.  I won’t use weed killers in my garden so it is mowing it or digging it.  Fruitless tasks really, as leaving even a tiny bit of that shiny white rhizome lets it grow astronomically by the following year. It can be quite disheartening I can tell you. 

The name "ground elder" comes from the superficial similarity of its leaves and flowers to those of elder (Sambucus), which is very distantly related. However don’t think you can use the leaves of Elderflower in the same way; the leaves and raw berries of Elderflower contain a cyanide producing glycoside. Ingesting any of these parts in sufficient quantity can cause toxic build of cyanide in the body.  Saying that, an experienced herbalist can use all parts of the Sambucus plant/Elderflower in a variety of ways. Now, back to Ground Elder….
The Romans are said to have introduced ground elder into England because of its pretty ornamental leaf and as a food, which it is still used as across Europe today.
According to some internet sources I found, old traders wrapped their vegetables into ground elder leaves to keep them fresh looking and smelling - the leaves are high in essential oils and helped to keep the other produce fresh and aromatic, too.
Mrs Grieves says that “ground elder is diuretic and sedative., and can be successfully employed internally for aches in the joints, gouty and sciatic pains, and externally as a fomentation for inflamed parts. The roots and leaves boiled together, applied to the hip, and occasionally renewed, have a wonderful effect in some cases of sciatica”.
I can tell you from personal experience, and apparently borne out by Hugh F-W,  that if you eat the more mature leaves after flowering they can be somewhat laxative.  You have been warned. Keeping picking it and it won’t go to flower so quickly.  Simple. J
The leaves are quite aromatic, high in essential oils, high in antioxidants, vitamin C and E, loads of minerals, calcium, magnesium, carotene, flavonoids and fibre.  
Here are some recipes I have collected over time; so try them if you are as desperate as I am to reduce it in the garden.  Let’s face it, you can’t get rid of it so let’s enjoy it!

Buttered Ground Elder
400g Ground elder leaves and young stems
30g butter salt and black pepper, to taste
60g butter
Take the young, green, ground elder shoots and add to a pan with the 30g butter and very little water. Season and cook gently for about 10 minutes, stirring continuously, or until the leaves have just wilted. When tender drain, toss with the remaining butter and serve immediately.


Ground Elder Omelette (serves two)
1/2 to 1 bunch of ground elder
4 eggs
A little butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Pick young, bright green shoots of ground elder. Take them home, and wilt them in a frying pan in the butter. Beat the eggs, season them with salt and pepper, and add them to the pan. Cook for a minute or two, before putting the pan under the grill to finish off (or, alternatively, flip the omelette over).
Serve with crusty bread as a light lunch or starter.
Ground Elder Quiche
Short crust pastry (125g flour, 60g butter, a pinch of salt and enough water to form a pastry
1 bunch of ground elder
2 eggs
300ml of milk
Salt and pepper
A grating of nutmeg
100g of cheese, cheddar is ideal but a little parmesan added to it would help
Make the pastry (sift the flour and salt, rub in the butter to create a crumb texture, mix in enough water to form a dough). Roll the pastry out, and use it to line a greased flan dish.
Take the leaves from ground elder stems. Beat the eggs with the milk and a little salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix in the leaves and pour into the flan case. Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the top, and bake in a moderately hot oven for half an hour to fourty minutes. Serve hot or cold.
Ground Elder Soup
2 bunches of ground elder
A dessert spoon of butter
A dessertspoon of flour
1 small onion
1 rasher of bacon (optional)
Salt and pepper
500ml chicken stock
250ml single cream
Take the leaves from the ground elder and rinse them. Sweat them off in the water left on the leaves for a minute, then take them off the heat.
Soften the onion in the butter (with the bacon, if using) and add the flour. Slowly add the stock, stirring all the time to make a smooth soup. Mix the leaves in and simmer for five minutes or so, before blending or rubbing through a sieve. Add in the cream and season to taste. Serve with crispy croutons.
Ground Elder Cooked as Asparagus
This is perhaps the best way of cooking ground elder... Take young, green shoots and steam them till warm, no more than a minute. Toss them in melted butter and serve immediately.

Ground Elder and Turnips
PREPERATION:
Peel and dice the turnips into large cubes. Heat a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the turnips and let them boil for 1-2 minutes until tender.
Remove the turnips, and season them, while they are still warm, with the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper.
Rinse the parsley and ground elder, dry both lightly in a dish towel, slice coarsely and add the turnips.
Mix well and sprinkle with elderberry flowers.
Serve the turnips with a leg of lamb or other protein of your choice.

Ground-elder and cottage cheese pie
Pastry made with:
200 g butter
200 g sour cream
350 g self raising flour
A pinch of unrefined salt

Filling:
100 to 200 g young ground-elder leaves (A goodly sized bunch of the stuff!)
Oil
One large onion (about 100 g)
300 to 400 g cottage cheese, drained
1 egg
1 tsp dried oregano or herbs of your choice to flavour
Unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Making the pastry:
Melt butter over moderate heat but don’t let it brown.
Taking the saucepan off the heat, stir in sour cream, flour and salt.
Stir until well combined, then place into the fridge for about 30 minutes to rest.

Make the filling:
Wash the ground elder carefully, drain lightly.
Place onto a heavy, dry and hot pan, and heat until wilted.
Then rinse quickly under cold running water to stop the leaves from cooking further.
Press to dry the leaves thoroughly, then chop roughly.
Heat oil on a heavy frying pan, add onion and sauté gently for about 10 minutes, until the onion softens.
Add the chopped ground-elder leaves, cottage cheese, oregano, salt and pepper.
Give it a stir, then add most of the egg and stir again. (Save some to brush the top of your pie)
Take the pastry out of the fridge, divide into two.
Roll out the pastry to make a base and lid for your pie
Put in your filling, pop on the lid and press the edges tightly together, prick the top with a fork in a pretty pattern.
Using the rest of your egg, brush the top of your pie lid. 
Bake in a preheated 200 C oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the pie is lovely golden brown on top.

Ground Elder Soup
2 good bunches of ground elder, younger the better, before flowering. 24 to 30 young stems.
2 tblspns butter
1 tblspn flour
1 large onion
500ml/1 pint vegetable or chicken stock
250ml/½ pint single cream
salt and black pepper, to taste

 If not vegetarian a good addition is:
2 rashers of light, smoky bacon, cut into strips.

Wash the ground elder in clear water then strip the leaves from the stems and chop lightly. If you like a bit more pungency and flavour chop up the stems too.
Add them immediately to a pan (do not drain), cover the pan and sweat the leaves for about a minute.
Add the butter to a different pan and add the chopped onion and bacon if you’re using it, until the onion softens.
Take it off the heat while you stir-in the flour.
Slowly add some of the stock, until it blends easily, then put back on the heat and add the rest of the stock, stirring all the time.
Add the leaves and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Blend with a stick blender or liquidiser then add the cream.
Season to taste and serve immediately.
Garnish with garlic flavoured crouton s if you like them.
For a little warmth add a sprinkle of chilli flakes or powder on the top of the cream.

Freeze It.
If you have such an abundance of it, and find that you like it, you can freeze it too! 
You have to have quite a quantity, because, just like spinach it will cook down considerably, but if you lightly steam it, cool it and place in freezer bags it will freeze successfully. You can take it out the freezer in small portions and quickly bring it to heat. Remember though it is already partially cooked, so don’t overcook it or that lovely goodness will be lost. Done in this manner it can last approximately 1 year.

Please remember, unless you are absolutely certain that the plant you are looking at is ground elder, then don’t risk it.  Get someone else to confirm your identification, for which purpose there are many clear examples on the internet, and all experienced gardeners will tell you too!


Thank you to everyone who over the years, through the gift of the internet, has supplied me with the recipes…… I wish I had saved the links to you all.  But many, many blessings.







Monday, May 14, 2012

Food for free... Cleavers bounty


I have just been for a little walk down the garden.  What a surprise.  There is cleavers everywhere. (aka, Latin name: Galium aparine beggar lice, clithe, cliver, cliders, goose grass, goosebill, hariff, gripgrass, catchweed ) If you have never come across it before, or the name/s don’t ring a bell, well it sticks like crazy to everything, and the seed pods get all tangled up in the cat’s fur and chickens feathers and my legs!  

Any way, there it is! It has gone wild, and, I don’t know about you, but when I see such an exuberance of supply, I think about what I can use it for, and, why it’s there.  Well the why is partly because I obviously didn’t weed efficiently, but also it is a very good lymphatic cleaner, and after the cold I have just had I can do with some of that.  I find nature always provides what we need.  

It is a very good diuretic, and soothing in conditions such as cystitis and other uti’s. Care has to be taken if there is an existing health condition such as with the heart or diabetes, where it could affect sugars. 

It is a fantastic topical herb, which means it can be used to great effect on the skin.  I make a macerated oil with it, and then use it for dry psoriasis and eczema.   It is also good made as you would a tea, then used in the last rinse if you suffer with dandruff.  If your scalp can have a tendency to soreness, it is very kind and reduces the inflammation and heals the cause.  There is some research being undertaken now to see if its alleged positive effects on cancer can be replicated, but nothing is out yet.  I do know it is very good on skin ulcers though from personal experience.

Animals can and do eat it and you can also eat it.  Now some people say you can eat it raw, but I would suggest that those people might also like to try Velcro.  It is rough!  But, when you cook it in a little water the rough hooks go and it becomes a tasty spinach substitute.  I like it lightly cooked with a little parmesan cheese on top, great as a nutritional addition to a bolognaise? Yes, it can form one of the ingredients for a home-made pesto.  It is very nutritious, especially if you pick the tasty, young tips.  You can use it like spinach or, add it to soups and stews, with onions and garlic and other tasty vegetables for its nutritional value.  Its taste is rather bland, so will take up other flavours well and not scare the kids away too easily.  Good for the tummy and the budget, it is free after all.  However, don’t try to eat it from midsummer on as it is just like straw, sticky straw at that! 

Mrs Grieve mentions cleavers in one of her recipes for a herbal beer. I have tried it and it is lovely and refreshing.  Here it is.

Take 2 gallons of cold water and a good pailful of washed young Nettle tops, add 3 or 4 large handsful of Dandelion, the same of Clivers (Cleavers) and 2 oz. Of bruised, whole ginger. Boil gently for 40 minutes, then strain and stir in 2 teacupsful of brown sugar. When lukewarm place on the top a slice of toasted bread, spread with 1 oz. of compressed yeast, stirred till liquid with a teaspoonful of sugar. Keep it fairly warm for 6 or 7 hours, then remove the scum and stir in a tablespoonful of cream of tartar. Bottle and tie the corks securely. The result is a specially wholesome sort of ginger beer. The juice Of 2 lemons may be substituted for the Dandelion and Clivers. Other herbs are often added to Nettles in the making of Herb Beer, such as Burdock, Meadowsweet, Avens Horehound, the combination making a refreshing summer drink.  http://rosenlake.net/er/Grieves_HerbBeers.html

If you want to take the time, collect and dry the seeds, grind them and use them as a substitute for coffee….  Well I don’t have that amount of time…. But you never know when that bit of information may come in useful. 


Disclaimer:  This information is not to replace a visit to your G.P or alternative health practitioner if you have a health concern.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Coughs, colds and flu


Everybody at work has been afflicted with a really nasty cold virus.  Perhaps it is because the weather here is currently alternating between hot, cold and humid.  Whatever, I now have it!

So what does one do?  Of course, everyone at home will likely go down with it. Well, all that is except Michael, who never seems to catch anything.

So we gird up our loins and get the remedies out.  There are many herbs for colds and a quick search of the web will be most helpful, but I will stick to those I have used successfully with my friends, family and other suffering souls.

If you think colds are around you could take Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).  It is a wonderful, powerful herb and can sometimes stop a cold in its tracks. Among many other things it promotes sweating which helps your body get rid of the virus.  If you suspect you are brewing a cold, or it is important not to allow one to develop for yourself or a family member make a tea of Yarrow and have half a cup full every hour.  It can be a bit strong for some, so combine it with ginger and a little honey* to make it more palatable.  (*1tsp per pint not cupful. Sugar has been shown to compromise the immune system.  Some remedies are made more palatable with a touch of honey, so, if you need it, make sure it is the good stuff.)

Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa) is also a wonderful herb and I have used it most successfully.  It is thought to be anti-microbial and antiviral and has been used for hundreds of years by the people of the Amazonian rain forests.    However, I have had a growing awareness of its potential for over harvesting and have stopped using it for colds.  (I still use it for other things though.)  However, if you have some use it. 

If you have the blighter though, go for something like my first choice of preference, elderberry, (Sambucus Nigra). Home-made elderberry syrup, in a little warm water with ginger, thyme and honey; you can’t beat it.  My old Gran used to call it a gift from the Elder Mother*  or the old Hag.  It tastes so good that to have it also help a cold is truly a bonus. I once found Mimz in the fridge helping herself to some syrup prepared for her brother, she didn’t think it was fair that he got to have it and she didn’t, as he was the one with the cold!  
(*There are many tales associated with the Elder Mother.  I will try to find some for you.)

So, how does it work?  Well, the ginger is warming and helps clean and clear the lymph glands, so that the body is able to act more efficiently under attack.  It also contains almost a dozen antiviral compounds and can be slightly sedative so it helps you to rest nature’s way.
The elderberry is high in vitamin c , and also contains vitamins a and b.  It helps shorten length of duration of the cold and helps in reducing the symptoms also, because elderberry helps in the production of cytokines, the immune function of the body under attack. Thyme (thymus) is so powerful an anti-septic that it was regularly used along with garlic in World War I.  It also helps the body expectorate or get rid of excess mucous. Therefore it is a herb considered to be a decongestant.
It is strong though. If you find it too strong to drink as a tea, you can make a hot, fragrant bath and your skin will absorb it.  If you make a tea with thyme you just need a few sprigs and pour hot water over it.  Put a saucer on the top to reduce the escape of the oils and when it has infused or steeped for about 5 minutes strain then sip slowly and feel that remedy work through your body.

I make a syrup with elderberries.  I take a good handful of dried berries or three of fresh, which have been stripped off their stalks as best you can.  A fork may be helpful with this. Pop them into a pan with about 2 tea cups of water, enough to cover the berries. Raise the heat slowly, and crush with a potato masher as the berries start to warm up.   Simmer gently for about 30minutes. The water turns a deep purple which does stain, so an apron is good if you are anything like me and mucky!  Strain the berries in a sieve, or muslin jelly bag, put the liquid back in the pan. Add one pound of good, organic LOCAL honey. Let it simmer a little.   That is your syrup.  Bottle it and when cool put it in the fridge.

Make a ginger tea by taking a piece of fresh ginger, grating it and pouring hot water over it in a cup, you could add your thyme at this point and put a saucer or small plate on top of the cup.  When it has steeped/brewed for about 5-10 minutes strain the herbs and then add 2 tablespoons of your syrup.  You will not believe how good it tastes and how good you feel when taking it.  You will develop a sweat, but that is productive and helpful.  You will feel relief quite quickly, and may even sleep for a while.  This remedy is good for children, but omit the thyme if giving to a pregnant lady, it can stimulate the uterus.

Just some added thoughts.

That terrible bunged up feeling one gets is from the mucous which the body produces.  This mucous is seen as BAD by many people, and so many attempts are made to unblock the nose with sprays etc,  and get rid of it or suppress it.  But!  Mucous is actually the good guy.  It is there as an emergency response of the body to flush the virus out of the body and it contains many anti-viral properties.  The trick is to keep it flowing, which is irritating but necessary.  Clear mucus is good but mucous that can’t move will become infected and turn colour.  Generally, dark yellow and green mucus 
can be signs of sinus infection, and light yellow mucus may be an indication that the air is too dry and causing an imbalance in the delicate membranes of the nose.  

If you are really bunged up use a netti pot or nasal spray bottle with a salt and water mix and snort it up.  Sounds gross but it works so well that it is now being marketed for the use of young babies.  Excess will quickly drain out of the nose without harm.  (A good pinch of real salt crystals in about a ¼ cup of water is about right.) Use freely with no side effects.   Or, you could use a traditional menthol and eucalyptus steam inhalation.

To keep the mucous running, drink lots of fluids.  Your body uses lots when fighting infections and you need to replace the water loss and keep mucus thin. Reduce dairy and gluten they are known to increase mucal secretion, which, let’s face it, when you have a cold enough is enough!

However tempting, try not to use over the counter products to suppress symptoms.  If you have a fever that is good!  Fever is there to kill the virus.   Generally, lowering fevers with aspirin or parcetamol increases the severity of symptoms and duration of infection.  It can also reduce your body’s ability to deal with further infections at a later date. 

You may have heard the old saying “Feed a cold and starve a fever”. 
If you have a fever don’t eat  
Your body is producing proteins which are fighting the virus, these are released by a mechanism triggered by the fever.  If you eat, you will also digest these valuable proteins.  Anyway, quite often, unless you have been trained to ignore your body, you will actually lose your appetite.  Your body will try to slow you down, making you sleepy and lethargic and you will feel like that until a drop in temperature signals to the body that you need to eat!

I had the great privilege of learning from Paul Bergner’s Vitalist Treatment of Acute Symptoms C.Ds.  See http://naimh.com/dl-acutes.htm and this is what I learned…

990: Influenza can no longer replicate
1040: Gonococcus is negatively affected
1040: polio virus is reduced
1060: pneumonia dies (hydration is extremely important) 
1060: spirochetes die (syphilis and lyme’s)  

In the normal person a fever has to get extremely high before it will cause injury. Human cells start dying at 110o. The risk becomes worrisome when there is dehydration, leading to electrolyte imbalance and fever in those who are very young, very old or immunologically compromised.

I was taught as a young mum as many of you may have been, to give baby paracetamol syrup, to avert febrile fits.  As the years went by, I learned that febrile convulsions  are actually not that common, and good old elderberry syrup can help reset the fever  coping mechanism of the body in children who may be prone to temperature fits.  Here is what Paul Bergner says again…

Paul Bergner:
Febrile seizures in children are not correlated with the severity of the fever. The cause is generally unknown, and they affect 3-5% of children in the U.S. and about 15% in some countries. Giving antipyretic drugs* does not reduce the incidence of future seizures in children. Most disappear by age five. Most do not indicate a serious cerebral disease 
                                   *drugs which reduce fever.




Febrile convulsions occur in young children when there is a rapid increase in their body temperature. It affects up to 1 in 20 children between the ages of one and four but can affect children between six months and about five years old.
Children who are at risk may naturally have a lower resistance to febrile convulsion than others.  Children may inherit the tendency to suffer febrile convulsion from their parents.

·          If either parent suffered a febrile convulsion as a child, the risk of the child getting it rises 10 to 20 per cent.
·          If both parents and their child have at some point suffered a febrile convulsion, the risk of another child getting it rises 20 to 30 per cent.

Nevertheless, the child's susceptibility also depends on whether the child frequently gets infections. About 4 out of 10 children who have had febrile convulsions will get them again at some stage, although the risk differs greatly from child to child. The child's risk of febrile convulsion rises if:
·        they are genetically predisposed to it
·        they suffer frequent illnesses, which include high temperatures
·        the first attack of febrile convulsion was accompanied by a relatively low body temperature - below 39ºC.
·        The attack often begins with the child losing consciousness, and shortly afterwards the body, legs and arms go stiff.
·        The head is thrown backwards and the legs and arms begins to jerk.
·        The skin goes pale and may even turn blue briefly.
·        The attack ends after a few minutes and the shaking stops. The child goes limp, and then normal colour and consciousness slowly return.
·        Some children regain consciousness faster than others.

Do not intervene while the attack is taking place except in the circumstance outlined below.
Carefully turn the child's head to one side to prevent choking. In the past, it was common to place a stick in the child's mouth to prevent bites to the tongue or lips. This should never be attempted, as it may result in lasting damage to the teeth.
When the fit subsides, keep the child in the recovery position, ie lying on its side. If fits are prolonged or follow each other rapidly, call an ambulance.
The first time a child suffers febrile convulsions they should be admitted to hospital. If the child has suffered attacks on earlier occasions, hospitalisation is not always necessary. However, it is always important, for example, to determine whether the convulsions are only due to a harmless viral infection. For this reason, a doctor should always be consulted following an attack.

If anyone suffers a fit or seizure which lasts longer than 5 minutes call 999.   This does not happen too often thankfully but, don’t misunderstand, fevers can be serious for some and if there is ANY doubt at all call your G.P/Dr or 999.


So dear ones…. Last points.

Rest, relax all you can to give a chance to the immune system to recharge itself.
Your body needs attention. 
Do you need to look at building you immune system?
Are you working too hard?
Stressing out too much?

Take your remedy of choice.
Drink lots of fluids.
Reduce dairy and wheat intake.
Eat lightly or not at all if suffering a fever.

As for me… I am now drinking my elder berry and ginger remedy given to me by Mimz.   Lovely…..



Thursday, May 3, 2012

A look at the unmentionables... which I am going to mention!

Hi there all..... today I wanted to talk about sanitary wear for women and babies.... well yes... nappies (UK) or diapers (USA) ARE sanitary wear.

When my children were young I purchased a whole load of amazingly absorbent terry squares.  That was all you could get then. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a rant against people who use disposables.  That is their choice and I honour their right to make their free choices.  I completely sympathise with the overworked, busy mum trying to fit in all her chores, making a choice to use disposables. Believe me, I have been there too!  However, with a little thought and a different kind of planning, washable nappies need not be the huge effort to manage as some might think, and in the long term, even with washing costs may well work out cheaper.  For my family, with so many allergies using washable terries was the only way I could control what went against their skin, and for me that was most important.


I used them throughout the infancy of my four children, even when we went camping.  Occasionally I would venture into the heady heights of disposables, but they were too expensive on our low income so we always came back to good old terries.  Then I lent them to a good friend who thinking I was never going to use them again, gave them away!  Well I was not amused.  I could have used them for so many things!  

However, now my children have all grown; sooner or later I expect to be made a granny.... so, I decided to purchase more nappies.  Well, imagine my surprise and delight to see so many innovations.  I went to town,:)  on the Internet, and purchased a whole load, most used, ......clean and beautiful.. and also made some, just to see that I could, and I could!  In fact, now I have got enough for all four of my children to have babies all at the same time and have a complete set each.  I am rather proud of myself!  But of course my lads think I am mad, and they don't want to be daddies just yet thank you very much.  I did tell them it wasn't a subtle hint, but raised eyebrows was the answer I got.  That's OK.... my brother's partner has a baby, I can wait!  

My daughter and her Dad though, looked at these little gems and oohed and ahhed most gratifyingly... can you say that?  And Dad and I reminisced about the joys of beautiful white nappies on the line.  My daughter Mimz asked why, apart from the cost and eco friendly nature of these washables, did I think it was so important that we use washables?  Why?  I took a deep breath and reminded her of the misery of the rashes she used to get when using throwaway sanitary pads.  (And disposable nappies can do  this too!)

She, along with many other girls her age, used to get the most appalling rashes and cramps. Instead of celebrating her cycle, it was utter misery. (I know, many women can't actually say they celebrate their cycle, but I try to keep my daughter positive.)  Then I persuaded her at last to try washable sanitary pads. I made her a set of a dozen, with material she chose herself, and then the day came to try.  There are many, many patterns to chose from, free on the web, and with a little ingenuity you can make your own to suit your particular body shape and needs. If you don't want to spend a great deal of time making something which you may not use, then you can purchase sample ones of the web site.  In the Uk I found Feminine Wear to be particularly helpful.

At first Mimz was dubious after all I am a Mum not one of her peer group, and it is hard to be different isn't it?  When she tried them they felt 'different'.  She had to 'deal' with her flow, rather than dispose of the whole thing and pretend it wasn't happening... but at the end of her flow... no rash.  Next time, she used them again, no rash and reduced cramps.  We looked into the possible cause of such problems.  There is a lot out there you know.  Most of it is about the bleaching agents used to give women pads that look like bandages. Pristine, white and sanitised. I ask you!  For goodness sake women are not ill when they have their flow.  They don't need bandages!

Here is one quote I lifted from the web just today...

"A study from Korea extracted the chemicals found in sanitary pads and tampons throughout the world. While results varied with the different products, octachlorinated dioxin (OCDD), hexachlorodibenzofuran (HxCDF) and octa-chlorodibenzofuran (OCDF) were detected. These are all banned toxic substances.
According to HR 890, "An independent study in 1991 found that tampons commonly included one or more of the following additives: Chlorine compounds, absorbency enhancers (such as surfactants like polysorbate-20), natural and synthetic fibers (such as cotton, rayon, polyester, and polyacrylate), deodorant, and fragrance."

Well I don't know about you, but for me those chemicals are a no-no.  I don't care if they meet some psuedo  guideline that says it is OK for x amount of exposure..... x could mean anything as a one off hit, not repeated exposure of years of using these products!
Any way my daughter was shocked... so we did more research.... here is what Wiki says...
“The materials used to manufacture most pads are derived from the petroleum industry and forestry. The absorbent core, made from chlorine bleached wood pulp, could be reduced to make slimmer products with the addition of polyacrylate gels which sucks up the liquid quickly and holds it in a suspension under pressure. The remaining materials are mostly derived from the petroleum industry, the cover stock used is polypropylene non woven, with the leakproof barrier made from polyethylene film. 
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitary_napkin 

Well I want to save our forests and reduce dependency on petro chemicals!
And then  there is this...
About 90% of the materials used to make sanitary pads and liners are plastic and include polyethylene, polypropylene and polyacrylate super absorbents. The extraction, production and manufacture of which contributes Nitrogen oxide, Sulphur dioxide and Carbon dioxide to the environment – ozone depleting gases; human toxins that lead to cancer and birth defects as well as chemicals that cause the acidification of trees.
://www.natracare.com/p135/en-GB/Our-Environment/Plastics.aspxGo on.. do your own searches... inform yourself, don't take my word for it.

My daughter was convinced.  So much so that she decided to tell her friends, no mean thing when you are a teenager.  She generated interest and a few friends had some made for them, tried them and were impressed. 

As a by product, Mimz declares openly that she feels much better, no longer gets the rashes and much reduced cramps.  While I can't genuinely state that she celebrates her monthly flow, at least she feels better about it.

However as in all things we have freedom to choose.  But should you get the rash a nice soothing application is chickweed or plantain macerated oil.  You wont get this from your local pharmacy so here is how to make it. Almost for free.... you can even use recycled glass jars! Just purchase your oil.

A cold macerated oil.
Collect loads of chickweed (this is what it looks like....  http://www.altnature.com/gallery/chickweed.htm)   or loads of plantain (this is what it looks like ...    http://www.altnature.com/gallery/plantain.htm)  Let them dry on a cloth before using, better still collect on a dry sunny day, but frankly we haven't seen much of those lately.  (Though I am not complaining, we need the rain.)  Both these herbs aka weeds, are known for their wonderful healing properties and are amazing in your herbal 1st aid kit.

Take the dry plant material and place in a large kilner/mason jar.  Fill up with vegetable oil.... I prefer olive oil myself,it seems to be less reactive than any other I have tried, but you have to use what you can get. Poke all green matter down into the oil and seal.  Place the jar on top of a cloth or kitchen paper, no matter what you do it always seems to leak a bit as it is macerating.  Give it a good shake once a day, and let to steep for at least a week better if it's about 6 weeks.  Strain and bottle. If you want to, you can get a fancy application bottle, or upcycle a glass antiperspirant bottle which has been well washed out.  Apply over affected area each time you need to go to the bathroom.  A little goes a long way, but you should find relief really quickly.  This oil is a gentle application for cuts and grazes and inflamed areas.

Look up the other uses of both herbs.... I love them.!

Do let me know your thoughts.... I don't mind if you disagree, I love it when you add to what I have mentioned. After all it is in talking that we share what we know for when we need it.

Green blessings to you all.  Lynne. /|\ 

Disclaimer!  I have no financial interest, or hidden agenda in linking you to any of the web sites I mention.  They are usually there simply because they have information on that is useful.  Just so you know. :)



Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Well I never!

An essay I wrote a while ago has been posted on the School of Natural Health Sciences Web Site.

Do take a look.  Let me know what you think>  I would be really interested.

Here is the link.  :)

http://www.naturalhealthcourses.com/Reading_Room/Healing_The_Whole.htm