Common Milkweed

Scientific Name: Asclepias syricaCommon Name: common milkweed

Range: throughout most of the United States; this species is not found in the Western states, but similar milkweeds are available: found in old fields, roadsides, meadows, waste places and disturbed habitats.

Origin: native to the United States and Canada

Botanical description: The common milkweed is thick-stemmed and upright. It grows to be 3-5 feet tall. Its leaves are elliptical, and opposite; they are velvety on their upper surface, and downy underneath. They are 4-9 inches long and quite wide.

The pinkish-purple flower buds look like loose broccoli; the flower itself is large and made up of individual florets gathered in an umbrella shaped globe that droops from the stem. The stem is hairy. The seed pods are the most recognizable feature of the common milkweed; they are green, elliptical shaped and about 1-4 inches in length with a pointed tip; inside, they contain myriad seeds with silky parachute-like attachments. Another easily recognizable characteristic of the common milkweed is the profuse, milky white sap that flows from any broken part.

What’s in a name: The genus name, Asclepias, comes from Asklepios, the Greek god of healing.

All in the family: Common milkweed is a member of the Asclepiadaceae, or milkweed, family. Its relatives include other milkweeds such as swamp milkweed, the butterfly weed, and showy milkweed. The butterfly weed and Western states versions of milkweed are toxic.

Active compounds: beta carotene, vitamin C, latex, alkaloids, asclepiadin, volatile oils

Cultural uses: Common milkweed has been used traditionally a tea prepared from its root as a diuretic for kidney stones, a laxative, and an expectorant. It has been used to treat asthma and bronchitis and it induces sweating. The sap has been used for chewing gum, which is considered very dangerous because of the presence of cardioactive compounds in the plant. The sap has also been used as a topical remedy for worts, ringworm and moles. Some Native Americans used milkweed as a contraceptive. It was also a folk remedy for cancer. Today, milkweed has limited medicinal use; other milkweed species, such as the swamp milkweed, have more widespread use. Parts of the milkweed plant can be eaten, but the similarity of this plant to toxic look-alikes would serve as a caution against this practice. It is used by some as an emetic, a potion to sooth the nerves, and as a stomach tonic. It is also believed to kill parasitic worms.

Research: no information available

In lore, legend and life: In World War II, children in the United States were encouraged to collect milkweed pods and turn them in to the government, where the fluffy silk was used to stuff lifevests and flying suits. The silk was especially good because of its exceptional buoyancy and lightweight. Also in World War II, because of the shortage of natural rubber, scientists in the United States tried to turn common milkweed’s latex into a rubber like substitute.
Monarch butterflies are particularly attracted to the flowers of the common milkweed and other milkweed relatives.

In Hindu mythology, relatives of the common milkweed were considered to be the king of plants; it was believed that the creating god was under the influence of milkweed juice when he created the universe.

Backyard Medicine

The concept that the dreaded weed is really beneficial may be surprising for some, but there is an old adage that goes….’A weed is only a plant we do not yet know the uses and benefits of yet’.

This is so true. Dandelion and Chicory are diuretics, making elimination of excess fluids in the body easier. Common Plantain, when crushed, releasing the juices, is a wonderful balm for a scrap or bite. Staghorn Sumac and Sassafras have been used for hundreds of years as spring tonics. The white sap of Common Milkweed has been used to remove warts.

So before you use those herbicides on the lawn….look a little closer and find out what treasure chest you might have growing willingly in your backyard.

It is so much fun to learn about these plants that many people are now starting gardens to foster some of these plants in their yard. To do so would add to your yards diversity…..allowing the beautiful orange blooms of the butterfly weed to grow and attract butterflies is a wonderful balm to the soul, encouraging Echinacea to bloom and return to your yard year after year allows a wonderful medicine against flu to flourish, and Dandelion and Chicory roots can be harvested right from your yard to make a different kind of coffee substitute, one that was utilized in World War II when rationing meant many didn’t have coffee at all without it’s use.

So the next time you mow the lawn….maybe you could leave a small area to grow wild, see what is really there. Look closely for all your new friends…you may be surprised to find their smiling flower faces gazing back at you.

Basil

Ocymum basilium

Synonyms:

Part used: herb

Medicinal use: The name comes from the Greek word for King, so this plant has been referred to as the "royal" herb.

It has been used for flatulence and griping pains in the abdomen. When added to food while cooking it decreases the incidence of indigestion and helps prevent constipation.
Basil added to cooking can help in the digestion of most foods heading off any indigestion. If after eating there is still a problem try adding basil to a glass of white wine and sipping on it as an after dinner drink. (1/8 teaspoon per glass should do it.)

Historically it was used in cases of fainting spells, mild nervous disorders and to bring on menstruation.

Basil oil has been used as a treatment for acne, intestinal parasites and as an immune stimulant. It also appears to have estrogen like effects and should be avoided by pregnant and lactating women

Allspice

Pimento officinalis

Synonyms: pimento, Jamaica pepper

Part used: fruit, particularly the shell

Habitat: Pimento, familiarly called Allspice, because it tastes like a combination of cloves, juniper berries, cinnamon and pepper, is the dried full-grown but immature fruit of the Pimento officinalis or Eugenia Pimenta. It is an evergreen tree growing approximatly 30 feet high in the West Indian islands and South America.

Medicinal use: Allspice was formerly official in both the British and United States Pharmacopoeias. Pimento Oil was dropped from the British in 1914, but Pimento Water is still listed in the British Pharmacopoeia Codex. It was also dropped from the U.S. Pharmocopoeia but admitted to the National Formulary IV.

Pimento (or allspice) is one of the ingredients in the Compound Tinture of Guaic found in that formulary. The Essential Oil, as well as the Spirit and the distilled Water of Pimento are useful for flatulent indigestion. Two or three drops of the oil on sugar are given to correct flatulence (gas). The oil is also given on sugar and in pills to correct the griping tendancies of purgatives.

Preperations: powdered fruit: dose 10 to 30 grains

Kitchen Medicine

Introduction
.
No matter where we find ourselves, there will always be times when we are not our healthiest. If you depend on a family doctor, that requires you to see him or a substitute when the need arises. If you follow herbal practices with your health, that requires that you know the plants in the area in which you find yourself, and that changes with environment.

One constant in our new, modern age of shipping, is that supermarkets anywhere in the United States and Canada carry very similar (if not identical) items. In Fresno, California you can go into a food store and find ginger, when you have menstrual cramps , just the same way you do in a food store in Miami, Florida. Should you find yourself in Honolulu, Hawaii with a sore throat the food chain predominant there also sells sage that can be used for a gargle the same as the food store at home in Manhattan, New York.

In other words a well stocked kitchen can help save money, prevent needless trips to the pharmacy or doctor, and also allows you the ease of travel, knowing that the next town has a store with the needed spice or food remedy.

Probably everyone knows that prunes are a laxative. But did you know that strawberries are also? And gentle enough for a child?

You probably know that honey sooths a cough, but did you know that onions do as well?

We will look at common spices and foods from a new standpoint. Not just as flavorings or as nutritional aids in diet, but also how they can help keep you and your family healthy. There is truth in the old adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"!

Disaster Preparedness - Food Storage

Many people 'put by' food, either in the fall after harvest and canning, or when things are on sale at the grocery. There are still others who make it a habit to have extra food on hand at all times, the Mormons have a policy of having 1 years food supply for all members of the family at all times, many survivalists do also.

There are some issues with doing this....knowing proper, safe methods of storage, and proper rotation, so that everything stays as fresh as possible.

Following are some suggestions for your stores list:

Food Supplies – rotate every 6 months

BEVERAGES
· Milk - Dehydrated or Evaporated
· Soda
· Coffee, teas, instant cocoa - remember, drinks with caffeine in them will move water through your body faster, so you might consider storing 1/2 again as much water.
· Powdered Beverages as desired - Don't forget, these will require extra stored water to make.
· Fruit, tomato and vegetable juices
· Sport drinks, such as Gatorade

Grain Products
· Multi-packages of individual serving breakfast cereal
· Instant HOT cereal in the paper packages
· Pancake mix - get the type that requires water only
· Bread - store in freezer
· Pasta
· Flour
· Corn meal
· Soda Crackers
· Rice

Protein Sources
· Canned Meat: bacon, spam, sausages, meat spreads, chile con carne, beef stew.
· Canned Poultry; chicken, turkey
· Canned Fish: tuna, salmon, sardines
· Cheeses: hard wax wrapped cheese lasts longer
· Dried Eggs

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
· Canned berries
· Canned pears, peaches, apricots, plums
· Canned citrus fruits
· Canned vegetables
· Dry peas
· Instant mashed potatoes
· Dry packaged beans

STAPLES
· Salt
· Sugar
· Cooking oil
· Shortening
· Baking Soda
· Honey

SEASONINGS AND SPICES
Include seasonings appropriate for the meals you choose to store. Spicy foods increase the consumption of fluids

SNACKS AND OTHER FOODS
· Nuts
· Peanut butter
· Hard Candy
· Dried fruit
· Jerky
· Dry soup mix
· Canned soup

Disaster Preparedness

Here on the east coast of North America we are headed into hurrican season, in California it is Earthquake season all the time, and in the center of the country it seems to be severe flood season right now. If a disaster, natural or manmade, were to strike right now do you have a clue how to be ready and how to survive?

If your answer was no....then read on. The surest way to survive any unknown situation is to be prepared. To be prepared takes planning and time. I want to survive, my family and pets with me. So I have taken time to think things through, and have sought out advice from the Red Cross, FEMA, and anywhere else I could find reliable information. I plan to share some of this information in the next several posts with you. I hope it helps.

The first thing I did was to prepare an emergency kit for in the car, if someone gets stranded in a winter blizzard they can survive with this kit. (or any other unforseen issue that makes getting back to safety a problem)

HERE IS A LIST OF ITEMS WHICH SHOULD BE KEPT IN YOUR CAR'S MOBILE SURVIVAL KIT:
· Nylon Carrying Bag or Day Pack (I used a backpack and everything is in it)
· Bottled Water
· Non-perishable Food-Candy Bars, Dried Fruits, Jerky, Cookies, Crackers, Etc.
· Can Opener (if needed for the food packed)
· Transistor Radio and Extra Batteries (or a wind-up style)
· Flashlight and Extra Batteries (or a wind-up style)
· First Aid Kit
· Routine Medications - Aspirin, Tylenol, Cold Tablets, Etc.
· Gloves
· Essential Medication-Extra Prescription Medications
· Blanket, Sleeping Bags, Space Blanket
· Sealable Plastic Bags
· Pre-moistened Towelettes
· Small Tool Kit
· Matches,Lighter, and Candle
· Chemical Light Sticks
· Walking Shoes and Extra Socks
· Change of Clothes
· Jacket
· Entertainment Pack - Family Photos, Notebooks, Reading Material and Games
· Cash (Small Denominations and Coins)

There may be other things you think of that are necessary for your personal needs, add them also.

REMEMBER: You could be stranded for up to 72 hours. Make sure that you have enough supplies to meet your needs

Beginning Tips on Blending Essential Oils for Aromatherapy

When starting to blend it is important to remember that there are different types of smells and that scents in the same catergory blend with each other the best. The basic types are:

Floral (i.e. Lavender, Neroli, Jasmine)
Woodsy (i.e. Pine, Cedar)
Earthy (i.e. Oakmoss, Vetiver, Patchouli)
Herbaceous (i.e. Marjoram, Rosemary, Basil)
Minty (i.e. Peppermint, Spearmint)
Medicinal/Camphorous (i.e. Eucalyptus, Cajuput, Tea Tree)
Spicy (i.e. Nutmeg, Clove, Cinnamon)
Oriental (i.e. Ginger, Patchouli)
Citrus (i.e. Orange, Lemon, Lime)

In general, but not limited to these, the following categories blend well together:

Florals blend well with spicy, citrusy and woodsy oils.
Woodsy oils generally blend well with all categories.
Spicy and oriental oils blend well with florals, oriental and citrus oils. Be careful not to overpower the blend with the spicy or oriental oils.
Minty oils blend well with citrus, woodsy, herbaceous and earthy oils.

Oils evaporate at different rates, so most blenders use oils that blend different evaporation rates, as one oil evaporates the effect and scent of the blend will change. There are three evaporation groupings, as follows:

Top Notes: (these have the fastest evaporation rates)

Anise
Basil
Bay Laurel
Bergamot
Citronella
Eucalyptus
Grapefruit
Lavender
Lemon
Lemon grass
Lime
Orange
Peppermint
Spearmint
Tangerine

Middle Notes:

Chamomile
Cinnamon
Clary Sage
Cypress
Geranium
Hyssop
Jasmine
Juniper Berry
Neroli
Nutmeg
Rose
Rosemary
Rosewood
Spruce
Tea Tree
Thyme
Ylang Ylang

Base Notes:

Angelica
Balsam, Peru
Cedarwood
Frankincense
Ginger
Myrrh
Patchouli
Sandalwood
Vanilla

None of these lists of evaporation rates are complete, they are just a starting point.

Some Tips for starting to blend:

Start out small, use the least number of drops, so you waste less while experimenting
Keep an accurate notebooks of the experiments you try, with notes on your thoughts and feeling of each blend as you make them. You have ahigher chance of duplicating a scent with accurate records.
When storing your blends be sure to label it clearly. If there isn’t sufficient room on the bottle, then assign it a code that is matched in your notebook to that particular blend.
After creating a blend allow it to sit for a few days to a week. Smell it again, the scent may change as the oils blend. Now decide if you like it or not.

How to use Aromatherapy

There are several ways to utilize the essential oils used in Aromatherapy:

Massage
Baths
Compresses
Inhalations
Vaporisation
Perfumes

The use of massage with aromatherapy is maybe the most effective way of delivery. With the skin being the largest organ on the body it works to keep out contaminants, but some oils do absorb through the skin, which is why medicine makes use of skin patches for the delivery of some medicines. When you use massage you utilize two Alternative modalities simultaneously, Aromatherapy and Touch, getting the most beneficial combination.

Using the oils in baths is again very effective……as you use it on the skin and through inhalation of the moist air and vapors. Water itself has a very therapeutic effect and combined with essential oils enhances the healing powers of both.

Compresses use the therapeutic effect of the water and inhalation in a lessened way from the bath. It is placed on the area most needing the treatment, therefore concentrating the direction of action to just the vicinity needing healing. This method of application is best used in treating such conditions as: muscular aches and pains, varicose veins, sprains, bruises, menstrual cramps and respiratory congestion.

Inhalations have been utilized for centuries…today we use vaporizers on children with stuffy head colds and croup. Inhalations can be utilized for the treatment of a variety of respiratory disorders as well as emotional states. They are most effective for treating nasal or chest congestion where there is an excess or deficiency of mucus. (E.g. Sinusitis, bronchitis, hay fever, post nasal drip etc.)

Vaporization is the use of essential oils in room freshening methods. Air fresheners are excellent examples. Many know the use of vaporizers in a child’s room at night to keep the air moist and the breathing passages clear. This is an often ordered treatment by the doctor.

What is Aromatherapy?

By definition of the compound word in Webster’s dictionary, we find the following:

Aroma – 1. A pleasant, often spicy odor, fragrance, as a plant, a wine, cooking, etc. 2. Any smell or odor

Therapy – The treatment of disease or any physical or mental disorder by medical or physical means, usually excluding surgery, sometimes used in compounds (i.e. hydrotherapy).

Therefore, we have the definition of aromatherapy as: The treatment of disease, physical or mental disorder with odor or fragrance that is derived from plants.

Ann Berwick in her book says: “Aromatherapy may be defined as the therapeutic use of the essential oils of aromatic plants.”

Valerie Gennari Cooksley states: “…the skilled and controlled use of essential oils for physical and emotional health and well being.”


Still others have stated it thusly:

Aromatherapy is the art and science of helping living things toward wholeness and balance using the essential oils, which can be extracted from plants

Essential oils are the vital life essence of aromatic plants and flowers in a condensed form. Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils for therapeutic effects

Aromatherapy is the art of using essential oils to enhance our physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being.

The nature of aromatherapy is as a holistic treatment, restoring balance to mind and body as well as its specific use in treating a wide range of symptoms.
So, no matter how you word it, it comes out the same. Aromatherapy is a complimentary therapy, to be used alongside more conventional types of medical treatment. It cannot be used for diagnostic work, in this country it is illegal to diagnose without a medical license. There is nowhere in the USA that grants this right through Aromatherapy. There is also nowhere that certification is required to practice aromatherapy, these certifications are granted through the schools themselves, no government as of now has a hand in this process.

How does it Work?

The oils interact with the body's organs and hormones to encourage mental, spiritual and physical change. They work subtly and in small quantities through the skin and the air and should never be put directly into the body in any other way.

Essential oils seem to work in three ways:
If used in baths, compresses, or cosmetics, the very small molecules involved will be absorbed through the skin and into the capillaries that underlie it. Or if used in vaporizers or diffusers, they will be breathed in and absorbed through the respiratory mucosa. Then they are carried by the blood through the body to the different organs they target to exert their physical effects.

They are also absorbed in the nasal mucosa and taken up by scent receptors, which send signals through the nerves to the limbic system. This is the area of the brain where memories associated with strong emotions are stored. It also links directly to the parts of the brain that control many of the automatic functions of the body, such as blood pressure, heart rate, respirations, and intestinal movements. Thus, the essential oils can have a strong effect on the emotions, both through the body functions associated with them and through memory. Go out to the garden and rub the lavender and then the rosemary...see how different these two smells make you feel.

Finally, and here is an area not predisposed to scientific study, the essential oils can have an effect on one's energy bodies ...clearing, stimulating, slowing, or opening according to their own nature. Thus their association with churches, meditation, and spiritual work for millennia. For example, anyone who has been in Catholic churches will remember the scent of frankincense and myrrh. These incenses did more than kill germs that hadn't been identified yet; they help to open people spiritually.

So when we speak of wholeness, we are acknowledging that all beings exist on spiritual, mental, and emotional levels as well as in physical bodies, and that all of these dimensions effect health and well-being. Most holistic practitioners acknowledge that dis-ease may start on the levels of spirit or emotion, blocking energy flows here for some time before the disturbance manifests on the physical level. Since essential oils can exert an effect on all these levels, they may be able to work on some of the causes of dis-ease as well as easing physical discomfort.

Sagebrush (Artemisia)

Common Names: Big Sagebrush, Blue sagebrush, Chamiso hendiondo (Spanish for ‘waist high gray bushes that stink’), Common sagebrush

Latin Name: Artemisia tridentate Nutt. (art-em ‘miz ee uh trye den ‘tay ta)

Artemisia – said to be named for Artemisia (Diana to the Greeks), the Roman goddess of
chastity, hunting, and the moon; also a botanist and a medical researcher who discovered
several herbs.

Tridentate – three-toothed, referring to the leaves

Navajo name: Ts’ah, the sagebrush

If not the most common, big sagebrush is certainly more conspicuous than the several other species of sagebrush growing in the Four Corners region. Vast stands of pale gray-turquoise announce the presence of this shrub. Because big sagebrush usually grows in deep, non-saline soils suitable for farming, today in many places these stands are being sectioned into agricultural land.
Even from a distance big sagebrush can be recognized by its smoky color and uniform spacing of plants. Up close its strong turpentine fragrance, especially after a rainstorm, is a dead giveaway.

Description and distribution: Big sagebrush, an evergreen, rounded, fairly compact shrub with gray-green foliage and very small yellow flower heads in long clusters, grows to a height of 2 to 5 or more feet and is aromatic. It is a dry looking shrub with long, soft bark that hangs in shreds. The leaves are about an inch long and wedge shaped, with three teeth at the end. Flowers are tiny and non-descript, flowering in late August to early October. The flowers are a silvery yellow in color, with most plants blooming only in wet years.
Extensive stands of big sagebrush and fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) occupy many areas between 6,500 to 7000 feet within the range of the big sagebrush from about 4900 feet up to about 7500 feet. Black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) and fourwing saltbush; Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis) and Utah juniper Juniperus osteosperma); ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis) and Gambrel oak (Quercus gambelii) are other communities in which big sagebrush is a prominent member, especially on medium textured soils.

History: Before the present Ute, Navajo, Apache, and Hopi tribes occupied these lands, the Fremont people who lived north of Four Corners had developed an industry where much of everything that was woven or crafted from plant material was of big sagebrush. Ancestral Puebloans also used bark and other parts of the plant. On the Colorado Plateau and southward, sagebrush was one of the principal shrub fuels during Archaic, Ancestral Puebloan, and early historical times.
Sagebrush flowers, seeds, and leaves have been detected incoprolites from many Ancestral Puebloan sites, including Mesa Verde, and in enough quantity to suggest all were minor components of prehistoric diets and not just taken for medicinal purposes. Indeed sagebrush leaves are a good source or iron and vitamin C and in later years were eaten by the Southern Paiute during times of shortage.

Uses: In recent times plant parts have been collected for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. Humans have used the plant primarily as firewood—the volatile oils responsible for its pungent aroma are so flammable that they can cause even green plants to burn

Hopi Uses:
The leaves are used to combat digestive problems, headaches, and colds and as a general stimulant by the Hopi, who regard big sagebrush as being more potent than related species of Artemisia that grow on their reservation.

Navajo uses:
Medicinal: Artemisia tridentata is one of the life medicines and is highly revered by them. . Mixed with another species of sagebrush, it is said to cure headaches by odor alone. When the plant is boiled, it is said to be good for childbirth ( for the pain of child delivery), indigestion, and constipation; a tea of the stems and leaves is said to sure colds and fevers. The tea is drunk before long hikes or athletic contests to “rid the body of undesirable things.” A poultice made from pounded leaves is said to be good for colds, swellings, and tuberculosis or as a liniment for corns. The same medicine is used on animal sores.
Ceremonial: In Navajo legend, Coyote gave this tobacco to the Water Monster to calm her after he had stolen her baby. It is used in the Eagle Way, Water Way, Mountaintop Way, and Night Way. Medicine Men use sagebrush as the hearth of the ceremonial firedrill. It is also a sweat bath medicine.
Other uses: Navajo weavers boil the leaves and twigs to produce various shades of yellow and gold wool dyes.

Ute uses:
Ethnographer Anne Smith recorded the Ute’s many uses of these plants. She wrote of sacks of woven sagebrush bark lined with dry grass filled with food and placed in storage caches.
Wicks, or ‘slow matches,’ made of twisted sagebrush bark one to three inches in diameter and about a yard long, were carried when traveling.
“Women wore skirts of twined sagebrush bark, and both men and women in winter wore a poncho type of shirt of the same material….Leggings were also made of twined sagebrush bark or the legs were wrapped with sagebrush bark to protect them from the cold. Sagebrush bark was used for sandals in lieu of anything better…or placed inside sandals made from muskrat or beaver hides.” (Smith, 1974)

Collecting: Gather the leafing branches in late summer or early fall, preferably in wet years and from larger, healthier plants. Although Sagebrush survives in the most difficult circumstances, essential oils are much higher and the herb much stronger in favored places and times.

Cultivating: Spring-transplanted young seedlings dug in the wild are the easiest way to bring Sagebrush into the garden. Make sure you bring a substantial ball of dirt packed around the roots, so you can inoculate the planting hole with the proper microbes from the original soil. Sagebrush might seem tough and indomitable, but it is dependent upon its soil flora for root health. The seeds stay viable for years, but it is often hard to germinate intentionally.

Forage value: Even more nutritious than alfalfa, this shrub consists of 16 percent proteins, 15 percent fats, and 47 percent carbohydrates.
Grazing: Of the three subspecies of big sagebrush, big sagebrush is the most palatable. Preference ranges from poor to fair for cattle and horses and fair to good for sheep. Overgrazing by domestic livestock allows big sagebrush to increase.
Wildlife: big sagebrush is commonly eaten by elk and mule deer. It also makes up 76% of pronghorn diets in the spring. Sagebrush is a valuable forage plant for wildlife, particularly during the winter. It is browsed by deer, moose, elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep, especially in late winter and spring. Ground squirrel burrows increase the amount of spring recharge of soil moisture, which enhances productivity of big sagebrush.
Small mammals and birds seek this species for cover more than other species growing in association with it. Sage grouse choose big sagebrush for cover 71% of the time when nesting. Offers cover for birds and is a butterfly magnet when flowering.
Sage grouse also feed heavily sagebrush, which also provides nesting sites for a variety of songbirds.

Warnings:
A body of evidence indicates that sagebrush has poisonous properties that can cause birth defects in animals but can be effective as an antihelminthic. The ancients probably knew how much could be ingested for food with no aftereffects and to what degree it could be used to kill intestinal worms without killing the patient.
Do not use internally or for any length of time externally during pregnancy.
Drinking copious amounts of sage tea can induce gagging.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment.It is presented for historical interest only

References:

Mayes, Vernon and Lacy, Barbara Bayless, Nanise’: a Navajo Herbal, Navajo Community College Press, Tsaile, Arizona 1989….106-107

Dunmire, William w., and Tierney, Gail D., Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1997……191-193

Moore, Michael, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2003……265-267

Yucca

Common Names: Narrow leaf yucca, fine leaf
yucca, bear grass, mesa yucca, Indian
cabbage, pamilla, amole,
Spanish bayonet, Joshua tree,
datil, Spanish dagger








Latin Name:
Yucca angustissima
Yucca – Named after the root of the cassava plant from which tapioca is made (yucca is
a Carib word), perhaps because
of the similarity of the roots
Angustissima – narrow-leafed

Navajo name: Tsa’aszi’ts’ooz - narrow yucca (Talawosh, ‘water suds,’ name for root; Nidoodloho, ‘the green fruit’; Nideeshjiin, ‘stalk black,’ name for young, dark stalk; Nideesgai, ‘stalk white,’ name for taller stalk

Description & Distribution: Fine leaf yucca is a perennial with fleshy, long, stiff, narrow pointed leaves and a tall stalk of large white flowers growing almost directly from the fleshy roots. Leaves may extend to 20 inches above the root crown. The flowering stalk may reach 4 feet. The fruit is a large plump capsule with many medium seeds; the capsule becomes woody and splits open. So much energy goes into producing the flower, stalk and fruits that most yuccas bloom only once every few years. For fertilization of the flower, yuccas in the southwest depend upon a night visit by a tiny, highly specialized female moth that brushes the flower’s stigma with collected pollen as she enters the blossom to lay her single egg in the flower’s ovary.
Conspicuous but scattered, yucca occur in communities of blackbrush, and joint fir, shadescale and black greasewood, big sagebrush, and fourwing saltbrush, blue gamma and galleta, Colorado pinyon, and junipers, and ponderosa pine and
gambrel oak.

Elevations are from about 3,800 feet to about 7,000 feet.
Associates are green Mormon tea, sand dropseed, broom snakeweed and green rabbitbush. The sites are often slopes with coarse to medium soils.
A tall flower stalk rises from a thick clump of leaves. Height: 4' (1.2 m).Flowers 2" (5 cm), greenish white, cup-shaped, leathery, mostly
drooping, abundant; on annual stalk. Leaves 2', linear, stiff, sharp; edges white, fibrous, shreddy.

History: With an enormous variety of uses, yuccas constitute the single most important non cultivated group of plants for prehistoric and contemporary Indians living in the southwest. One of the basic requirements for a people progressing toward a more advanced society would have been the ability to tie one object to another; to do this, you usually need some kind of cordage. The long, tough fibers that could be extracted from yucca leaves played a fundamental role in early weaving, manufacturing, and construction, especially before cotton was imported from the south. Yucca fibers were twisted or braided into twine and rope that e=were used for lashing house beams, fixing ladder rungs, fashioning blankets or belts, making bowstrings, and nets for fishing or trapping small game, sewing animal-skin robes, and binding together all manner of items.

Mush more recently, in an experiment during WWII, fibers from narrow leaf yucca growing in the wild were commercially extracted and made into paper for use by the U.S. Navy.

During excavation of Aztec Ruins, aboriginal hairbrushes made from the pointed enda of yucca leaves were discovered. Strips of banana yucca leaves or whole narrow leaf varieties were employed to make paintbrushes, and to weave baskets, bags, mats, and tapestry at many Ancestral Puebloan villages. Perhaps the single most universal use was in the manufacturing sandals. The 406 sandals recovered during the 1970’s excavation of Antelope House at Canyon de Chelley showed surprising diversity in heel and toe shape, heel and toe strap design, weaving rhythm, weaving technique, and of course size. The mix included course plaited sandals made from banana yucca strips, fine plaited sandals made from narrowleaf yucca, as well as twined and wicker sandals made from yucca cordage. Some of these woven sandals employed both types of yucca, one in the warp and the other in the woof.

Although the preponderance of evidence for prehistoric use relates to manufacturing, there is plenty to indicate that yucca fruits were an item in the Ancestral Puebloan diet. This is particularly true of the thick, sweet fruit of the banana yucca, which could be eaten green. Although it was more likely dried and stored for use in winter.

Uses:
Hopi uses:
Food: The fruit of the banana yucca was dried and stored for winter use. Today they bake the fruit in earthen ovens.
Medicinal: The Hopi have used the crushed roots for a strong laxative and to cure baldness.

Navajo uses:
Ceremonial: Fiber from the narrowleaf yucca is used to tie ceremonial equipment- hoops, prayersticks, unravelers, and chant arrows. The juice is used to make paint for ceremonial pipes. Leaves of the yucca that a deer has jumped over are heated in coals. When they are soft, juice is wrung from the leaves onto small, flat stones that hold paint pigments.
Probably the most important ceremonial use of yucca is bathing in suds made from the yucca root. For example, boys and girls have their hair washed with yucca suds on the next to last night of the Nightway. Most ceremonies include a ceremonial bath of yucca suds for the patients as well as the singer, along with other cleansing rituals. Purification, clean thinking, and a serious attitude are important in Navajo ceremonies.
Navajo creation stories tell how the Navajos learned weaving from Spider Woman, a Navajo holy person. Before the 1500’s Navajos wove mats and sandals with fiber from the narrow-leaf yucca, the inner bark of the juniper and later with locally grown cotton. All this changed when the Navajo acquired sheep from the Spaniards.
Medicinal: Yucca is used in childbirth. The roots are soaked in water, the liquid is strained and given to a woman having a long labor. A cupful of yucca suds and sugar is given to the mother to help deliver the afterbirth.
Other: Yucca is used to wash wool and as an ingredient in several dyes. Soap made from the crushed root is used to wash hair. Sometimes sagebrush is added to make the hair smell good, grow long and soft, and to prevent it from falling out.
The 102 counters of the Moccasin game are often made of Yucca. An arrow poison is made with yucca juice mixed with charcoal from a
lightening struck pinyon or juniper tree and rubbed on 6 inches
of the tip of the arrow.

This yucca is often called the banana plant by Navajos
although the fruit tastes more like a date and is not considered
as good to eat as the fruit of the wide leaf yucca. However,
the fruit may be roasted in ashes, eaten raw or sliced and dried
for winter.
The crushed fruit is used to make a cheese from goat’s milk.
Other parts of the plant are edible. Flower buds are roasted in
ashes for 15 minutes, leaves are boiled with salt.
Jicarilla Apache: Use yucca suds to wash plant materials woven into baskets

Shampoo recipe: boil one-half to one cup of the chopped fresh or dried root in one and a half cups of water until suds form.

Collecting: The root at any time of the year. Should be split lengthwise, before drying. If for medicinal use, the bark may be removed; if for washing or rinsing the hair, the bark should be left on. Use only after drying.

Cultivation: From roots dug in the late fall and replanted in well-drained, sandy soil. A cinch.

Forage Value: Sheep eat yucca, especially the flower buds.

Warnings: None specifically, although strong tea, drunk in large quantities, has been used traditionally to stimulate birthing; therefore if you are pregnant, don’t drink five days worth in one sitting.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment.It is presented for historical interest only

References:

Dunmire, William w., and Tierney, Gail D., Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1997……pg 145-148

Mayes, Vernon and Lacy, Barbara Bayless, Nanise’: a Navajo Herbal, Navajo Community College Press, Tsaile, Arizona 1989….116-118

Moore, Michael, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2003……pg 280-282

Prickly Pear Cactus

Common Names: Plains prickly pear, Many-spined cactus,

Latin Name: Opuntia phaeacantha (desert), polycantha (plains) and similar species

Phaeacantha – From the Greek phaea, “dark,” and akantha, “thorn”

Navajo name: Hosh niteeli, “broad cactus”

Description and distribution: Plains prickly pear is a short cactus forming small, waxy, greenish clumps of flattened, jointed, roundish stems under 1 foot tall. The pads (terminal stem sections) bear several principal spines and many glochids (short, stiff, sharp hairs) on most of the tubercles (orderly bumps) on the faces and margins ( spines on bumpsalong the margins may be as long as 1 ¾ inches). Marginal bumps bear the yellow flowers and fruits.

Sandy or gravelly soils of hillsides, flats, canyon rims, and mesas in grasslands, deserts, oak woodlands, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and montane forests.

Clumps of prickly pear are scattered in woodlands of pinyon (Pinus sp.) and juniper (Juniperus sp.) and in overlapping woodland and forest between elevations of 6,000 and 7,200 feet (the higher elevations on south slopes). Broadleaf yucca (Yucca baccata) seems to be a common associate.

The Desert Prickly-pear is an erect or sprawling shrub with fleshy fruit and brown to black spines. This species has a very wide range, and up to ten or more varieties have been described, making exact identification confusing. Usually the varieties are distinguished by pad size, spine distribution on the pad, spine color and size, and fruit length. The Desert Prickly-pear has adapted to both the deserts of Texas and the cool moist forests of the Rocky Mountains. It blooms from April to June.

History: The fruits were regular dietary items for most Ancestral Puebloans, although at Chaco, where the fleshy-fruited species is absent today, they seem to have played a minot role. Much farther south, the Aztecs of Mexico recognized thirteen varieties of prickly pear fruits, some sour, some sweet; some eaten raw, others werecooked. The ancient Maya Indians also ate them. Prickly pear fruits would have provided a good source of protein, vitamin C, potassium, and calcium.
In more recent times prickly pear has been recorded as a food item for Hopi, Rio Grand Pueblo, Navajo, and Southern Paiute Indians.

Uses:

Hopi Uses: Food source.

Navajo Uses:
Medicinal: The fleshy leaf is peeled and bound over a cut to stop the bleeding.
Ceremonial: Cactus people are part of the Navajo origin myth, and thus, cactus is used in several ceremonies.
Other: The sweet juicy fruit was eaten by the Navajos, fresh, dried, or cooked in a stew with dried peaches. The spines of the fruit were removed by rolling the fruit in sand or by singeing it is hot ashes.
The sticky juice from cactus stems was used as glue in making the buckskin war shield.
The cactus was used to make an arrow poison. A mixture of rattlesnake blood, yucca juice and charcoal from the pith of the cactus was painted on at least 6 inches of an arrow.
A variety of rose and pink dyes can be made from the ripe cactus fruit. The riper or darker the fruit, the darker the dye. A rose dye is made by steeping ripe prickly pear fruit and bark or roots of Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) in water.
Ripe prickly pear fruits are still one of the most important wild plant dye sources for traditional Navajo rug weavers.

Dye Recipe: Rose Taupe Dye

1 lb. Mountain Mahogany rootbark
1 lb. Prickly pear fruit
1 lb yarn
1 cup juniper ash water

Boil rootbark for 1 hour in a 5-gallon can of water. Strain and cool until lukewarm. Soak cactus fruit in 1 quart of lukewarm water and strain, pushing the pulp through strainer. Add pulp and water to rootbark solution. Add yarn, which has been in juniper ash water. Allow to ferment in a warm place for 1 week. Rub dye into yarn often. Rinse thoroughly.

Ute uses:
Sometimes used cactus juice to temper their pots before firing.

Forage Value: This cactus is a nuisance on
rangeland, becoming more frequent
as grass is grazed away.

Nutritional Content of Prickly Pear fruit: (100 grams of raw fruit)
Water % - 88 Iron mg - 03
Calories – 42 Sodium mg - 2
Protien g - .5 Potassium mg - 166
Fiber g – 10.9 Vit. A IU - 60
Carbohydrates g – 1.6 Thiamine mg - .01
Ash g – 05 Riboflavin mg - .03
Calcium mg – 20 Niacin mg - .4
Phosphorus mg – 28 Ascorbic Acid mg - 22

Cactus Fruit Jelly Recipe:
Prep Time: 45 min Total Time: 2 hr
Serves: about 8 (1-cup) jars or 128 servings

Ingredients:1 Tbsp. each Ingredients:3-1/2 cups prepared juice (about 3 lb. fully ripe cactus fruit) 1 cup water 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 7-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl (See tip below.) 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (optional) 2 pouches CERTO Fruit Pectin

Preparation:Bring boiling-water canner, half-full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot, soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling. Remove fine thorns and blossom ends from fruit. Cut into small pieces. Crush cactus fruit, one layer at a time. Place in saucepan; add water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place 3 layers of damp cheesecloth or jelly bag in large bowl. Pour prepared fruit into cheesecloth. Tie cheesecloth closed; hang and let drip into bowl until dripping stops. Press gently. Measure exactly 3-1/2 cups juice into 6- or 8-quart saucepot. Add lemon juice. Stir sugar into juice in saucepot. Add butter to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin quickly. Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches; add boiling water if needed. Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 5 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

Warnings: These cacti have sharp spines as well as tiny barbed hairs called glochids that can be difficult to remove from the skin. The spiny pads often break off and stick in the noses and throats of livestock.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment.It is presented for historical interest only

References:

Mayes, Vernon and Lacy, Barbara Bayless, Nanise’: a Navajo Herbal, Navajo Community College Press, Tsaile, Arizona 1989….76-77, 142

Dunmire, William w., and Tierney, Gail D., Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1997……191-193

Dandelion: Weed, or food, or medicine?

One of the earliest spring flowers, and one of the latest bloomers as winter sets in….Dandelion (Taraxacum officianale) or Hu tsi la ha (in Cherokee) is always present in the prettiest of lawns, it is the bane of the husbands weekend, trying to eradicate it.

BUT….it is also a food source, a medicine of old and a wine maker. This weed is persistent, if you do not get all of it’s tap root, it grows right back, with a vengeance.

To use as a food source you have to gather the leaves when young, so there is no bitterness in the leaves, then after washing it makes a nice addition to a green salad. During World War I, when coffee was at a premium, dandelion root, mixed with chicory root, was dried, chopped, and roasted. It was then brewed like coffee. The flowering tops have been used for a very long time in making a wine...I remember my uncle making it when I was a child.

For use as a medicine boil up a tea made from the flowering heads. This tea was given as a tonic to “make the woman stronger after childbirth.” It has also been used for heart trouble, boiling the whole plant into a tea. The benefit to the heart may lie in the fact that dandelion is a diuretic (removing excess fluid from the body) therefore reducing the risks inherent in fluid build-up around the heart.

Disclaimer: Nothing herein written is to imply diagnosis or recommendation for treatment. It is presented for historical interest only

Beginnings

Hello all. This is the first post to the newest version of Changing Times. In its original format Changing Times was a news letter, now it is a blog.

The name should be self explanitory.....but if you like i will try to explain the vision that started this writing. Many years ago I became aware that things were changing around us. Old prophecies were coming true in our day and age. I became aware that the times were changing, and not always for the better.

Look at now, 2008, look at the gas prices, food prices and all the rest. Look at the many people losing their homes, foreclosures are rampant and the American Dream challenged. Too many are living with no shelter (we euphamistically call them "homeless"). Look now at the diseases that are raging....antibiotic resistant strains of common infectious diseases, and totally new ones. Look at the cost of health care......insurance does not cover hospital stays, medicines are costing an arma and a leg to purchase, and hospitals are closing or cutting back severely. Look and you will be appalled!

But what can we do? Can we actually help ourselves survive until the government decides what to do, then do it too late?

Yes we can. We can start to make a lifestyle change that will help ourselves, teach others to live better with less (although it maybe more work), and learn how to stay healthier than others around us.

Within this blog will be entries about alternative medicine, gardening, wildcrafting, crafts, cooking and long term food preservation, how to insure clean water, and raise a roof. Anything that might make life easier by looking to the past and bringing it to the now. By using what our ancestors utilized, without losing our modern advancements where possible. It is an adventure worth taking.

Come walk with us and take the first steps to positive change in an ever changing world in these our Changing Times.