Keep These under Your Sink, White Vinegar, Bakind Soda, Borax and Bleach

By reddog1027

These are Really All You Need.

  A cleaner for counter tops, a cleaner for floors, a cleaner for your bathroom and a cleaner for your toilets.  Your under the sink storage is full of all types of cleaners.  Some work, some don't but they are not cheap. And how do they affect the indoor air quality of your home, and what about your environment?
  I can tell you I have tried them all. From the ones that tell you to wear rubber gloves to  use them (how safe they must be) to environmentally friendly ones that tend to be pricey.  That is one of the down side of trying to be green. 
  One day while having coffee with a friend of mine from Croatia, she mentioned that the only cleaning products that she used were baking soda and white vinegar.  "No way", I said, "Yes way", she replied.  "That's it baking soda and white vinegar".
Well although I am not from the "Show Me State", I had to find out for myself.  Actually she was right. Along the way, I have added a couple of other products bringing the number up to 4.

The Fantastic Five

These are all the cleaners I keep under my sink.

1. Baking soda, I buy it in the two pound box
2. white vinegar, that I buy by the gallon
3. bleach, again I buy it by the gallon but keep it on a shelf in the laundry room
4. 20 Mule Team Borax again, I keep it in the laundry room
5. Dr. Bonner's liquid peppermint soap and or Murphy's Oil Soap

Oh, and one more thing, I don't know how they work but Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers. I am not sure how natural they are but they clean like a dream with nothing but water.

Baking Soda 

Baking soda can:

1. be added to the wash to soften the water and make your detergent work better.
2. Pour it down your garbage disposal, leave it over night to absorb the odor.
3. Use in the litter box
4. I put it in a flour sifter (baking soda tends to get a little lumpy) to sprinkle it on my rugs.  Before I vacuum.  Helps get rid of the doggy smell.
5. Baking soda makes a gentle, yet effective scouring powder for sinks and bathtubs.
6. Put it in stinky tennis shoes to absorb the stink.
7. It will do the same in the wash for stinky gym socks or towels that got thrown in the cloths hamper wet.
8. If you burn a pot or pan really bad, fill the pan with water add a couple of good shakes of baking soda, bring the pot to a boil.  Watch the burned on stuff practically float off of the bottom.

White Vinegar

White vinegar is another product that I keep under the sink. It alone or in combination with baking soda is an awesome cleaning product.
White vinegar can be:

1. Used as a fabric softener. Just add a cup to the second rinse or in your washer's fabric softener holder. It doesn't coat the fabric, which is what commercial fabric softener's do but rinses the detergant completely out of your laundry. It leaves no odor, Just really clean cloths. Now just dry them outside to give them a sunny outside smell. There is nothing better than getting between sheets that smell like sunshine.
2. Can be used to decalcify bathroom fixtures. Unlike the very caustic commercial products, it is not hard on the skin. I will have to say that it is not as effective if you have a lot of build up but works well for the light build up.
3. Put into a spray bottle, it makes a great glass cleaner, use one of those micro cleaning cloths and your windows and mirrors will shine.
4. Cleans the coffee maker. Again the commercial cleaners are not only caustic but toxic as well.

The Dynamic Duo: Baking Soda and White Vinegar

Now when you combine baking soda and white vinegar, you have a combo that can not be beat.

1. Pour a cup of baking soda down the drain or into your garbage disposal, follow it by a cup of white vinegar. It will foam up as it goes down the drain and then follow by a large pan of boiling water. Whoosh, a great way to clean the drains.
2. Sprinkle baking soda in the toilet, follow with a few glugs of white vinegar, scrub. Clean toilet. To disinfect follow with a little bleach and all the germs are gone.
3. Pet accidents? Just pour white vinegar to the stain, sprinkle on some baking soday, once it stop fizzing, just use your carpet shampooer filled with hot water and suck it up. Between the two, baking soda and vinegar, the odor should disappear.
4. Dried on crusties on the table or counter top. First cover the crusty with a damp towel and let it soak a little. Now sprinkle on some baking soda followed with vinegar. It loosens the crusty and it comes right up.

Borax can be used in similar fashion to baking soda, especially in the wash.  But it has another very important job.  When sprinkled on carpets and floors then left overnight, it makes a non toxic flea killer.  Borax is a mineral, it's sides are rough.  It cuts through the tough outer shell of fleas and other creepy crawlies and dries them right up.  I tried some commercial non-toxic flea killers but they where so highly scented with cinnamon and cloves, it was hard to stay in the same room. 
Borax is also an emulsifier.  It combines with grease and oils making them easier to wash away.

Dr. Bonner's Liquid Soap

Dr. Bonner's is a concentrated liquid soap that was once found only in health food stores.  I have now begun seeing it in my local supermarkets.  It is a little pricey at first glance but you dilute it 1:10 so it last forever.

1. I like the peppermint smell. But it comes in many other essential oils, the fragrance is not artificially manufactured
2. It makes a great floor cleaner.  Mop the kitchen with it an your whole house will smell fresh and clean.
3. put in a spray bottle with 1 oz of Dr. Bonner's and 9 ounces of water it cuts grease better than most commercial products and smell 10 times better.
4. Diluted it also makes a refreshing bodywash.

The last of the five cleaning products that I use is chlorine bleach, but do not keep this one under the sink if you have little ones around.  It is the best and cheapest disinfectant around. One ounce of bleach diluted with 9 ounces of water will completely disinfect any hard surface.  It is what most hospital laboratories use to clean their counter tops and believe me, they get nastier stuff on their counters than you ever will on yours. A a splash or two in the toilet, a five minute wait, a swish with the toilet brush and your bown is completely sanitized.

See how simple cleaning can be.  You don't need a cupboard full of different kinds of cleaning products.  Look how much money you will save by switching to the Fantastic Five.

This year my kids got me the best Christmas present ever.  I love Crocs, but all I can afford is the pretend ones like Family Dollar sells.  They saw a pair of plush lined ones in the mall and got them for me.  I love them.  They are my indoor-outdoor shoes.  Now I can't go snow shoeing in them but I can run and get the mail or stand on the back porch while the dog is out.  I even were them when I have to make a quick run to the store.

Why do I like them.  Well, if you look at how Crocs are  made, my foot looks just like them, short and WIDE.

Being Broke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Well, I just paid for a 1/2 ton of wood pellets for my stove.  It should keep things going until Feb.  I actually figured out how to load all of hub postings here.  Just have to figure out how to get the pictures right.

  I hope the last check from my previous job gets here today.  It will at least make the next house payment.  I have not been officially terminated as I am a contract employee but their new product research has slowed down to a crawl. 

As I am the grasshopper in the Story "The Ant and the Grasshopper". I have never planned to far ahead. there is a little money in the bank and I probably should be glad because it is more than most people in the world have.  It just won't go very far here.

In all probablility, I will be moving in with my oldest daughter.  My home of 20years will be a thing of the past.  It makes me really sad because I had planned to live here to the end of my days.  It is something that is not to be. 
 
As I sort throught all my stuff and I have lots of it, I feel worse and worse.  Space will be limited so I can keep only a fraction of my treasures.  It is so hard to choose.  Each one comes with a memory and a picture.  Helping to raise my grandchildren is very close to my heart.  It is something I had planned to do but now that moving is a reality, I am having a hard time.  Just like now, whenever I do something associated with moving, I get sad and depressed.  Well then its time for my favorite solution.  A NAP.  I must sort things out while I sleep because I always feel better.

I truly believe that God will take care of everything.  I just wish he wouldn't wait till the last minute or maybe I shouldn't be such a grasshopper.

CANARIES IN THE KITCHEN, WHAT NON-STICK COOKWARE IS DOING TO YOUR HEALTH

[Photo] CANARIES IN THE KITCHEN WHAT NON-STICK COOKWARE IS DOING TO YOUR HEALTH

Are you aware of the fact that Teflon is a danger to your health? I wasn’t. While surfing the net, I came across and alternative health site that was discussing this fact. But, as they were also selling “safe cookware”, I decided to research it for myself.

Here is what I found out.
For many years canaries where used to protect miners when they entered the mines. Miners used them as an early warning system. Small birds are extremely sensitive to toxins in the air. When poisonous gases began to seep into the mine shafts, the canaries would stop singing. This was a signal to the miners to leave the mine and head for fresh air.
What has this to do with Teflon? Read on.
Avian veterinarians have known for decades the dangers of non-stick coatings to small birds. It even has a name, “Teflon toxicosis” [Photo](poisoning). Dr. Roger Wells of Michigan State University calls the birds’ response to the fumes from non-stick coatings as “acute respiratory failure leading to rapid death”. This description of Teflon toxicosis is echoed by Dr. Larry Thompson at the University Of Illinois College Of Veterinary Medicine. It is a horrible way for a bird to die. Please to www.ewg.org to learn more about the dangers of Teflon toxicosis. Be sure to read the bird diaries as they will show you the danger Teflon posses to birds.
So what does Teflon toxicosis has to do with our health?

A lot! DuPont, the manufacturer of Teflon, has known for over 50 years that the fumes from their non-stick coating caused what is known as “polymer fume fever” in its workers that handle Teflon. DuPont found that “polymer fume fever” could lead to pulmonary edema (the lungs filling with fluid) and death
For those same 50 years, DuPont has claimed that their non-stick coating does not emit hazardous chemicals at normal cooking temperatures. In a recent press release, DuPont stated that “significant decomposition of the coating will occur only when temperatures exceed 600 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s just not true. University level testing has found out: That a pan coated with a generic non stick coating was preheated on a conventional electric range, it reached a temperature of 736 degrees Fahrenheit in just three minutes and 20 seconds. After the test was terminated, the temperature continues to climb.A Teflon pan tested under the same conditions reached a temperature of 721 degrees Fahrenheit in just five minutes.
Documents from DuPont showed that the company couldn’t find a safe level of exposure to Teflon as far back as 1973. Rather that look for safer alternatives, DuPont chose to save money instead. Check this web site www.ewg.org/issues/pfcs/20051116/index.php to read what a former DuPont scientist has to say about Teflon.
The EPA has stepped in. On Thursday, May 19, 2005, DuPont was served with a subpoena from the Justice Department's environmental crimes unit requesting documents on a key Teflon chemical. DuPont has already agreed to pay up to $340 million in a civil settlement for Teflon pollution and is the subject of an EPA investigation into its cover up of studies of the chemical's health effects.
In December of 2005, DuPont was fined for covering up the dangers of Teflon. DuPont has agreed to eliminate per fluorinated chemicals (the substances Teflon in made from) by 2015.

Now that you know the dangers of Teflon, throw away anything that has a non-stick coating on it. All non stick coating is dangerous, not just Teflon.
Your nonstick cookware is on it’s way to the trash can, right. Remember to avoid aluminum as well. Aluminum pans have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. What can you safely cook on? Stainless steel cookware is non reactive and is safe to useEnamel cookware is safe as long as the coating is intact.Copper cookware is safe if it is lined
But the simplest and safest is the same cookware your grandmother used, cast iron. It is:
Is almost indestructible.Spreads heat across the bottom of pans so there’s no hot spots.When properly seasoned it is non-stick. Cooking in cast iron is also an easy way to get a little more iron in your diet. Did you know that cast iron cookware was so valuable to our forefathers that it was listed along with sterling silver and as an asset?
Cast iron has been my favorite cookware for at least the last 30 years. I use it to cook on top of the stove and in the oven. I even use my small frying pan to bake cornbread. To season it is so easy. Just wipe a little olive oil all over the inside of the pan and pop it in an oven heated to about 100 to 200 degrees. Just let the cast iron heat for a couple of hours and it is seasoned and ready to go. I usually use a little Mazola olive oil spray (did you know that the non stick sprays have nasties in them?) and it cooks as well as any non-stick coating out there. There’s also no need to worry about scratching the non-stick surface. Most of the time all you need to do is wipe it out and put away. If it should need to be scrubbed, I just use a #3 or #4 steel wool pad and go to town. If the pan looses it seasoning, well its back in the oven with a little olive oil and it’s good as new. Try that with a non-stick pan.
There are some enameled cast iron pots and pans in rainbow colors but I thought they were heavier than plain cast iron and some can be quite pricey.

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A Walk with Wildflowers

By CAROL

The Flowers I Have Met

Would you like to meet some of my friends? They are the flowers that I see every time I walk the bike trail near my home. I started this summer and am always amazed at how many beautiful wild flowers grow along this path. Just when I think there isn't a flower on the path that I haven't seen, a new one starts to bloom.

I have found it fun to bring back a flower or plant and try and identify it. I have a good book and have found some good websites for wildflower ID. Once I find out what they are, I press and dry them and put them in an album. I exercise my body and my mind at the same time.

Come on let me introduce you to a few of my walking buddies.

Here is Where it all Begins

This is what it is like to walk along the bike path. Each side of the path has something different to see. It has sunny places, shady place, and some that are in between. When ever I am here, I can feel God's presence all around.

This is the begining

See all 25 photos

Coreopsis

Coreopsis a Native American Wild Flower

Coreopsis or tick seed is a family of plants, 28 of which are native to the United States. They can be found from coast to coast and from the north to the south. These plants are extremely hardy and can grow almost anywhere; full sun, partial shade, open fields, sunny woodlands, poor soil, dry hot weather, lots of rain, they don’t care. These hardy wild flowers can even be found growing on sandy beaches.

All coreopsis have bright daisy like flowers. The plants range in height from nine inches to 3 to 4 feet. They come in various shades of yellow, from the lightest yellow to the deepest orange. There is only exception, Coreopsis rosea whichhas pink flowers. Most coreopsis are perennials but even the few annuals self seed freely. This hardy wild flower is covered in blooms from the beginning of May until at least the end of June.

Bachelor's Buttons

Bachelor's button or Blue Cornflower

Bachelor's buttons, Centaurea cyanus, is a bright blue annual native to Europe. Like many flowers brought from Europe, it has escaped the garden and can now be found throughout North America. It can now be found growing

These hardy annuals prefer full sun but are not fussy about the soil that they grow in. They usually reach heights of between 18inches to 3 feet. These plants will be found bloom freely along the roadside, in vacant lots and open fields.The plant which has silver gray leaves is covered in bright blue flowers from May through June. Like most annuals that have been naturalized, Bachelor’s button is a prolific self seeder.

Chicory

Chicory

Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is another plant introduced from Europe that has escaped from the garden. In Europe, especially in the Netherlands, chicory is cultivated for as a vegetable. In Europe the leaves are used in salads and its large tap root is dried, ground and used as a coffee substitute. It is seldom cultivated in North America and but can be found throughout the country.

Chicory is a large perennial with blue multi-petaled flowers. It reaches heights of between and five feet and blooms from early spring clear into the fall. It has tough fibrous stems that make it almost impervious to the lawn mower and readily self seeds like its cousin the dandelion. Its growing requirements are few, in fact it prefers full sun, little water, and poor soil. Because it’s so tough chicory is can be found growing in waste places along the roadside or in your front yard.

Common Mullein

Mullein the first year

Mullein the second year

Common Mullein is a biennial taking 2 years to mature

Common mullein, Verbascum Thapsus, is an impressive sight. It is a non-native species imported from Europe.It was brought to America by the Puritans, who used the plant as a medicinal herb. Teas and ointments for ear aches and respiratory illness were made from the leaves and flowers. It is now found throughout North America, except in the northern Great Pains. It prefers dry sandy soil and can be found in waste areas, open fields, open areas in forests and along the side of the road.

Mullein is a biennial with large wooly leaves. The first year a rosette of silvery green leaves appear close to the ground. In the second year, it reaches heights of over 7 feet and is topped with a large dense flower spike. The small yellow flowers bloom a few at a time from June until August. The seeds are tiny, easily scattered and can remain dormant for years

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Canadian Goldenrod

A Native American

Canadian Goldenrod, Solidago Canadensis, is native to North and South America. There are over 100 species of golden rod in North America alone. It is full sun or partial shade. It is often seen growing along the edges or woodland or in dry sunny field and open prairies. It will grow in all types of soil and seems to prefer soil with a heavy clay content.

Canadian Goldenrod grows from 2 to 5 feet in height and is topped by feather spikes of bright yellow flowers. The flower heads bloom in late summer until early fall. Goldenrod is a perennial plant that uses spreading rhizomes as well as seeds to reproduce. Its nectar rich flowers attract a number of insects including bees, wasps and butterflies

Pokeberry

Beautiful but Toxic

Pokeberry, Phytolacca Americana, is a Native American shrub found from Maine to Florida and as far west as California. Unlike many wild plants that prefer dry waste land, the pokeberry prefers rich soil that has been disturbed and plenty of water. It is found growing in open fields and along the edge of forests. In the South, the first shoots are eaten as a spring green, poke sallit or salad. Once the plant puts out leaves it is poisonous and no longer safe to eat.

The pokeberry is a perennial shrub with a strong smell and thigh size tap roots. This shrub can grow anywhere from 2 to 10 feet tall. In mid summer, this plant produces a raceme of small white flowers with no petals. Pokeberries will produce flowers continually until frost. The plant will have flowers and fruit at the same time. The flowers become green pea size berries that over time turn a rich purple. The fruit like the rest of the plant is extremely toxic to humans but they are a favorite food of birds. It is the seeds that carry the toxins. When the birds eat the fruit, the seeds just pass right through, to begin the next generation of pokeberries bushes.

Primrose

Pollinated by Moths

Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis, is a biennial Native American plant. Native Americans had many used for this plant. It was used for both food and medicine. The young leaves were cooked and eaten as greens while the roots were used like potatoes. As an herbal medicine, evening primrose was used by Native Americans to treat laziness and over fatness as well as menstrual and abdominal pain. It is found in the United States from east of the Rockies to the Atlantic It is now grown commercially in 15 countries for the valuable oil that is found in the seeds. The evening primrose prefers dry soil and open fields. It is common along railroad tracks, roadsides, embankments, waste areas and open woods.

Evening primrose is a tall plant with a large tape root. The plant can reach heights of 5 feet or more. It has a strong sturdy stem that as the season progresses branches out making it appear shrub like. The yellow flowers grow on auxiliary branches all along the stalk. These flowers are what give this plant it’s name. These bright yellow flowers open in the evening and close by noon. The flowers are very fragrant and are pollinated by the Sphinx Moth. Each flower lasts only one or two days. The plant blooms from June till September.

Stinging Nettle

Sting Nettle is very Well Named

Stinging Nettle is found all over the world except in the extreme north. It’s Latin name is Urtica dioica. The Stinging nettle found in North America is Urtica dioica subspecies dioica. For well over 2,000 years, stinging nettle has been used world wide as both a food source and healing. It is often cooked and eaten as greens. Its high iron content make it an excellent choice in combating anemia. As a tea, it is often used as a tonic and blood purifier and is valuable as a way to stop internal bleeding. Stinging nettle prefers a moist, rich soil and is often seen growing in; a woodland‘s shady or sunny edge, meadows, hedgerow and waste places.

Stinging nettle is an herbaceous perennial. It is a tall plant often reaching over 7 ft in height. The plant blooms from May to October and its tiny green flowers hang in clusters located just above the leaves. The name stinging nettle comes from the fact that it does in fact sting. The stems are covered with tiny hollow hairs that contain formic acid. When the plant is touched, the tip of the hair breaks off and acts like a hypodermic needle. The formic acid is actually injected under the skin. This sting is very intense and can last from a day up to a week The plant has even been known to raise blisters.

Brown Eyed Susan

A Real Stunner

T he Brown Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba, is a native American plant. It can be found from the Rocky Mountains east and from Canada to Georgia. This plant will grow in full sun or partial shade. It likes its soil rich and moist but will tolerate a little gravel or clay. Brown Eyed Susans can be found growing in low wetlands, rocky slopes, along railroad tracks, abandoned lots and open fields.

This plant is a biennial that readily self seeds. Small rosettes form the first year. In its second year, it becomes a tall many branched plant covered with yellow flowers with brown centers. Often times a single plant may have over 100 blooms. The Brown Eyed Susan stands any where between 2 and 5 feet tall. It blooms continually from June to November. Bees and other insects find this plant irresistible.

Spotted Knapweed

Does anyone know what this bush is?

More Plants that I Can't ID

If anyone know what the mystery plants are please let me know.

• Illinois Wildflowers
  
• About PLANTS | USDA PLANTS
  Information About the PLANTS National Database from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• Michigan Wildflowers
  155 megabytes of digital photographs help identify wildflowers found in Michigan including common and Latin names.

Links to My Hubs

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  Butter and eggs, also know as toadflax, gets its name from the yellow petals, the butter, and the orange petals, the eggs. Butter and eggs can be found growing along the roadside, in open fields and...
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Are Antbacterial Cleaning Products Safe?

By CAROL

It's hard to find cleaning products without this label

See all 5 photos

They kill 99.9% of Disease Organism

SALMONELLA, E. COLI, WEST NILE, RHINOVIRUS, SWINE FLU

They are in the news. They are making us sick. How do we protect ourselves from something that you can't even see? If you listen to the television, it's by cleaning every surface of your home, including dishes and your body with antibacterial cleansers, wipes, dish washing liquid and soap. They kill 99.9% of all the creepy crawlies. That's a good thing, right? Unfortunately the answer is NO.

How can killing 99.9% of the micro organisms living on household surfaces be a bad thing? Ask your self, why doesn't kill the 0.1% that are left? The answer is because that 0.1% left are already immune to the disinfectant. So by wiping out the weaker 99.9%, it leave room for that 0.1% to reproduce like mad, filling all that space with bacteria and viruses that are immune to the disinfectant.

Hepatitis C virus

Thye are Everywhere

Bacteria

The Best Defense is Still

Plenty of soap and water is still the best defense against infections. Washing your hands often will do more to prevent the spread of a cold than any cleaning product with anti microbials in it. And not that little spot of soap, spot of water, rinse and dry. Really wash your hands. All it takes is 15 seconds of lathering your hands completely to wash the germs right down the drain.

This goes for the counter tops in the kitchen as well. Plenty of hot soapy water and a clean cloth or sponge will do an good job of cleaning the hard surfaces in the kitchen. When wiping the counters down just make sure to use a clean cloth or sponge (to keep sponges squeecky clean toss them in the top rack of your dishwasher).

Chlorine Bleach

An Inexpensive But Affective Alternative: Bleach

That's what I said, bleach, the same kind that is sitting in your laundry room. I have worked in laboratory for over 25 years. Do you know what every hospital lab in America uses to disinfect their work stations? They use a solution of water and chlorine bleach. This solution eliminates both bacteria and viruses, including flu and the viruses that cause hepatitis and HIV. Simply mix one ounce of bleach with 9 of water. The bleach solution works by rupturing the outer membranes of both bacteria and viruses and none are immune to this mechanical action.

This Should be in Everyone's Pocket

Even Plastic Toys

The Health Department is aware of how well bleach works. Day care providers are required to wash toys on a regular basis with a water and bleach solution.

So rather than spending money on products that just make the microbes stronger just remember to WASH YOUR HANDS. When you can't wash your hands, use a hand sanitizer but hand sanitizers still don't work as well as plain soap and water.

Over 100 years Old and Still the Best

That's not to say that chlorine bleach is completely safe. It is a chemically stable form of chlorine and chlorine is toxic to all living things. But unlike other cleaners, once the beach is exposed to light and air it breaks down leaving very little residue behind. This simple product that has been around for over 100yrs is more effective than all the new fangled cleaning products and their antimicrobial action.

Herbs that Should be in Every Kitchen Cupboard

By CAROL

These herbs should be in your kitchen cupboard

Great Grandma Knew, Do you?

There are a few simple herbs that should be in every kitchen cupboard. They are safe and effective for treating a few of the common ills that plague all families. Our great grandmothers knew about them but somehow they got lost along the way. I hope they prove as helpful to you as they were for me.

Catnip Isn't just for Cats

The first herb to keep in your cupboard is catnip. Catnip has more than one use and it is considered an herb that is safe for babies.

Catnip is a nervine. It helps to relax nerves and muscles and is a godsend for colicy babies. A teaspoon or two every couple of hours should do the trick. It is also a very effective yet gentle way to lull children and adults to sleep. Unlike prescription sleep aids you don't have to worry about driving your car or coking while you are sound assave leep.

Catnip is also a fever reducer. A cup of catnip tea will help bring down a fever without the worries of aspirin or acetaminophen. Both have side effects, in children with viral illnesses aspirin can cause Reyes Syndrome and acetaminophen is toxic to the liver.

Some health food stores carry catnip in tea bags. I like to use loose tea so I have a little tea scoop that holds enough tea for a cup. I also have a tea sock that I use when I brew a pot full. I buy mine loose from a small tea and herb supplier on line. Do not use the catnip marketed for cats in the pet departments. How it has been grown or what it has been treated with is an unkown.

To make a cup of catnip tea, simple bring the water to a rolling boil and then pour it over the catnip. Let it steep for five minutes. I think that catnip tea as a rather boring taste, so I add a little lemon and honey to it. My children also preferred it this way. Remember that children under the age of 1 should not be given honey.

Peppermint

Mmmmm Pepperment for Your Stomach

I always thought that peppermint was just a flavor. But I found out that it does wonders for nausea and upset stomachs. It is also great for morning sickness and nausea of pregnancy.

I get my peppermint right out of my garden. It is easy to grow. I simply pick it, put it on a microwave plate, nuke it until it is dry and store it in a glass jar. When I want a cup of peppermint tea, I just add boiling water to three or four leaves and its ready to go. What could be simpler.

Sage

Sage to Relieve Cold Symptoms, Gas and Bloating

Did you know that when Europe was importing black tea from China, China was importing Sage from Europe? It is one of my favorite teas especially in the winter time. It is great for helping to unstuff noses and calm coughs from colds. Sage is also one of the best herbs I know of for relieving gas and the bloating that goes with it.

Again, I grow my own sage but it is available in health food stores. Don't use the sage in the spice department of your supermarket, it doesn't make a very good cup. A tea bag or a couple of leaves of dried sage (I do it like my peppermint in the microwave) in boiling water, a little lemon, a little honey, what a delight and it will make you feel better too.

Sage Tea

Lemon Tea for Colds

This is a remedy that I learned from a good friend of mine, many years ago. It is great for head and chest colds. It soothes coughs and helps break up chest congestion. All you need is a fresh lemon, some honey and a dash of alum.

Take the lemon and slice it from one end to the other but stop just short of the skin on the other side. Put the lemon into a small sauce pane with 3 cups of water. Add a 1/4 cup of honey to start and a dash of alum. This needs to boil until it starts to thick up a little.

Now have the person with the cold take a long hot bath. After they are all dried off and comfy give them a cup of the lemon tea. It is a little tart but it will thin up the mucus making it easier to get it up and out.

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A History of Western Herbalism Part I: The Use of Herbs in Ancient Civilizations 84

By CAROL

Introduction

It is easy to see how important herbs were in the daily lives of ancient peoples. When traders from these ancient cultures traveled to distant lands, they took native herbs with them. The medicinal herbs of the traders’ native lands were traded for herbs native to the lands they visited. It wasn’t long before the exotic herbs of Asia found their way to civilizations to the west while herbs native to the Mediterranean made their way east.

Prehistoric man and the use of Herbs

The use of medicinal herbs can be traced to before written history began.

The use of herbs by prehistoric man developed through trial and error. As prehistoric man explored the world around him, he found out which herbs were nourishing, which could heal and which ones were dangerous to eat. Slowly an oral tradition of herbs and their uses developed. Shamans to shaman, herbal knowledge was passed down through the centuries. Evidence of herbs as medicine was found in the excavation of ancient burial sites. When archaeologist excavated a 60,000 year old burial site they discovered 8 different medicinal herbs of interred with the bodies.

As early people moved and ancient civilizations rose and fell, the use of herbs expanded with these ancient peoples.

Clay Tablets from Mesapotamia

When Written History Began

As writing emerged in the ancient world, prehistory turned into history. In societies as separated as China and Egypt, scribes began to record the medicinal use of herbs. Herbs and the practice of medicine were one and the same. There was no separation. Medicine was herbalism and vice-verse. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”

Each ancient culture developed Materia Medicas. Materia Medica is a Latin term that means “materials of medicine" It is the name used for a body of work that encompasses all the collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance. In ancient civilizations most of these works of science contained large sections on herbal medicine.

Assyria

Assyria, the Sumerians and Ancient Babylon 5300BC-539BC

The land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was the cradle of western civilization.

This is where agriculture arose and writing was first developed. Clay tablets found in southern Iraq recorded the accounts of the kings. These tablets included records the medicinal herbs used in treating a variety of illnesses. These tablets even recorded the prescriptions the Sumerian physicians used.

Ancient Eygypt

The Ancient Egyptians 3500BC to 30BC

The ancient Egyptian empire was an amazingly sophisticated civilization. The scribes of Egypt kept meticulous records of all that this great civilization accomplished. By 3500BC the ancient Egyptians were organizing and recording an amazing array of medical practices. These included linking illnesses to effective treatments, complicated surgeries, including that of the eye and prescriptions for herbal preparations.

Herbs and their uses were intimately involved in all aspect of Egyptian life. They were used in cosmetics, medicine and the complicated funeral rites of this ancient civilization. In fact, the Ebers Papyrus written in 1500BC recorded over 700 herbal combinations used in the prescription by the

Ancient China

Detour to China-2700BC, and Ancient India-1500

The use of herbal medicine has been recorded as far back as 2700BC. The Cannon of Herbs has been credited to the Emperor Shen Nung. In it were recorded 252 herbs. This book included where the plants grew, what plants looked like and how they could be used to treat illnesses.

In India herbs and their uses were recorded at early as 1500 BC. The sacred books, The Vedas, record the religious and medicinal uses for herbs.

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece 1000BC-146BC

Ancient Greece, as did most ancient civilizations connected illness and disease with magic and the wrath of the gods.

Hippocrates

Hippocrates

Hippocrates (460BC-377BC) was the first person to propose that illness was physical manifestation, a lack of balance with within the body itself. Hippocrates also felt that a healthy diet, plenty of exercise and sufficient rest were essential to returning balance to the body.

He wrote volumes of work on all aspects of medicine. In his, Hippocratic Canon a collection of close to 70 volumes, he described in great detail over 400 different herbs and how they were used to treat illness.

Theophrastus and Aristotle

Inquiry into Plants

Theophrastus

Theophrastus (371BC-287BC) was another Greek scholar who contributed to the advancement of not only botany but herbal medicine in ancient Greece. His treatises, Enquiry into Plants and On the Cause of Plants were works that delved in great detail into the lives of plant.

The Enquiry into Plants describe where plants grew, what plants looked like, and their uses as both food and medicine. On the Cause of Plants was a discussion of things each plant needed in order to be grown successfully. Because of these two works, Theophrastus is considered the father of botany.

Herbs in Ancient Rome (331 BC to 641)

Ancient Romans took the writings of the ancient Egyptian and Greeks and built on their knowledge. Because Greek scholars were held in high regard in ancient Rome, many of the most renowned scholars of ancient Rome were actually Greek.

Romulus and Remus Founders of Ancient Rome

Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder (AD23- 79) was an exception. He was a respected military commander, scholar and author. His treatise Naturalis Historia was a huge encyclopedic work encompassing many subjects. He wrote extensively of botany and the many uses of plants including herbs. Seven of his thirty seven volumes in Naturalis Historia, were devoted to the discussion of botany, agriculture, horticulture and the medicinal use of plants. It is one of his few works to survive intact, it along with writings of several Greek scholars were used well into the 15^th century.

Pedanius Dioscorides

De Materia Medica

Pedanius Dioscorides

Pedanius Dioscorides (AD. 40-90) was born in the first century in southeastern Asia Minor. He traveled extensively not only in Greece but throughout the entire Roman Empire. He spent his life recording medicinal substances and recording their properties. Between AD 50-70 he wrote his famous treatise, De materia medica. This book became the most extensive record of the preparation, properties, pharmacological properties and testing of medicinal compounds, most of them plants. These five books became central to the pharmacology of medicine for the next 16 centuries.

Unlike most works written by the ancient Greeks and Romans, his works were never out of circulation. When Rome fell, the civilized worlds of the Arabians and Indian kept these books in publication. Often with notes and additions of their own discoveries. The De materia Medica contains the records of over 600plants.

Galen

The Roman Coliseum

Galen

The next Greek scholar, Galen (AD 129-200) is often considered the greatest physician of all times. Galen was born in Asia Minor. He was a Greek physician that worked extensively in the amphitheatres treating gladiators. He was so successful in treating wounded gladiators; he was called to Rome to work his magic in the Coliseum. He eventually became the physician to Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of Rome.

Galen was a man of many hats. He was not only a renowned physician but a philosopher, pharmacist and leading scientist of the day. He wrote over 500 treatises over his lifetime. He wrote extensively about plants and their place in medical treatments.

Galen’s writings help develop the beliefs that dominated medicine for the next 15 century. His influence is still seen in medicine today. The word “galenic” is used to describe drugs and medicines made from vegetable and animal ingredients using prescribed formulas.

The Herbs in the Gardens of Ancient Rome

The ancient Romans loved herbs and spices. They used them in huge amounts in their everyday lives. They herbs used in wine making, during and after baths, and as medicine. As the Roman legions spread out through Europe, they took to herbs they loved with them. The herbs of the Mediterranean were introduced to the Gauls, Vandals and Huns. They even made their way as far as England were borage is still a favorite to add to wines and deserts.

Because Romans were so in love with herbs and spices, their homes almost always had herb gardens in back. These gardens produced the herbs the home owners needed to season their food, scent the air and treat the illnesses of the household. Some of their favorite herbs are still some of ours today.

Basil

sage

Fennel

Borage

Opium Poppy

Calendula

Mint

Growing in the Gardens of Ancient Rome

These are some of the plants that grew in the gardens of ancient Rome.

• Almonds. Aniseed or Anise
• Artichoke Barley
• Basil Borage
• Brambles or blackberries
• Cabbage Oak
• Oregano Parsley
• Pomegranate Poppy
• Rosemary Sage
• Violets Winter savory

The Silk Road was the Link Between East and West

Medicinal Herbs Moved from East to West and North to South

Ancient cultures were constantly exchanging not only goods from the far corners of the known world but philosophies, cultures and medicine. This flow of information flowed from east to west and back again with the Arab traders along the Silk Road. The Roman legions then took all of this with them as they marched out of Rome. They took the herbs and spices that they loved into Europe along the Amber Road.

The Amber Road Goods Traveling North and South

Watch for the next two instalments, Herbal Medicine from the Middle Ages to Colonial America and Arab Traders, the Link between East and West.

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