Looking for Live Plant Bignonia capreolata

I am looking for a rooted section of Bignonia capreolata aka Crossvine to grow at my home in Virginia. I would be happy to pay for shipping and for the cost of the plant. If you have some, please text me at the email in the header of this page. Thank you! 

Rejoicing again!

Amanda informed us last Sunday that November 19th is the day she and Joe will have their wedding. We are very excited for them both.

Giving Thanks

   Happy Thanksgiving!

to our family and friends
near and far, old and new
close and estranged
You are loved!

Most of our family* is gathering together to give thanks to the Lord, enjoy a feast, play some games together, and watch some movies.

Wherever you may be on this day, I hope you take time to thank the Lord. No matter what is going on in the world, there is always something for which we can be thankful.

Endless Probiotics

I am not too keen on paying $46 for one month's supply of probiotics for one person. However, I do not mind paying $46 + milk for an endless supply of probiotics for two people. Not only can you TEST your probiotics by following yogurt-making steps,* but you can keep producing beneficial gut bacteria which can save you a small fortune. I used two capsules of BioGaia Osfortis, Women’s** Probiotic for Strong Bones, Immune Balance & GI Wellness, Contains L. reuteri 6475 to make a quart. It was thinner than I liked when I checked it the first time, so I put it back in the cooler for another 12 hours. Today, I will start more using a couple of tablespoons from the jar to make the next batch.

*I've used the cooler method for making yogurt for over 20 years (maybe 30). It's never failed.

**It is beneficial for men too.

Prayers for a Big Decision and Big Commitment

Something has been heavily on my heart for the last year and a half. I feel like it is the Lord leading me in a direction. I know that if He is this, I will succeed. I am asking prayers for God's wisdom and leading over the next few days as I try to make a decision. If I do it, it will be a huge time commitment, a lot of work, and will definitely clarify a role in my life for the future. May the Lord bless you abundantly for any prayers you life on my behalf. 

Breast Cancer? Here's some encouragement....

 https://www.facebook.com/tigerlilyfoundation/videos/453116816950864/ copy & paste

Don't Take Today for Granted

 https://www.rwbakerfh.com/obituaries/Lisa-Gail-Mack?obId=33842399

My friend, Lisa, did not get to say goodbye. Another mutual friend has been struggling since hitting a deer which resulted in at least two broken vertebrae and broken ribs. Lisa was helping her with her personal and household needs, went home to her husband and daughter, went to bed, and did not wake up. Her last day was spent being the loving friend she was. Please keep her family, also friends, in prayer. They just lost Lisa's father suddenly a few years ago and are devastated by Lisa's unexpected death.

Let her passing be a reminder to not take anything or any moment for granted. My love to al!

The Importance of a Healthy Gut Microbiome

This is worth your time to listen especially if the concerns for the bird virus come to fruition.
If you want to strengthen your immune system, start feeding your intestinal immune cells today and avoid things that harm it.

If you want to improve your health in any area, feed your gut good bacteria.

I will share a tip soon on how to save money on probiotics.

Boid, the Wood Stork?

On a hike in the woods in York Co earlier today, we (Clint, me, Emily, and Hannah) encountered a Wood Stork. Since they are rare in our area and only one has been reported, we think this is "Boid," the Wood Stork that visited our farm for weeks. We were not able to get a picture, but I did report it on eBird.

Please keep praying for Karen

Karen has been successfully fighting the infection with essential oils, particularly tea tree oil and helichrysum. She is on a homeopathic medicine that includes cobra venom for the pain in the nerve bed of her open wound. I am sharing in case that helps someone else or their loved one. Even though she feels terrible and is bleeding from her cancer wound, she goes out once a week to minister to the homeless and elderly. It takes a toll on her body. Please keep praying for her and her family. Her special needs son witnessed a heavy bleeding incident which was traumatic for him. If you will, join me in prayer that God removes that whole incident from his memory and calms his heart.

November 8: I have mentioned my friend Karen's need for prayer before in the blog and to our praying friends who read here. She has stage 4 cancer with a large open wound. Earlier this week, she had anaphylactic shock in reaction to the antibiotics that were treating her for four types of bacterial infection. She can no longer take the antibiotics, so there are no options there according to her doctor. 

Please pray for her and her entire family. 

Pluchea odorata

 

Pluchea odorata aka Marsh Fleabane, a member of the Aster family, grows in areas with salt or brackish water...like in the yard of my home along the beautiful York River. It has many medicinal properties. It is an antispasmodic, diaphoretic, vulnery (heals wounds), antiseptic, vasodilator, mild stimulant, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral, etc. Research also shows it can disrupt cancer cell reproduction. In French traditional medicine, it is known as a cure-all. It is used in Central America to treat cancer. Some people do not like the medicinal smell, but I don't mind it. I've worked with some smelly herbs, and this one is pleasant in comparison. FYI, "odorata" in the name can mean a good smell or a bad one.

Willow to Aspirin

A lot of people know that aspirin was developed from Willlow aka Salix spp. If you use the inner bark as a tea, it can take six hours for the body to convert it to salicylic acid to give pain relief. However, the Native Americans figured out that if you burned the branches and leaves and made a tea from the ashes, the combination of the thermal breakdown and alkaline ash, sped up the conversion of salicin to salicylic acid. They would also inhale the smoke because inhalation is a faster delivery system than digestion.

One of my herbal medicine heroes...

Aunt Molly Kirby, as she was affectionately known by all, was the "doctor" to the people in the Coosa River area of Alabama. If it were not for her hiring and teaching a 7-year-old boy named Arthur Lee "Tommie" Bass, a lot of the knowledge of medicinal herbs would have been lost. She needed him because she was too old to climb the mountains to get the medicine. His education continued when he befriended a Cherokee woman who shared their medicine. He was hired by the pharmaceutical industry to get plants for their medicines and learned even more from that. It all started with Aunt Molly passing on her vast knowledge of how to help people with plants.

Goodbye, Sebastian.

Please lift a prayer for a our sweet and tenderhearted DIL, Elora. Her dog, Sebastian, died last night. :-( It looks like he ate something toxic. 

Magnolia Medicine

 

 

   

  

Magnolia virginina aka Sweet Bay Magnolia was widely used as medicine among Native Americans and early Americans. It is still used for various ailments today. You can find it for sale on the internet. Magnolia spp grows all around the world.

Tommie Bass, the now deceased highly sought-after Alabama herbalist, said more people came to him for Magnolia spp to treat arthritis, joint pain, and gout than any other plant. He said it did not work for everyone, but it did work for many. In fact, medical doctors in the early 1800s considered it a very effective treatment for rheumatism and arthritis.

The bark contains two polyphenols: magnolol and honokiol. Magnolol is an antihistamine. By reducing the histamine release, magnolol can help alleviate symptoms associated with allergies, such as inflammation, itching, and swelling. Magnolol supports the body's natural production of adrenal steroids which gives it antispasmodic effects. Honokiol is a muscle relaxer that appears to be five times more effective at relieving anxiety than some Rx medications. That's impressive!

Magnolol and honokiol relax bronchial muscles, making it easier to expel mucus, thus contributing to its expectorant properties. These help reduce inflammation in the respiratory tract, assisting with conditions like asthma or bronchitis. Magnolol and essential oils in Magnolia virginiana help stimulate the respiratory system to expel mucus. The alkaloids in the tree work as bronchodilators to ease breathing. These things can make it a good option for respiratory ailments.

The leaves are used as a vulnery meaning it helps heal wounds. The antimicrobial properties promote healing and prevent infection. The leaves were used as a poultice.

The Native Americans used the largest leaves of Magnolia to wrap their food. They also used the leaves as a spice to flavor their foods like gravies. The Rappahannock used it as a mild stimulant. The bark is a chief food for beavers, so it was also known as the Beaver Tree. In Japan, they use the leaves as a dish to grill foods on.

In China, Magnolia obovata, is used in over 200 patent medicines. One paper I read said many of the Chinese in America buy Magnolia bark and extracts available because they know how valuable the tree is for medicine. While you can use different species of Magnolia, the chemical compounds may vary by species.

Thoughts on Boneset

"I am a 30+ year medicinal herbalist. The presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) can be of concern in long-term applications. Late Boneset may be considered a safer option for extended use due to lower levels of these alkaloids. I personally use Hyssop Leafed Boneset (Eupatorium hyssopifolium) and Late Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum) to treat Chronic EBV/viral symptoms for a week at a time. Both are too bitter to drink as a tea (although I have done so) so I tincture mine. All of the bonesets can be used similarly per the scientific and traditional use research I have done. Tip for anyone who cares: It is very helpful to seek out and compare the chemical profiles of plants in the same genus when researching species to see if they can be used similarly. I am not a medical doctor, so I encourage each of you to do your own research and be your own health-care provider. Happy herbaling and God bless!" -Mama Asbell

Off Roading Fun with Brandon

Brandon invited Clint, Emily, Hannah, and me to stay in his very nice and large suite in Aurora, NC. We were there Thursday until Sunday. We toured the countryside, did some shopping, and enjoyed some off-roading in the Croatan National Forest. Somewhere along the way home, we met Walter aka the name for the Big Foot statue. Emily and Hannah enjoyed having their picture taken with him.

Lady's Thumb, Jesusplant, Knotweed Food and Medicine

Lady's Thumb aka Redshank aka Jesusplant aka Knotweed

Persicaria maculos (Buckwheat family)

As the plant ages, there is a dark spot in the middle of the leaves that looks like the plant was bruised. This is why it is called Lady's Thumb.

This is a nutritious wild edible and it is medicinal. It was brought by Europeans to the US, but the Native American tribes soon put it to work for them. You can find it all over the United States. It is high in vitamins A, B2, C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, copper, and selenium.

As an edible, use it like you would spinach or kale. You can consume it raw, like in a salad, or use it in soups, stews, stirfrys, in with other herbs as a green powder, etc.

It is a vulnery (heals wounds),anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, astringent, cholagogue (increases bile), diuretic, hemostatic (stops bleeding), and anthelmintic (rids parasites). It shows antiviral properties for RSV, EBV, and several other viruses.

Anti-inflammatory herbs, like Lady's Thumb, are usually good for bug bites, insect stings, burns, etc. A poultice of lady's thumb left in place a couple of hours can reduce arthritis inflammation by half. It works by interrupting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. A tincture of this may be a good choice for those who suffer from arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

You can use it externally as a poultice or in a salve and also use it internally as a tea, decoction, capsule, or tincture.

Lady's Shank can treat urinary and digestive tract disorders, women's and men's reproductive health, fevers, headaches, diabetes, respiratory health, and eye health. It has also been used to treat Lyme's Disease.

You can make a tea combined with other herbs that repel insects and use it as a natural insect repellent spray.

This is just a tiny bit of my handwritten notes on Lady's Thumb. There is more to learn about this wonderful and useful plant.

While Lady's Thumb has been a part of American medicine since it was brought here, there have not been many studies done on it.

It has been used for a very long time for food and medicine and is generally considered safe. I could not find any hard contraindications (an existing condition that makes something unsafe). However, there are some POTENTIAL contraindications: allergies to the buckwheat family, pregnancy and breastfeeding, blood disorders (it has mild blood thinning properties), and kidney disorders (due to oxalates).

Always learn the contraindications of anything you use (even OTC and RX - doctors can and do miss things) and always start with small amounts internally. For topical medications, always do a skin patch test first. These are good standard medical practices with anything new even RX and OTC meds. Use my posts as a starting place to do your own research.