Dark Jungle

     For the past few years, I have been working wicked long hours at the hospital and been too tired for much afterward. It was probably a good thing to channel my energy in that way, but for now I am pleased to be able to spend a few minutes here and there with my precious plants. This year I plan on saving all the cannas from the freezing cold. I have moved most of them to the back porch, which is going to be a new post Thanksgiving ritual. 

     It helps that I have been planting them in pots so I dont lose them in the soil, then lose them again to frost. I particularly enjoy the pot in pot method of gardening. I also practice lasagna gardening, as in, these plants are all grown in mulch with rabbit poo on top.

     I will be particularly pleased if the dwarf black taro and the purple leaved orange cannas survive. I also enjoy the bip pink cannas and thr yellow cannas. The red are almost too big for containers!

     If I am able to save enough, I might have a big enough yield to sell some next spring.

Amp Up Immunity

     This is an illustration in a magazine called Natural Awakenings. I find it awesome that ginger is in the picture twice. Some excellent examples of tea ingredients.

Cypress Lakes Preserve Trailhead

     While taking the kids to the park one morning, happened to drive by this place. Maybe it has been here for some time and I have never noticed it before. The wood around the parking area appears to be new, and the trails lead off into an unknown world. More importantly, it is easy to find on Ridge Manor Blvd right down the street from Ridge Manor Park, another little place it seems few know about.

     This next picture is from Ridge Manor Park.

Hernando Trailhead of the Withlacoochee State Trail

     Happened upon this tiny park, happy to finally discover a trailhead for the Withlacoochee State Trail, which if memory serves is at least 50 miles. Or maybe 30. More importantly, this trailhead has a few parking spaces, which was a problem to locate the last time I wanted to visit these trails.

     The parking is on East Norvell Bryant Highway where it intersects with US Highway 41. There is a park there with restrooms and picnic tables.

Loose-Leaf Tisanes, Some Ingredients and Their Uses

     These are some of the permaculture offerings I grow in my garden. Discovered that dried tea is much more appealing when when dried colorful edible flowers are added.

     Interestingly, Celestial Seasonings blueberry herbal tea is made from hibiscus, rose hips, orange peel, blackberry leaves, blueberries, and blueberry leaves.

     Another homesteader called Hummingbird Creations sells her leaf teas 10 bags for $3.50 plus $6.50 shipping.

Beautyberry - Antioxidant, Antiviral, and Anti-inflammatory. Diuretic. Has flavonoids and phenols.

     Use - Reduce rheumatism and fevers. Reduces tumor growth in laboratories.

Lemon Leaves - Antioxidant.

     Use - relieve anxiety, insomnia, migraines, asthma.

Loquat Leaves - High in antioxidants and caretenoids (boost immune system). Reduces inflammation. 

     Use - Relieve coughs/bronchitis/asthma, lowers blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, and prevents cancer. Antioxidant.

Tangerine Leaves - Antioxidant, has flavone and limonin. 

     Use - Antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory.

Shell Ginger Leaves - Antioxidant.

     Use - Relieve nausea, indigestion, motion sickness, colds/flu. Lowers blood pressure, prevents heart attacks, prevents blood clots, lowers cholesterol, improves blood circulation.

Mexican Sunflower Leaves - Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory

     Use - Reduces pain, reduces blood glucose levels, 

Cardamom Ginger Leaves - has a peppery taste. Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant.

     Use - relieves nausea

Mulberry Leaves - Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant. Contains flavonoids.

     Use - Lowers blood glucose levels. Lowers blood pressure, lowers cholesterol. Increases fat burning and promotes weight loss.

Pinecone Ginger Leaves - Antioxidant. Contains saponins.

     Use - Relieves nausea, reduces cough/colds, anti-tumor.

Copperleaf Leaves - Antioxidant. Has laxative properties in larger amounts. Diuretic.

     Use - Lowers blood glucose levels, prevents cancer, prevents cardiovascular disease, treats constipation.

Passionflower Leaves - Increases GABA

     Use - decrease anxiety, treat insomnia, reduces intensity of hot flashes

Spiderwort Leaves - Anti-inflammatory, Anti-diarrheal, Analgesic.

     Use - Reduce cough/colds/diarrhea. Increases brrast milk.

Lemongrass Leaves - Antioxodant, Antimicrobial, Anti-inflammatory. Diuretic.

     Use - Reduces anxiety, prevents dental caries, relieves pain, boosts formation of red blood cells.

Hibiscus Leaves - Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory.

     Use - Relieves coughs and cold, regulates mood, lowers blood pressure, lowers blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, supports weight loss. Treats depression.

Muscadine Grape Leaves - Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory. Contain Vitamin E and polyphenols. Has an excellent mild flavor not unlike green tea.

     Use - Reduce nausea, improve skin quality, reduce pedal edema, reduce heavy menstrual bleeding, reduce headaches.

Sweet Potato Leaves - Contain Omega 3 fatty acids, polyphenols, and anthocyanins. Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory.

     Use - Reduces blood glucose levels, prevents cancer.

Cape Honeysuckle Leaves - Analgesic, Antidiarrheal, Anti-inflammatory. Diuretic. Contains phenols, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids.

     Use - Reduce insomnia, reduce diarrhea. Reduces blood glucose levels.

Napier Grass - No significant medicinal value.

Hoja Santa Leaves - contain safrole and might be carcinogenic.

Papyrus Leaves - No significant medicinal value.

Spanish Needle Leaves - Antimicrobial, Antidiabetic, Anti-inflammatory. Has a similar nutrient profile as kale. 

     Use - Topically or eaten to reduce inflammation.

Muscadine Grape seeds - Antioxidant. Contain Vitamin E, linoleic acid, and flavonoids.

     Use - Increases blood flow, prevents cancer, prevent dementia, treats depression.

🌺 Chinese Hibiscus flowers

Turks Cap Hibiscus flowers

Sage flowers 

Sunflower petals 

Marigold flowers

Rose petals

Spiderwort petals

Cape honeysuckle petals

Spanish Needle flowers

Prickly Pear Fruit

Loquat fruit

Lemon peel

Tangerine peel

Muscadine Grapes

Planning for Loose Tea

     I have purchased a hanging dehydrator to put above my air outside air conditioning heat exchanger. This will allow for hot air to be blown over the herbs, drying them much more quickly than they would dry any other way outside of a solar heater or solar cooker. Drying anything can be tough in Florida, as the humidity on most days is usually greater than 80%. In the past i have had leaves grow mold as they are drying out, which does not make for appetizing fare. I dont even give those leaves to the rabbits! 

     I will have to take some pictures of the dehydrator along with a review of the process. I plan on drying leaves and flowers of my many plants that can contribute to health and wellness, including ginger, loquat, lemon, and tangerine.

     I thonk its both amusing and sad that a lot of the innovations in gardening and herbology that have come out of our recent technology boom have come about because of marijuana products. This dehydrator comes with tiny snips which are obviously for cutting bud. Not that I care about that, they will snip other leaves just fine.

Rat burgers

     I had a bad week at work last week. Actually only about 5 minutes of it was bad, the rest of the week was the usual - training people how to do things, answering dumb questions, dealing with people who think they know more and/or think they are the boss of me. Truly usual. But the bad 5 minutes was pretty bad, and I left the building crying, drove home crying.

     It got me thinking about leaving the hospital and going back to being awake during the day and asleep at night.  I could work at my part time job, I do really like it and its fairly easy. There are still times where its actually very much work, but most of the time its great. The money is pretty good too, and they seem to have enough work that I could work whenever. I wouldnt have to be locked into full time hours either, which would be nice. I could work a lot on my days without the kids and work less when i have them.

     I could start working on things around my house. Not just the broken water heater and the sliding doors that dont slide and the malfunctioning light switch. But more like the stuff that I want to do to be more self sufficient. I could grow more plants and sell them. I could put up the mice or rat cages and start raising them.

     A quick trip to Rural King opened my eyes up to the new consumerism. They no longer carry small animal cages. Their stock is very different now. I guess everything for most of my projects will have to be bought online. They dont even carry the wire mesh that I had previously bought when I made the rabbit cages. And I couldnt find the dog crates at all.

     I want the mice or rats so they can eat the weeds my yard produces and make me fertilzer. Then I joke about cooking the rats and eating them, but why is that so funny? Why not cook rats and eat them? Or at least, make them into rat burgers. Is that crazy?

Would you eat mice?

     There are a few signs that the economy is a fluctuation, hopefully not leading us into a major recession. The good news is that there seems to be a lot of jobs. The bad news is that the price of groceries and gasoline is going up. While I cannot change the prices of these goods, it seems that it would be smartest to build some reseliency into my own life for my own future.

     I would be interested in hearing what you would do if the price of food rose so high it became unaffordable. Would you eat the goldfish in your pond? What about frogs and grasshoppers? How would you feel about raising mice and grilling them for dinner?

Found this image on the internet. Enjoy!

Baby Black Grass

     Better fences make for better neighbors, right?
     I had a problem. my neighbors had been cutting my lawn as if he thought it belonged to them. Typical. So I told the one it wasn't alright to destroy the grass in my yard by over mowing. He claimed he couldn't tell where my yard started. I assumed the other neighbor had the same issue.

     So I cut some of the Napier grass and stuck them into the bare sand, as if daring them to grow. The method is simple, make sure each cutting has three nodes on it. Then bury two of the nodes, keeping the third above the soil. Water occasionally.

The cuttings on the far side of the yard, freshly planted.

      The thing I like the most about Napier grass is that it looks like a beautiful black bamboo. Or maybe I like it because it grows very well here with no care. Or maybe because it makes a great easy to harvest rabbit food.

     I am dying to plant some of this grass out at my forest near the road. There it can aid in the prevention of erosion and create some more natural privacy. Plus it looks cool.

     After winter ended, I trimmed it down to the ground and mulched the trimmings. Then the napier grass grew uniformly, healthily, not unlike its smaller green counterparts. 

Mice, Not Wabbits

     Last fall two of my three rabbits passed on, likely due to old age. I had originally acquired them ten years ago to be a breeding trio, and to be eating the kits they produced. Back then I had someone who would help me with the slaughtering. Time passed, and things changed, and I stopped breeding the rabbits. 

     They became my little garden buddies, and they only required daily water and about three bags of rabbit food a year. I had them under strict orders to mulch or manure all of the (safe) trimmings and weeds that I provided. And they were good at it. I am particularly proud of the water hyacinth - rabbit combo to pull nutrients from the ponds and turn it into nutrients for my favorite cannas and loquats.

      As I look to the future I wonder if it wouldnt be smarter to raise mice instead of rabbits? They are smaller and easier to manage, breed just as readily as rabbits, and can be easily maintained on a garden-provided vegan diet. They should also eat the water hyacinth and produce a nutritious manure. 

     Moreover, the meat could potentially be used to feed my cats. It would be a good complete diet for them. And cheap! One of the girls at work says that she buys mice for her 🐍... Perhaps I could be selling additional mice. They would probably be easier to unload than rabbits! And any escapees would be hunted by the neighborhood cat strays.

     I am liking the idea of this. What do you think?