Eat More Alfalfa

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), also known as Lucerne, Purple Medick and Trefoil, is a cool season, flowering, perennial, legume. Alfalfa grows to a height of about three feet and can live from five to twelve years. It is an important forage crop that grows throughout the world in an assortment of climates. Alfalfa originated in Asia and was first cultivated by the Arabs in Iran, before 700 BC. Related species are grow wild all over central Asia and into Siberia. In 490 B.C. Roman writers give accounts of using Alfalfa as feed for their animals. Alfalfa was brought to California during the Gold Rush, from South America.

Alfalfa can be used as pasture, alfalfa hay, or cut and dehydrated to make protein rich meal. It is highly valued as feed for cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, camels and llamas. It is the oldest forage crop in the U.S.

Normally alfalfa flowers are purple to blue-violet, some have shades of white and yellow. Each flower grows on its own stalk from a common stem with 10 to 50 individual flowers. The flowers bloom from July to September. Alfalfa hay can be sown in spring or fall, it likes a well-drained soil with potash as a fertilizer.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

Healthy Diet Recipe - Oatmeal With Wood Ear Mushroom And Vegetables

Wood ear mushroom (Auricularia polytricha), is one of the most popular mushrooms in culinary world especially in Chinese cuisine. It is more commonly known as tree ear, dry black fungus, silver ear, mook yee, or cloud ear. Cloud ear is a different type of mushroom but it is almost similar to wood ear mushroom. It is called wood ear mushroom because it grows on a living or dead wood and looks like an ear. The dried and fresh types of wood ear mushroom are available on the market.

Wood ear mushroom has a solid form and thick skin. Its texture is similar to jelly. Fresh mushrooms will be crunchy when cooked. Adding the mushrooms into a soup will certainly give a unique texture and taste. The flavor of this mushroom is not as strong as other mushrooms such as oyster mushroom or shitake. This mushroom has a little forest fragrance and earthy taste.

Wood Ear Mushroom

The Essential Oil of Calamus - A Much Maligned Biblical Oil

Calamus (Acorus calamus) is mentioned three times in the Bible Exodus 30:23, Ezekiel 27:19 and

"Your channel is an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices-a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon." Song of Solomon 4:13-15.

Calamus was also referred to as "aromatic cane" in the NRSV. It was one of the four oils in the "holy" blend given to Moses to be used to anoint the people, the altar, the vessels and the tabernacle. There is some doubt whether the botanical plant we call calamus today is actually the same plant available to Moses. It is a reed plant that grows in marshy areas. From that description, Moses might have had access to this oil.

The ancient world used calamus as a holy anointing oil and in perfumes and incense. The healing properties are mainly due to the aromatic oil contained primarily in the root. It was esteemed as an aromatic stimulant and tonic for fever, nervous complaints, vertigo, headaches, dysentery, etc.

The Essential Oil of Calamus

Calamus Root Used For Indigestion, Bronchitis, Endurance, Colic, Gas and More

Calamus
Latin Name: Acorus calamus
Botanical Family: Araceae (arum family)

Acorus is Latin for "aromatic plant," and calamus means "reed." Flag comes from the Middle English word flagge, meaning "reed." Indeed, these highly aromatic reeds were quite sought after in weaving chair seats, ropes, mats, and baskets. This is also the famous "calamus root," used for pain relief in the folktale classic from the Deep South, Uncle Remus.

Sweet flag, muskrat root, beewort, sweetgrass, sweet root, sweet cane, flagroot, and sweetrush are some of the many regional names. Our native Calamus, A. calamus, is a distinctive member of the arum family, Araceae, which has about two thousand species worldwide that primarily live in wet regions. Its close relatives are jack-in-the-pulpit, green dragon, arrow arum, golden club, and skunk cabbage in the Northeast. When calamus is not in bloom it resembles blue flag, and like the latter it has been a highly valued root medicine among Eastern Woodland Indians and other tribes throughout its broad range for a long time.

The arum family, Araceae, includes more than 115 genera, and many of its species are cultivated ornamentals from the tropics. The native perennial Calamus is found in wetlands, often standing in water along streams and riverbanks across southern Canada from James Bay to Nova Scotia, south to North Carolina, and west to Texas and the Oregon coast. Its long, sword-like leaves are pale glossy green, with a stiff midrib running the entire length. The plants may grow up to five feet tall.

Calamus Root Used For Indigestion, Bronchitis,

Endurance, Colic, Gas and More

Guayusa Tea - A Caffeinated Herbal Tea From Ilex Guayusa

Most people think of herbal teas as being caffeine-free, but there are a few notable exceptions. Guayusa tea, or just guayusa (also spelled wayusa) is among these exceptions; it is a naturally caffeinated herbal tea made from the plant Ilex guayusa, a species of holly native to South America. Guayusa is actually very closely related to another plant used to create another caffeinated herbal tea, Ilex paraguariensis, or Yerba mate.

Where does guayusa come from?

Guayusa originates in a specific region of the Amazon rainforest, in a section of forest located primarily in Ecuador but also extending into Columbia and Peru. The drink has a long history of consumption among the indigenous peoples of this region, dating back to at least 500AD and possibly earlier.

In modern times, the bulk of guayusa production is located in Ecuador. The production of this herb can be carried out in natural, intact forested areas, as a wild harvest, or as a sustainable forest agriculture, in contrast to the bulk plantations of western-style agriculture used to produce most coffee and tea. In some respects this makes guayusa more sustainable and ecologically friendly, much in the same way that shade-grown coffee is better for protecting the environment.

Herbal Remedies For Women's Reproductive Health

Women indeed have to contend with a lot of health care issues that likely emanates from their biological make-up and function. From menstruation to pregnancy and then menopause-these reproductive processes that arise from a woman's physiology never fail to trigger medical conditions such as PMS, mood swings and also fertility issues. Whatever the issue may be, there is always a solution that comes packaged with the therapeutic extracts of herbs.

Herbal remedies have been used for many centuries to support the reproductive health of women. Isn't it about time that women take these alternative solutions into consideration to resolve pertinent medical conditions?

Herbal Remedies For Women's Reproductive Health