Aren’t they the cutest little things? They’re day old quail chicks, and we’re finding they’re nicely suited to raising in suburbia. Besides being prolific egg layers, there’s some good science that quail eggs are very effective against hayfever, and possibly, probably other allergies too.
They’re such a pretty flower. Nothing in my garden has just one purpose – this little suburban garden is too small to fit nectar sources for pest predators, pollen sources for pollinators, flowers for cutting for the vase on the kitchen table, compost materials, food and medicinals for the chooks and quails, food and medicinals for us – everything has to do at least two or three of those. More…
Feverfew is a pretty little perennial herb with flowers that look very much like chamomile. It’s is best known as a migraine preventative, and there is now some decent evidence that it works and is safe. Luckily I don’t get migraines. But there is also some evidence that it is useful as an antihistamine, and as a hayfever sufferer, that earns it a spot in my garden.
I bought a cinnamon tree. It’s a small tree – two to five metres – and attractive with its glossy green leaves and red new growth. And it needs to be pruned hard. So I should be able to find a spot for it somewhere even in this little suburban garden. But some research about cinnamon being “a potent botanical for complicated UTI” struck me.
Traditionally, corn silk tea is used for urinary related problems – things like cystitis, kidney stones, prostate problems, bedwetting. I’ll keep some dried silks on the shelf and keep it in mind in case of cystitis, but the reason I like drinking corn silk tea routinely is that it reduces LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels, without at the same time affecting HDL or “good” cholesterol. I have the genes for…
We talk about food security but not so much about medicine security. This is a series about the plants with a good evidence base for medicinal use. They all have garden ecosystem and culinary uses too, so worth growing anyhow, and having them growing close at hand might give you a small measure of security in the wild west of late capitalism. Calendula, for example, has some good evidence backing…
Gotu kola is renouned for improving mental clarity, cognition, memory, brain power, and it’s also useful for wound healing and vein healing. But beware – it has a hidden talent for bioremediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals.