Spirals

By
I'll post pictures here of spirals in nature that I find fascinating.  Most of them will have herbal or edible uses, just because that's where I tend to put my focus.


Spiral Fern


Romanesco broccoli or Roman cauliflower



Echinacea purpurea (really close up)



Fibonacci sequence printed in 3D.

Popular posts from this blog

Kitchen Medicine Notes

By Angelique
KITCHEN MEDICINE Foods Fresh vs. Processed             Gluten and Lactose Intolerances               Numerous studies have found that when grains are soaked and sprouted, improvements in digestibility and nutrient absorption are commonly seen and also vitamin, mineral, protein, and antioxidant levels are increased.             Milk from commercially raised cows is actually dangerous to consume unless it is pasteurized. Factory-farmed animals are routinely fed an unnatural, high-protein soy- and corn-based diet and given shots of BGH (bovine growth hormone) to artificially increase milk production. This diet is so contrary to their biology that it causes severe illnesses that can only be combated by continually injecting the cows with antibiotics.  Don't get raw milk from that.  It *needs* to be pasteurized.  Raw milk from healthy, grass-fed, and pasture-raised cows is in a league of its own.   It protects against allergic reaction and boosts the immune system.
Read more

Renaissance and Modern Herbal Preparations

By Angelique
This article comes from a class I taught at LORE, the Loyal Order of Renaissance Enthusiasts. The regular type is the outline, and the italicized are from the lecture and additional information. Powdered Herbs The easiest way to powder herbs in our time is a good coffee grinder. For the Renaissance times, a mortar and pestle were an herbalist’s best friend; or rather, the herbalist’s apprentice’s best friend. Some examples of how a powdered herb would be used include: Cayenne pepper. This is a powerful, although painful, styptic, meaning that it causes the blood to clot very quickly. Because of the capsaicin contained in Cayenne, it is almost like cauterizing a wound, and the person you’re treating is not going to be happy. However, it will accomplish the job. (As an aside, if you’re around someplace with spider webs, it’s a much less painful way of accomplishing the same thing, although slower.)  Licorice root. This is a mild anti-depressant which, if used in food (works w
Read more

The Find of a Lifetime

By
            The last trunk!   I didn’t think I was ever going to finish going through the attic, but I’d put it off for far too long.   My grandmother had left boxes upon boxes of *stuff* to me, rather than my mother.   I never quite understood that, except that my mother and grandmother never did really get along.               In any case, after going through what were mostly boxes of books, pictures, photographs, painting supplies, I had finally arrived at the last trunk in my mission of clearing the attic of all stuff that could be distributed, incorporated into my own or other households, or sold.   All of the photos would eventually be uploaded to places where any of the kids, grandkids or great-grandkids might be able to identify people and they would be properly labeled in albums eventually.             The trunk was obviously very old, rather ornate in places, and with a curved top.   I opened it slowly, almost expecting time itself to escape with a rush of wind.   Instead,
Read more