The garden is looking lovely and the flower beds that I started and/or renovated are taking shape thanks to the hard work of my helpers. Getting all this work done with two folks, getting older, and slightly handicapped is not easy. I'm going to have to wrap my brain around projects that aren't so demanding. Unfortunately, it seems, that my old girl (my 130+ year old house) is always in some state of needing repair.
Meet Beef and Buddy
Today we are introducing you to some of the members of our farm family. Buddy the Llama (pictured above with our Boer Goat Buck) has been with us for 12 years or so. We bought him as a 9 month old black Llama with hopes that he would be a guard Llama for our sheep. He was naughty with the sheep so not knowing what else to do with him we put him in with our cows and calves. He loved it! He took to guarding the calves like nobodies business! We no longer have dairy or beef cows except for the lone beef we grow our every year. So now he has charge of the lone dairy calf we are growing out for beef and a couple of buck goats. He's getting really gray but we hope he is enjoying his final years here at our farm. Life expectency of a Llama is 20-25 years so he has a few years left. Not every Llama is suitable for use as a guard. He has to have a special personality. Our Buddy is really a buddy to us, especially Mike.
The Economy
"We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefitting from their success -- only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free. Trust the people. This is the one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development."
Ronald Regan, September 29, 1981
Reading Through the Bible In a Year
We are again attempting to read through the Bible this year. Just joining us or did you get behind? No matter and no need to play catch-up. Start where you are today and go forward.
Monday: Luke 1:57-66, Ephesians 2:11-22, Psalms 119:25-32, 1 Kings 6-7
Tuesday: Luke 1: 67-80, Ephesians 3:1-13, Psalms 119:33-40, 1 Kings 8
Wednesday: Luke 2:1-20, Ephesians 3:14-21, Psalms 119:41-48, 1 Kings 9-10
Thursday: Luke 2:21-40, Ephesians 4:1-16, Psalms 119:49-56, 1 Kings 11
Friday: Luke 2:41-52, Ephesians 4:17-24, Psalms 119:57-64, 1 Kings 12
Saturday: Luke 3:1-20, Ephesians 4:25-32, Psalms 119:65-72, 1 Kings 13-14
Saturday: Luke 3:1-20, Ephesians 4:25-32, Psalms 119:65-72, 1 Kings 13-14
Sunday: Luke 3:21-38, Ephesians 5:1-21, Psalms 119:73-80, 1 Kings 15-16
We also like to read a Proverb a Day corresponding to the day of the month. This month I am memorizing Psalms 20, could you memorize a Psalm?
We also like to read a Proverb a Day corresponding to the day of the month. This month I am memorizing Psalms 20, could you memorize a Psalm?
101 Herbs That Heal
Below is the First 10 in my list of the 101 Plants/shrubs/Trees on our property that have healing qualities.
- Aloe
- Apple Trees
- Aronia
- Basil
- Blackberry
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
- Catnip
- Cayenne
- Chaomile
CalendulaAccording to Wickapedia Calendula or "pot marigold, is a genus of about 12–20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family Asteraceae, native to the area from Macaronesia east through the Mediterranean region to Iran. Calendula should not be confused with other plants that are also known as marigolds, such as corn marigold, desert marigold, marsh marigold, or plants of the genus Tagetes.
The name Calendula stems from the Latin kalendae, meaning first day of the month, presumably because pot marigolds are in bloom at the start of most months of the year. "
Calendula is usually used externally for its antiseptic and healing properties in treating skin infections, cuts, punctures, scrapes, burns and chapped or chafed skin or lips. The tea or the tincture in water can be swished and swallowed in order to help heal oral lesions, sore throat, or gastric ulcer. Calendula has a good history of external use in the treatment of varicose veins.
Cat Mint aka Catnip
Catnip is almost a weed around here. A member of the mint family, it got it's name because of how much Cat's love the herb. Common catnip looks alot like lemon balm and often has a lemony flavor and can be used in place of lemon balm in some instances.
Not all Catnips are the same.
Catnip has a history of medicinal use for a variety of ailments. The plant has been consumed as a tea, juice, tincture, infusion or poultice, and has also been smoked. However, its medicinal use has fallen out of favor with the development of more effective drugs.
The presence of a chemical called nepetalactone produces sedative-like affects in humans, making catnip a popular home remedy for headaches as well as insomnia.
To make catnip tea, add one teaspoon of dried catnip leaves or three to four teaspoons of fresh catnip leaves to a mug of boiling water and let it steep.
Nepetalactone is a mosquito and fly repellent. Oil isolated from catnip by steam distillation is a repellent against insects, in particular mosquitoes, cockroaches and termites. Research suggests that in a test tube, distilled nepetalactone repels mosquitoes ten times more effectively than DEET, the active ingredient in most insect repellents, but that it is not as effective a repellent when used on the skin.
For educational purposes only This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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