This wonderful herb I use as a flower essence for the spleen meridian, however, I have been growing it for the last fifteen years and can honestly say that it is one of my most favourite plants.
There is another variety of Echinacea that is used in the medicinial herb repertoire, being Echinacea
Angustifolia. The root of this plant is the most prized section of the plant, and like the purpurea the whole plant is usable. It is much harder to grow and not quite as splendid visually above the ground, the plant is lower growing and the flowers tend to be smaller. I unfortunately did not have much success growing the angustifolia.
If the reader is keen to grown Echinacea Purpurea now is a good time to germinate the seed. The natural habitat of this plant is an area that has a cold winter, under snow is the norm. In order then to trick the seed into germinating, it needs to feel that it is coming to spring from a very cold base. I keep my collected seed in the fridge, so if you have just obtained some seed, keep it in the fridge for up to six weeks before germinating. I also use a pendulum to check the viability of all seeds I germinate. The actual seed is small black and encased in the cone shaped outer capsule. If you are given a seed head, the needles around the cones can be thrown into the seed raising mix to break down, but the seed is the cone shaped capsules. Another way to test is to chew a seed cone, the tingly taste will give an indication as to the strength of the seed.
As you can see from the photo the plant is quite magnificient. It is a bi-annual plant and given conditions that is feels happy in, it will self seed. Depending on your growing conditions, let some of the strong flowers go to seed (about six months after planting). If you wish to grow a large number of plants, you can use polystyrene boxes and start them off this way, they are easy to separate when you are ready to plant out, and are very tough. The whole plant is usable, it can be used fresh in teas, or dried for future use, the needles are quite sharp so for handling purposes if using the flowers, cut them up before they start to go to seed.
Happy gardening.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Straw Bale internal render plan B
The mould removal product worked, but the walls were still dark and patchy, so decided to cover the clay with the same lime render that coates the outer walls.
Very interesting process as there are no directions on the bag as to ratios, my neighbours rendered one of their rooms with lime and Mark (who is Swiss) said that in Switzerland they used to lime wash the walls once a year to keep them fresh and I guess free of mould.
So I basically winged it in relation to the water to lime ratio. One of the aspects of this material is that it requires constant stirring as the lime settles very quickly. My Three Musketeers used dish washing liquid to keep the clay/lime suspended, but as they are not here, I am a bit impatient, and I was scared I might use too much liquid so stirring the mix constantly became the order of the day.
For those who tend to be a bit bull at a gate like me, make sure you have plenty of protective gear as the lime can burn, so gloves, goggles, hat (for high drip areas ie my walls go from 2m to 4m))and skin covered is important. I started with a foam sponge, tried also a large brush and a paint roller for the high areas they all worked in their own ways. The only tricky part is the goggles kept fogging up, making it a bit hard to see, but it will require 2-3 coates so hopefully that will solve the missed bits.
It was a bit sad covering the clay render, but one of the other triggers was the mudwasps. They have made a number of nests in the building which is fine except instead of travelling the extra few metres to the clay pile outside, they were helping themselves to the clay wall.
Very interesting process as there are no directions on the bag as to ratios, my neighbours rendered one of their rooms with lime and Mark (who is Swiss) said that in Switzerland they used to lime wash the walls once a year to keep them fresh and I guess free of mould.
So I basically winged it in relation to the water to lime ratio. One of the aspects of this material is that it requires constant stirring as the lime settles very quickly. My Three Musketeers used dish washing liquid to keep the clay/lime suspended, but as they are not here, I am a bit impatient, and I was scared I might use too much liquid so stirring the mix constantly became the order of the day.
For those who tend to be a bit bull at a gate like me, make sure you have plenty of protective gear as the lime can burn, so gloves, goggles, hat (for high drip areas ie my walls go from 2m to 4m))and skin covered is important. I started with a foam sponge, tried also a large brush and a paint roller for the high areas they all worked in their own ways. The only tricky part is the goggles kept fogging up, making it a bit hard to see, but it will require 2-3 coates so hopefully that will solve the missed bits.
It was a bit sad covering the clay render, but one of the other triggers was the mudwasps. They have made a number of nests in the building which is fine except instead of travelling the extra few metres to the clay pile outside, they were helping themselves to the clay wall.
Monday, 15 August 2011
Mould on Clay Render
In my last post I mentioned the problem with mould on the internal wall of my straw bale building.
My neighbours Rosalba and Mark ( who have built a straw bale house) came to the rescue.
Rosalba had the same problem and sourced a product made by a Maroochydore company called Cooee.
She gave me some of the product which I have done as a test piece, so far the mould is starting to fade (it was quite black in places). I did a google search of the company and find that they are mainly into dust suppression and road stabilisation for the construction industry, however, you may be interested to know that they also produce a timber treatment which is BFA certified, great for home and school vegie gardens.
The attached photo shows the clay render when it was initially finished, I might end up doing a lime wash on the internal walls, time will tell.
If you plan on doing any road stabilisation in the future (or need some mould killer) the company is called Cooee pty ltd and their address is 30 Fishermans Road Maroochydore QLD.
My neighbours Rosalba and Mark ( who have built a straw bale house) came to the rescue.
Rosalba had the same problem and sourced a product made by a Maroochydore company called Cooee.
She gave me some of the product which I have done as a test piece, so far the mould is starting to fade (it was quite black in places). I did a google search of the company and find that they are mainly into dust suppression and road stabilisation for the construction industry, however, you may be interested to know that they also produce a timber treatment which is BFA certified, great for home and school vegie gardens.
The attached photo shows the clay render when it was initially finished, I might end up doing a lime wash on the internal walls, time will tell.
If you plan on doing any road stabilisation in the future (or need some mould killer) the company is called Cooee pty ltd and their address is 30 Fishermans Road Maroochydore QLD.
Topical application of Essences
The flower essences have as their carrier organic apple cider vinegar. Organic apple cider vinegar has been chosen as the carrier because of its well known cleansing, healing and energising health benefits. The taste does not appeal to some palates, it can as an alternative be applied topically.
To apply topically, a large drop can be placed on the three chakras being third eye (mind) heart (spirit) and solar plexus (body). The other option is to place the drops on the associated bladder points (check out the website for the bladder meridian). Each of the meridians has an assoociated point along the bladder meridian which runs either side of the spinal column.
In the upper region of the thoracic vertebrae between the shoulder blades and level with the 3rd thoracic vetebrae is the point for the lung and the 5th thoracic equates to the heart meridian. In the middle region level with the 9th-12th thoracic vetebrae are in decending order points for the liver , gall bladder, spleen and stomach. About level with the waist line is the kidney meridian point level with the 2nd lumbar vertebrae .The triple warmer is above this vertebrae located between the kidney and the stomach points. The large intestine small intestine and bladder (in this order) start at the base of the lumbar vertebrae group (lower back) and correspond with the middle vertebrae of the sacral verterbrae.
I hope this description gives a picture of the points as I do not have a visual image to post, but will send a visual out with any orders. All these points carry chi directly to the organs so they can also be used to diagnose if an organ is out of balance as the point can become tender or sensitive to pressure.
To apply topically, a large drop can be placed on the three chakras being third eye (mind) heart (spirit) and solar plexus (body). The other option is to place the drops on the associated bladder points (check out the website for the bladder meridian). Each of the meridians has an assoociated point along the bladder meridian which runs either side of the spinal column.
In the upper region of the thoracic vertebrae between the shoulder blades and level with the 3rd thoracic vetebrae is the point for the lung and the 5th thoracic equates to the heart meridian. In the middle region level with the 9th-12th thoracic vetebrae are in decending order points for the liver , gall bladder, spleen and stomach. About level with the waist line is the kidney meridian point level with the 2nd lumbar vertebrae .The triple warmer is above this vertebrae located between the kidney and the stomach points. The large intestine small intestine and bladder (in this order) start at the base of the lumbar vertebrae group (lower back) and correspond with the middle vertebrae of the sacral verterbrae.
I hope this description gives a picture of the points as I do not have a visual image to post, but will send a visual out with any orders. All these points carry chi directly to the organs so they can also be used to diagnose if an organ is out of balance as the point can become tender or sensitive to pressure.
Saturday, 6 August 2011
Straw Bale Building
This building was created to provide a work space for my flower essence business. It is relatively small but has a most restful energy and I have placed a name on the floor at the entry point called Maakoha which means tranquility. The exterior of the building has been lime rendered and the inside is clay rendered. The clay was not sealed or painted, but will be shortly as there is a problem with mould. This is in the process of being rectified.
The construction process was time consuming but most enjoyable. The attached photos show Nick, Roger and Andrew who magically made this building evolve. The next phase is landscaping around the building. I have done some planting but there is more to come, and a labrynth will be part of the landscape, along with a paved outdoor area and pizza oven.
The construction process was time consuming but most enjoyable. The attached photos show Nick, Roger and Andrew who magically made this building evolve. The next phase is landscaping around the building. I have done some planting but there is more to come, and a labrynth will be part of the landscape, along with a paved outdoor area and pizza oven.
meridian flower essences
Flower essence for the large and small intestine are balanced by the same essence, using the wonderful Banksia robur more commonly known asSwamp banksia. If your intestines are out of balance, you may be experiencing muscle soreness or stiffness in a variety of muscles eg the hamstrings or quadriceps.
The flower essence can be applied topically to either the meridian line/along pressure points running down the spine, or taken as drops under the tongue. Either side of the spinal column has pressure points relating to all of the bodies meridians-see the attached description.
The flower essence can be applied topically to either the meridian line/along pressure points running down the spine, or taken as drops under the tongue. Either side of the spinal column has pressure points relating to all of the bodies meridians-see the attached description.
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