Organic USA Farmers Sue Monsanto For Contamination Of Crops

Monsanto Against Sustainable Agriculture.

Monsanto is the biggest corporation of all those corrupt organizations who are attempting to gain control of our food supply for their own profit.

The latest court case is happening right now, with USA farmers sueing Monsanto for contamination of their wheat crops.

A March against Monsanto is planned by NYC Free Schools and Food Justice in USA for the 23rd May, 2015.  The headline reads:

‘They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.’  See the links below for details.

http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/379571882141135/permalink/688183531279967/

Monsanto is well-known for its litigious actions: Since 1997, Monsanto have taken 145 people to court over patent infringement, and it has not lost a case yet.

DuPont, the next biggest GM seed producing company after Monsanto, is also on the war-path.  It is been reported that DuPont plans to employ ex-policemen to check on farmers to investigate whether there is any of their GM seed on their properties.

In 2011, a group of around 50 American organic farmers got together to preemptively sue Monsanto before Monsanto could sue them for rogue Monsanto seed found in their fields.

If Monsanto were being reasonable and fair, they would understand that the last thing an organic farmer would want in his paddock is one of Monsanto’s genetically-modified plants, and so they would not ever sue an organic farmer.

Basically, anyone who is not buying these big companies’ genetically modified seed is at risk of attack by the seed giants.

There is money to be made for Monsanto in sueing people, and every time they squash a small farmer, they gain ascendancy in the battle to own and control the world’s food supply.

The organic farmers lost their case against Monsanto in 2011, and again in 2013.  But now, in 2015, a burgeoning group of almost 300,000 organic farmers are once more taking Monsanto to court for contamination of their crops.

Organic famers are not just worried that they might be sued by Monsanto if a trace of GM seed shows up in the farmer’s paddock:

Organic farmers are also concerned that heirloom seed is being genetically changed by Monsanto’s GMO seeds.  Heritage canola seed, which produces the world’s canola oil, has become near-extinct because of contamination by Monsanto’s ‘RoundUp Ready’ variety of canola seed.

All plant varieties are at risk from being genetically changed by Monsanto’s GMO seeds, if Monsanto seed of the same plant type is growing in the area.

Monsanto’s genetically modified seed is becoming dominant, as it invades crops of traditional seeds, changing  seeds forever, and this is putting our food chain at risk.

It was hoped that this lawsuit might take a spoke out of the predatorial giant Monsanto wheel.  Disappointing that  just this week, on Monday 26th January, 2015, the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Monsanto in yet another case against Monsanto.

But this is not the end of the battle by organic farmers against the threat of Biotech giant Monsanto’s right to sue if they find any of their genetically modified and patented seeds in an organic farmer’s field.

Monsanto currently have the law on their side, which means they have the right to sue for patent infingement against any farmer if their seed is found without the farmer having paid for the patented seed.  This law applies even when the seed has arrived in a field quite naturally, via wind or cross-pollination by insects.

How unjust is that? The law supports this Mafia of agriculture, no matter what.  ‘Pay your dues, or look out. We will kick your arse.’  This is the underlying message given by Monsanto and the other seed giants such as DuPont.

To date, Monsanto have successfully sued to the tune of 23 million dollars against farmers who, they say, have used their patented seed without paying for it.

In March, 2011, a group of 50 farmers sought a legal decision to support them in prohibiting Monsanto from sueing them if Monsanto seeds showed up in their farms.  They lost.  The court decided that the assurance from Monsanto held good – that they would not sue if only small amounts of their product was found on any farm.  This assurance is on their website.  The judge ruled this Monday the 26th January, 2015, that the former ruling was still good enough – that the assurance on the Monsanto website was legally binding.

Andrew Kimball, the lawyer working on behalf of the American ‘Center For Food Safety’ in 2013, said about the decision by the judge, that Monsanto’s website pledge not to sue farmers was sufficient:

Quote from Reuter’s article, address below:  “It is a very bizarre ruling that relies on a paragraph on a website,” he said. “It is a very real threat to American farmers. This is definitely appealable.”

Apart from the worry of being sued by Monsanto if a trace of their seed shows up in your paddock, there is also the worry that Monsanto’s genetically modified seed is becoming dominant, as it invades crops of traditional seeds.

Ethically, it would seem that Monsanto is also at fault because of its genetically-modified corn, cotton and soybean seeds which they have developed to be resistant to the glyphosphate-containing weedkiller, ‘RoundUp’.  These seeds are called ‘RoundUp Ready’.

The bad side effects of using RoundUp is well documented, and for Monsanto to continue its marketing ploys on this harmful glyphosphate, by creating seeds that will withstand the poison, is criminal in itself.

Glyphosphates are very bad for bees and other pollinating insects, and they are a bad thing to get into the food chain because they harm the health of people and animals alike. Some countries have banned the use of Glyphosphate-containing weedkillers such as ‘RoundUp’.  Mexico has already banned it, and Holland has just this year ruled it out at the beginning of 2015.

Send your Monsanto story to  [email protected], or leave a comment on this post.

My new book is out on Amazon:

Read these articles from Reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-monsanto-organic-lawsuit-idUSBRE9590ZD20130610

 

Bee-Killing Insecticides Banned In Europe, But Now Bayer Sues

Environment:  Food Chain At Risk.

Below, see the petition to sign, to keep bee-killing poisons out of our environment and protect environment.

Neonicotinoid insecticides were recently banned in Europe, in 2014.  But now Bayer, who makes some of these bee-killers, is sueing the European Commission to have the ban overturned.

Bayer and Syngenta are two of the largest companies in the world which market agricultural chemicals.  They both claim that the decision made by the European Commission to ban bee-killers is unfair.

To bleat ‘Unfair’ somewhat weakens the severity of the issue at hand – we are not squabbling over marbles here.  The earth is being poisoned and ruined for future generations by these irresponsible and greedy companies who don’t care a stuff about our health, or the health of the bees, or the planet.

They stand to lose billions of dollars because their insecticides have been banned, and so they are fighting for the right to keep poisoning our environment with their unnecessary and dangerous chemicals.

The European Commission instigated the ban on Neonicotinoid insecticides and other substances because of the overwhelming scientific evidence which proves these poisons to be destructive  to the bee population.

That they harm bees is one very good reason to ban these insecticides.  The other reason why they should be banned is because they also harm humans, animals, birds, natural fauna, trees and anything which lives.  Toxic agricultural chemicals have a lot to do with the increasing instances of cancer, arthritis, Parkinson’s and other immune system dysfunctions.  The nervous system is affected badly by toxic insecticides and herbicides.

World Famine:  This could be the result if Bayer wins their lawsuit against the European Commission.  Insecticides such as Neonicotinoids, which are derived from nicocotine, and even herbicides such as Monsanto’s Glyphosphate-containing RoundUp poison, are devastating the bee population.

Without the bees, our crops will not produce, and nor will the fruiting trees around the world. World wide famine will be the end result without bees and all the other pollinating insects which are at risk from the use of toxic chemicals.

Sustainable Agriculture:  Everybody the world over needs to get into sustainable, organic agriculture instead of using chemicals.

Sustainable agriculture also means not allowing the big pesticide and herbicide companies to manipulate our seeds, so that we are forced each year to buy new seed from them.  They are working towards a situation where we will only have their genetically modified, one-off seeds available.  In this situation, they will have TOTAL control of the food sources.  Unbelievable profits for them if everybody has to buy their patented seeds every year.

World Famine:  This is a dangerous situation, as it means if they make errors, and seeds go wrong, we could all starve, if we don’t die from cancer first.

These big pesticide-herbicide companies are causing many problems with food supply already.  Their control over the food supply is not the solution to poverty in the world, it serves only to profit them immensely.

We must fight for the right to harvest and use our our own seed, and the right to buy and use traditional, heritage seeds from people who are keeping the old, self-perpetuating varieties alive.

Monsanto is one of the major culprits in the war to gain complete control over seed production and usage. As I write this article, people are being sued by Monsanto for breaking their rules.

Bees Die From Pesticide:  Read more on how destructive pesticides actually are:  millions of bees were found dead on a single Canadian farm in December, 2014.  Go to

http://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees-lawsuit/13/2/

Only a minute amount of Neonicotinoid-containing substance is required to drastically affect the health of a hive.  Read my post of a few years back which reports the scientific evidence showing that exposure to homeopathic doses of Neonicotinoids made bees fall sick with viral diseases such as viroa. I use the term ‘homeopathic’, because the quantities which were used in this test were so small as to be undetectable as the original substance.

The scientists knew that the bees had been exposed to minute traces of the insecticide.  These bees fell prey to ‘Bee Colony Collapse Disorder’, whereas the bees who had been protected from the minute doses of insecticide did not get sick.

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Bees Killed By Insecticide

http://merrilynhope.com/avaaz-save-our-bees-campaign-ban-nicotinoid-insecticide

Robot Bees will not be the answer.  This is a ridiculous idea which some scientists, obviously working for the Big Insectide companies, have come up with.  We won’t be fobbed off with the erroneous idea that robot bees will be just as good as real, live bees.  For a start, bees work in our gardens for free, whereas, for sure, we would have to pay for these robot bees to work our gardens, trees and crops. So robot bees will profit the big pesticide companies yet again.

Robot bees is a horrible idea.

Nature cannot be replaced.  These arrogant big chemical companies, who profit from the poisoning of the planet, pretend to play God with their desire to rule and manage the world.

Here is the link for the petition to sign:  To keep the European Commission’s decision to ban all bee- harming insecticides.

http://action.sumofus.org/a/bayer-bees-lawsuit/?sub=mtl

Someone sent an email to me recently which said ‘Don’t knock pesticides and herbicides.  We have come a long way since the starvation days of the Irish Potato Famine…….These chemicals have their purpose.’

Not true at all, dear writer.

The Irish Potato Famine was a political thing.  It came about because of poverty brought about by the British  confiscation of land, and the Corn Laws, another British device which kept the Irish people so poor that all they could afford to eat was potatoes.

The Irish Potato Famine did not occur because of a lack of pesticides.

One third of the Irish population was reliant solely on potatoes.  So around one third of the population died from starvation when the potato crop was stricken.

Poverty lead to lack of biodiversity, i.e. there was no range of different crops and fruits.  All people had to plant was potatoes.

With monocultures of crops, where thousands and thousands of acres are sown with the same crop, disease is always a problem.  I doubt that poisonous chemicals would have been the answer.  Anyway, what is wrong with the ancient, organic , bio-diverse methods of agriculture which have kept the human race going for thousands of years?

Such lack of biodiversity is not only to blame for the potato blight which ruined the crops, but for so many of the population starving and dying.

The Irish Potato Famine was political in that it was a very convenient thing for the British:  It kept the Irish ‘situation’ under control.  The people were, if they hadn’t died already,  too sick to fight for their rights.  The British could easily have sent over food, knowing that the potato crops had failed, and that the people would starve.  But, instead, they let them starve.

Back to sustainable agriculture:

Get back to organic ways of gardening, farming and agriculture.  This is the only safe way to go, for the good of the earth’s soil and all that lives on it.

This is an erroneous idea, that we need chemicals such as Nicotinoids to control insects, or Glyphosphates, such as is used in Monsanto’s ‘RoundUp’, to control weeds, nor their genetically-modified seeds.

Sustainable Agriculture:  Organic farming and orcharding, and organic gardening, is the only way to preserve the bees and produce good, healthy food which will not poison us in the long run.

My new book is available on Amazon:

 

Fragrant Organic Gardens For Birds, Bees, Beauty And Medicine

Organic Gardening

Plant plenty of Bee-Friendly herbs to feed the bees a healthy diet.  Bee Colony Collapse Disorder can be prevented by avoiding the use of toxic herbicides and pesticides, and by planting herbs which contain natural medicines.

And keep some of those wonderful weeds such as Dandelion and Prunella Vulgaris, commonly called Self-Heal.  Bees love these plants, and they are so good for the soil.

We are losing our traditional cottage garden flowers and healing weeds.  So make an effort to keep our valuable healing plants by planting them in your garden, and letting some of those weeds grow too.

Less than twenty years ago, on Waiheke Island in New Zealand, many medicinal “weeds” such as dandelions, plantain, self-heal, comfrey, thistles, red clover, and hundreds of other useful and beautiful plants abounded, as well as self-sown peach and apple trees and goodness knows what else.

The keeping of cottage gardens helped keep the strains of the then-common weeds from becoming extinct, as well as many flower and shrub species which sadly now are quite rare to see.

There was always a nook and cranny to be found, amongst the incredible variety of flowers nurtured in the cottage garden, for the likes of a rogue thistle, or a hypericum seedling, to settle in for a bit.  We never used herbicide sprays or anything toxic in our gardens. Birds and bees, and beloved snails too, loved our gardens.

Our cottage gardens were the nurseries, not just of decorative annuals, rare shrubs and trees, but of medicinal weeds, many of which actually, and naturally, serve as medicines for the bees and surrounding plants.

Merrilyn’s new book is available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-And-Good-Health-Notebook-ebook/dp/B01DHMH6DG/ref=zg_bsnr_157202011_15

All weeds have their purpose in the big scheme of things.  Many actually enhance the quality of the soil, whilst helping other plants to grow.

Many cottage plants and so-called weeds, such as the feverfew daisy, lavender, and geraniums, help keep insects at bay. Some plants have the potential to cure the most common health ailments pertaining to man and his husbandry.

There was nothing more exciting for us nature lovers than to explore a cottage garden with friends and to find and try to identify the more rare plants, including the useful weeds: these had more than a small chance of surviving just long enough, in most people’s gardens, to proliferate somewhere else before being pulled out.

Our gardens were not only a paradise for the birds and bees, but a feast for our eyes.  The cottage garden flourished during the last few decades of the 1900’s, especially on Waiheke Island and in similar small villages around the country: but even in some suburbs of Auckland, such as Epsom and Mount Eden, many beautiful gardens have survived until fairly recently.

Alas, the original owners who tended these gardens have aged themselves. Many of their houses have been sold to a new generation who do not have an appreciation, or knowledge, of gardening. Land is expensive, and so gardens are dwindling to make room for new building developments.

Many newcomers to these areas, which previously were adorned with beautiful gardens, have come from other countries where, in their built-up cities, gardens like our cottage gardens simply do not exist, so there lacks an appreciation for the New-Zealand-style garden where a great array of plants are given a go.

Consequently, many gardens, such as in Epsom, Auckland, are rapidly being chopped out and their grand trees felled to have a concrete car-park laid, or a garage built, in their place.

Sometimes, of course, trees do have to be felled, and sheds built. However, it is sad to see the unnecessary ruination of an entire garden, when all that appears after its disappearance  is a stretch of concrete, or a stretch of concrete and a few palms.

Many younger Kiwi people also do not seem to care for our old gardens: they tend to go for some kind of Bahama-Island tourist-resort-inspired garden design which looks  like you live somewhere else. They feature plenty of slickly-laid pale-colored concretes, with just a few lonely exotic palms, a token native or two, and cacti, dotted about.

We are not fooled, and nor are the birds or the bees – this type of garden lay-out is for the lazy, so that no time needs to be spent weeding, or for the insensitive who can’t tell the difference, or just don’t care.  These gardens are entirely joyless. No life is permitted to exist there except for the token natives and the stark palms and cacti.

The concrete, the plastic sheeting underneath the stones, and the tree bark on the ground, puts paid to any weeds growing. This means that there are no insects for birds to eat. No room for a hedgehog, moth, butterfly, or a bee.

By comparison, the Waiheke Island of yester-year was a euphoric utopia. The many hedgerows along the rarely-sprayed stony tracks which we called roads, were home to insects, birds and bees. Wild climbing roses gave heart and soul to the place, intertwined betwixt and between the manuka, or a self-sown plum tree, or an old fence at the edge of a garden, enjoyed by all as we passed by, on our way to the beach. Or the shop. Or the ferry.

If you did not have it in your garden, there was usually some of what you needed to use for medicinal purposes, or simply for the eating, just down the road, growing on the roadside where today the concrete paths and road tarmac have ‘taken over’ the former habitat of this island-jungle-paradise.

On Waiheke Island, we had a variety of self-sown fruit trees: plums, apples, pears, peaches, quinces – and  grapes. Sometimes you would discover a patch of wild potatoes, or taro, hidden beneath the kikuyu, just waiting for the taking. Or squash. Or wild yams. Or yellow-flowering JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES, standing robust and tall above the weeds like a  “can-do” cousin of the more proud, but less hardy, sunflower.

Many of these edible plants, at a guess, probably survived from the days when Maori cultivated big gardens on Waiheke. These Waiheke gardens were, a hundred years or so ago, the market gardens which fed much of Auckland. This is why you could still find, in the ’70’s ’80’s and ’90’s, some very unusual kinds of potatoes and other root vegetables growing on unused banks and braes.

So many other treasures were to be found growing beside the dusty, curly, shingle roads of our island: There were flowers for the table: Dad bringing in the white-and-pink jasmine in the early spring with a sweetness which graced the whole house, and our hearts, and later, tall fantastic spikes of exotic, heady, sweet-smelling, sunny ginger plant celebrating the height of the summer.

Unfortunately, much of this vegetation has been lost. The regular spraying of herbicides on grass verges has killed off many decorative plants, as well as medicinal, herbaceous weeds. Comfrey and ginger plant have been named noxious weeds.

Few people keep cottage gardens any more. Many of us would-be gardeners do not own a property where we can plant all the things we love.

Keep the trees if you can.  If you must chop down a tree, plant another one or two somewhere else. Remember – Bird-life is dependent upon insects for eating, and trees to live in. Without these things, birds perish.

Small plants such as dandelions, plantains and other weeds have a part to play in the food chain, not just for bird and insect life, but for man too: for healthy agriculture, for honey bees, and for use as natural medicines as well. They can’t grow on concrete. They CAN grow in the cottage garden, and along grassy, unsprayed verges.

Nowadays,a dandelion plant is extremely hard to find, even in a field of grass, and if you should find one, you can’t be sure that it hasn’t been sprayed with a toxic chemical, so you had better not eat it.  In the country, agriculture chemicals, and the selected, commercial mixes of grass-seed which farmers(and house-holders) use, have just about eradicated the beneficial weeds from our environment. Many plants are almost extinct: plantain, nettles, water-cress,dandelions, to name just a few.

Urbanized Waiheke has lost most of its former charm. Many big trees,and all the self-sown fruit trees, have all disappeared from the road-side and the bush. The scrub and hedgerows where birds, hedgehogs, insects, and natural plant life thrived, have been cleared. Much planting of native trees and flaxes has been done in certain areas, however, there is a lack of colour and variety in these plantings.

It is rare to see  large trees such as an oak, or a birch, an aspen, a magnolia or a flowering cherry newly planted in public areas. And the ground is often covered with wood chips which renders it redundant as a food source for birds.

About all you can find growing wild abundantly now, on Waiheke Island, is a hardy variety of silver beet which has adapted to survive the salt of the sea at the water’s edge. Very clever, to escape the watchful, merciless eyes of the city council planners who employ the concrete-layers,weeders and spray-people to keep away such up-starts. It grows along the water’s edge in the virtually inaccessable parts of Surfdale and Blackpool.

You can still find wild valerian here too, although you have to look hard for it amongst the kikuyu grass now.

Just how, in New Zealand, can we revive our dwindling species of trees, plants, insects, and birds? Bringing back the cottage garden would help enormously. Having areas in cities and in the country where things are allowed to grow naturally without the use of any chemical sprays, or unnatural ground coverings which prohibit weeds from growing, would be another solution.

Councils could declare that so much of a householder’s property should be taken up with several trees and garden plants.  Trees and hedgerows could line the sides of all our roads: Big trees, fruiting trees, and small trees, not just the smaller, ever-green natives being planted about the city at the moment.

We need colour to gladden our hearts: some real flowers, or flowering trees such as magnolias, or flame trees. Not the mono-colored, ghastly mono-cultures of strange flaxes and grasses, planted in formation, such as Auckland City Council has planted around all their new bus stations. Disheartening and sickening, planted with the same idea, I guess, as some food chains have when making their interior design so barren and ugly that no body wants to stay there for long.

These joyless gardens prohibit anything else from growing as they are covered up with wood bark, so you don’t find any birds about these lonely, desolate spots. Like being on a west coast beach on a windy day. Why so barren? Trees- flowers-and weeds- should grow in these places perfectly well.  We need more gardeners.

The government could start a new programme to give people jobs – imagine thousands of gardeners working all over the country,and the city, say for 20 odd hours a week so that the job was always an enjoyable thing to do: Planting all the road-side areas with trees and flowers, and edible plants; keeping weeds from overtaking the gardens, but not eradicating them entirely. And time off for wet weather.

Chemical herbicides and insecticides could be banned forever. This will be the end to ‘Bee Colony Collapse Disorder’ and human cancers.

YES, WE WILL GROW MORE TREES, big trees, small trees, flowering trees, native trees, fruit trees too;  plant more gardens, anywhere and everywhere, wild yams and taro.  Let hedgerows flourish with their dandelions, honeysuckle, plaintain and wild roses, and make our world a better, happier place for all beings.

Medicinal Garden Herbs For You And The Bees

Natural Remedies

There are many wonderful healing herbs or weeds which you can grow in your garden for the purpose of helping cure many of the common ailments which allay us.  They will also help the bees to make good honey and stay healthy.

note – this article was originally posted up around 2010 – mistakenly, it was moved onto another site – now restored to this one

Below I list some of the easiest ones to grow, and some of the most useful, which you can add to your garden, whether it is large or small.

Caution: I do not recommend that people try these remedies without consulting a herbalist. They are recorded here below for interest, and as a resource in the case of circumstances of emergency which might make doctors and conventional medicines unavailable.  See your doctor if you are ill.

Medicinal Uses of Aquilega vulgaris,  also known as Granny’s Bonnets,  or Columbine.
Aquilegia is a Ranunculaceae , commonly known as ‘Granny’s Bonnets’, or ‘Columbine’. These plants have lovely bell-shaped flowers which come in various shades of purple, pink, maroon, white, or yellow.
They look very pretty, rising up a couple of feet or so from the ground, with their delicate flowers hanging most voluptuously from their spindly, slender-stalks. Once you have them in the garden, they will self-seed and give you more of the same the following year. As it is a perennial, the old plant will surprise you.  After it has died down, it will come up again in the spring to flower again.

Aquilegia, or Columbine, is an astringent,diuretic, and diaphoretic.
One teaspoon of plant root can be steeped for several hours in cold water: of this, you can take one tablespoon at a time, from three to six times a day for diarrhea, according to John Lust.  Personally, I would lower the dose to only a teaspoonful, to be on the safe side.
Dr Lust recommends the flowers be used in wine to promote perspiration. He does not state the recipe for using the flowers, but I would use one teaspoon only, soaked in a glass of wine for three hours, taken a teaspoonful at a time.  The dose could be repeated from three to six times a day. Build up the dose to one tablespoonful if need be.
I would not continue this remedy for more than a day or two.

Aquilegia Lotion For Arthritic Pains:
A lotion to help the aches and pains of rheumatism and arthritis can be made from the root of aquilegia. This is a safe remedy to try, as it is only applied externally. Chop or grate a quantity of root and soak for two days in just
enough vodka to cover. Strain and bottle. Rub onto sore joints as needed.

Culpepper says that the Columbine is ‘an herb of Venus’; that Tragus recommended a drachm of the seed to be taken with saffron in wine, for treating conditions of the liver such as yellow jaundice. Culpepper recommends the seed in wine for ‘a speedy delivery of women in childbirth’.  You would use even less of the seed: only 5 seeds to a wineglassful of wine,infused for a few hours; the dose – one teaspoon every three hours for up to five doses, in my estimation.
I must say that I did not get around to trying this remedy for an easy childbirth when I had my children. But there you have it.

Golden Rod, Solidago virgaurea:

Otherwise known as European Goldenrod, this  is another beautiful, now quite rare, perennial to grow inyour cottage garden. It reaches about three feet tall when it is ready for flowering, taking up about as much room as a maize, or corn plant. Its flowers are golden yellow, as its name implies, and these are formed amidst a furry down, a little like thistle down: this acts as its parachute to carry it off on the breeze.

Medicinal Uses of Golden Rod:

Golden Rod is well known for its therapeutic properties. It is astringent and diuretic. It has been used for the treatment of kidney stones and other kidney ailments; nephritis and arthritis; menorrhagia;  whooping cough; and
eczema and psoriasis. It can be used both internally and externally.
Culpeper holds it in high esteem: apart from ridding the body of kidney stones, he recommends it for internal bruising and calls it’a sovereign wound herb, whereby green wounds and old ulcers are speedily cured’. He also
recommends it as a rinse for ulcers in the mouth or throat or ‘privities’, and for firming up loose teeth.
Venus rules this herb, according to Culpeper.
The leaves can be crushed and used as a poultice for insect bites and other skin abrasions.
Dose: Make a tea by simmering one tablespoon of flowers in a cup of water for three minutes. Strain, and drink when cooled. Take one cup a day as needed, for up to three days at a time, and then a break.
Use the same tea for external use.

Ladies’ Mantle, Alchemilia vulgaris.
This is an herb which has a place in every cottage garden because of its attractive foliage, as well as its medicinal qualities. It loves to grow in shady spots, beneath, say, the cover of a linden tree, or a mulberry.
It is ruled by Venus, so Culpeper tells us.
In Sweden, it is a folk-remedy for aiding sleep in restless children, a sprig being put under the pillow. It is a great wound herb, as it helps to coagulate the blood. It is useful for all inflammations and ruptures, and can be taken internally and used externally.
Culpeper says that ‘the Germans, who, in all wounds, inward and outward, drink the decoction thereof, and wash the wounds therewith…’, and that it quickly heals ‘green’ wounds and old sores.

It is a great ladies’ herb, of course. Culpeper claims it aids conception and helps mastitis conditions in breast-feeding mothers. A poultice of the infused leaves can be laid over the breasts, and a tea taken to help painful lumps of mastitis. It can be used in a bath to help prevent miscarriages. It is a traditional remedy for treating infertility.
It can be used both internally and externally for thrush.

Dose: Make a tea using one or two teaspoons of chopped fresh Ladies’ Mantle leaves.
A tea made with one teaspoon each of marigold flowers and Ladies’ Mantle is reputed to be good for period pain.
John Lust uses four teaspoons of dried herb, soaked in a cup of water for ten minutes. A cup a day can be taken for up to one week at a time.
I would prefer to use the milder option of one teaspoon of fresh herb with marigold petals in a tea.

Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis
A small area in the garden should be given to this very useful and sweet smelling herb. Bees just LOVE it, which alone is a very good reason to grow it.
Medicinal Uses of Lemon Balm:
It may be taken freely as a refreshing and soothing tea. It aids sleep, and helps reduce anxiety.
Dose: Just add a few leaves to your pot of tea, or infuse on its own. Three or four cups a day of tea can be taken.
Take a cup before bed, sweetened with honey to help with attaining a good night’s sleep.

Feverfew, Chrysanthemum parthenium

This is also known as featherfew, or febrifuge plant.
This is a great little cottage garden plant: It is an attractive, small chrysanthemum which, when allowed to, will pop up along the sides of paths and between pavement cracks. It is not a menace by any means, as they pull up easily if you wish to remove some of them.

Medicinal Uses: Feverfew is carminative, an emmenagogue, purgative, stimulant and tonic.  It could be of use to the recovering alcoholic, or for people who have drunk to excess.
It is useful to cure migraines,fevers, help colds and flu, and indigestion.
John Lust, in ‘The Herb Book’, suggests it can be used for fixing the alchololic d.t.’s.
Dosage: Make a cupful of tea with one teaspoon of flowers or leaves. Take only one tablespoonful of this
mixture through the day, until the tea is finished.
Two cups per day is the maximum dose per day, taken always just a tablespoonful at a time.
Note: Do not use this tea every day, but only as is necessary, as a medecine.

Hollyhock, Althaea rosea:

Also known as Althea rose, malva flowers, and rose mallow.  It is related to the common Marshmallow, which is also a medicinal herb.

This is a lovely tall flowering plant which will add grace and charm to your garden.  It comes in colours similar to the Hibiscus:  peach, pink, crimson, white, cream, purple, and yellow.

Plant it alongside a wall, or in some sheltered, sunny spot where it will be protected from the wind. ‘The tall hollyhock has the most beautiful flowers which grow all along its upper length, giving the plant a spine of vivid colour’, to quote the eloquence of one herbal.  As it is economical on space, even if you have only a small patch of ground, there should be room in your garden for a hollyhock or two, perhaps outside a window.

It is very easy to grow from seed.  One plant will last for several years, coming up again from the ground after it has died down.

Medicinal Uses of Hollyhock:
Hollyhock is a demulcent, diuretic and emollient. It is a safe herb to use for helping bronchial complaints and chest infections, as it soothes the mucous membranes. I have used the flowers on many occasions to treat
chest problems in my children, and for myself, in combination with halibut liver oil.

Make a tea of one tablespoonful of flowers and covering with boiling water.  Leave to infuse for several minutes.  Drink the tea in sips over an hour.  Make some more tea if needed.  An adult could take 2 or 3 cups per day if necessary, whilst a child would take half this amount or less.
Note- see your doctor if your child is sick. You can safely use hollyhock in combination with any medication you might be given for a chest ailment.
Lavender, Lavandula augustifolia.
Lavender attracts bees into your garden almost all the year round, which makes it a ‘must’ to plant. Every good garden deserves at least one lavender bush.

It can be planted as a small hedge, or as border around areas of the cottage garden. There are many varieties to choose from.

Uses:
Lavender is an antispasmodic, carminative, cholagogue, diuretic, sedative, stimulant, and tonic.  But be cautious with using lavender.  It is a strong herb, and only a small amount is needed.
It is a calmative which can be helpful for reducing high blood pressure, anxiety and heart palpitations. It can help regulate menstruation.

The vapours of lavender can help to calm a woman during childbirth, and it can aid in expelling the placenta after childbirth if a compress containing lavender oil is laid over the abdomen.
A tea made of equal parts of lavender, chamomile and calendula is said to help restore a new mother to health and aid in the production of milk, so says John Lust.
Lavender oil is a natural insect repellant and a disinfectant. The oil kills head lice, and will deter fleas.
Lavender oil is known as the ‘mother of all essential oils’, as it is so verstile.
Lavender oil can be applied directly to burns, bites and stings, and used as an embrocation for sore joints.
The oil can be burnt in an oil burner, or a few dried lavender heads burnt in an oven-proof dish along with dried rosemary stalks.  Just a little of the ensuing smoke will deter mosquitoes and other insects.
It combines well with most other oils, such as bergamot,eucalyptus, rosemary and pine.
The flowers can be dried to use in pot-pouri, and put in lavender bags to deter moths from eating your clothes.

Dose: Use the leaves for an infusion. Steep one teaspoon of chopped leaves in half a cup of water for two hours.
This dose can be safely taken twice a day for several days to help anxiety, sleeplessness, nausea and vomiting, migraines, clogged intestines, and lack of appetite.
Cease taking the decoction once improvement has been noted.

Valerian, Valeriana officinalis
Culpeper gives Mercury as the ruler of Valerian. Merciry rules the intellect and communication.
This herb has attractive red, pink, white, or yellow flowers. It is great to grow on clay banks where little else
will grow. It will spread over time, so the root needs to be divided once in a while.
The white flowered valerian is the one with the highest medicinal value. The root is the part used.
Medicinal Use  Of Valerian:
It is used as a mild tranquillizer, and to bring on sleep.
It has also been used as a counter-poison. According to Culpeper, boiled in wine, it can be taken for venomous bites
and stings.It was used, in Culpeper’s time, as a remedy against the plague.
For improving  the sight, it was used externally by first boiling a little root in white wine for several minutes.
One drop only of the cooled mixture was used for each eye.
For Wounds and Bruises:  It is another great wound herb, both internally and externally. The leaves and root can be crushed and applied to help draw out splinters.

Note: Ask your naturopath or doctor about using Valerian. It can become addictive, so beware. Hitler was said to be a Valerian addict.

More to follow…..

Bibliography
Culpeper, Nicholas. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. Arcturus Publishing Limited, London, 2009
Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, New York, 1974

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Glyphosate In RoundUp Banned In Holland

Dutch Government Bans Over The Counter Sales Of Glyphosphates, Including RoundUp.

Mexico and Russia have already banned Monsanto’s ‘RoundUp’ herbicide, and other Glyphosphate products.  France and Brazil are also planning to follow in the footsteps of Mexico, Russia and Holland, by banning Glyphosphates.

In Holland, the Party For The Animals has  been campaigning for a ban on glyphosphate-containing herbicides such as RoundUp, as well as neonicotinoid insecticides.  From the end of 2015, no more glyphosphates will be sold in garden centres in Holland for private use.

This move  to restrict the use of Glyphosphate-containing herbicides shows great promise for our future health. I hope that New Zealand will join the other countries which are about to follow suit with a RoundUp and Glyphosphate ban, as well as a Neonicotinoid ban.  However, what the world needs is a complete ban on such harmful poisons as Glyphosphate and Nicotinoids.

Nicotinoid poisons are used in many insecticides, and, like Glyphosphate, kill bees and other useful little insects, butterflies and moths.

These substances are a very great danger to our environment and to our health.  The extent of the damage is impossible to predict, but it is known for a fact that Neonicotinoid poisons are a primary cause of ‘Bee Colony Collapse Disorder’.  Read my earlier post about ‘Bee Colony Collapse Disorder’ and the relationship to Neonicotinoid poisons.

All chemical herbicides and insecticides are harmful to our own health, as well as the health of all animals, insects, birds, and trees, which inadvertantly affects the general health of the planet.

New Zealanders, generally speaking, are too trusting of the assurances of chemical and drug companies.  They use RoundUp and other dangerous herbicides and insecticides without any regard for their own health, or the health of the people who will be subjected to their toxic spraying procedures.  They believe that they must be safe, otherwise you would not be able to buy them. Wrong.

RoundUp, and other harmful Glyphosphate-containing products have been sold over the counter for years, in user-friendly packaging, with the assurance from the garden centre assistants that the stuff is pretty harmless.

My own family of farmers and orchardists have obstinately stuck for generations now, to the mistaken ideas that poisonous chemicals are necessary for food production, and that they do not pose a problem for our health at all. Meanwhile we watch family members succumbing to cancer, alzheimer’s, and mysterious fatal diseases of the nervous system.

Of course, the assurances given by the chemical and drug companies about the harmlessness of ‘RoundUp’ and other toxic chemicals is a fallacy.

RoundUp is surely a major poison in our environment, and is the cause of many on-going health problems, as well as degenerative diseases such as Cancer and Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Arthritis, Osteoporosis and other diseases.

Glyphosphate in RoundUp can also cause mental and emotional troubles, such as depression, insomnia, and skin diseases. It also affects the eye-sight, as I have found.  Read my earlier post on RoundUp and Candida for more information about ill-health and RoundUp.

RoundUp is also killing off our valuable wild herbs called ‘weeds’, the very herbs which are needed by bees and other insects to stay healthy, and which serve as medicine for the soil itself,.

Monsanto and other chemical companies which make and profit from the sales of Glyphosphate herbicides have much accounting to do for their deliberately misleading blurbs about the innocuous effects of their product.  The situation is not too much different to the cigarette companies  who have mislead people about the ‘harmless’ effects of smoking for over a period of around 50 years or more.  Now we know for a fact that smoking is very dangerous for the life and health of the individual smoker, as well as the people nearby who inhale second-hand smoke.  As if we couldn’t tell without the evidence anyhow.

Crops Will Still Be Sprayed:  But still there is much work to be done, in Holland and elsewhere, as this law change and resulting restriction on Glyphosphate-RoundUp sales will only affect the common householder.  Farmers and orchardists, and councils and government bodies will still have the right to use Glyphosphate poisons where and when they choose.

The crops will still be sprayed, as will the grass verges around the towns and parks, and bushwalk reserves.

This is an unknown quantity, but even with the proposed ban on private Glyphosphate use, probably more than 75% overall of the current RoundUp or Glyphosphate usage will still be poured into our environments and onto our food crops.

We need an outright ban on all toxic chemicals used in agriculture,  not just on Glyphosphate and Neonicatinoids.  Sustainable, organic agriculture is the only way to go.

Sustainable Food and Sustainable Agriculture

‘Sustainable Pulse’, is a website which is aimed at protecting the health of people, animals and planet.  It promotes organic systems of weed and insect control instead of chemical controls, and endeavours to increase awareness about the dangers of using toxic chemicals on our crops and in our environment.

Here is an excerpt from ‘Sustainable Pulse’ about the dangers of Glyphosphate, which is a component of commonly used RoundUp.  This was posted on 4th April, 2014.

‘Glyphosphate is increasingly associated with health problems such as infertility, birth defects, damage to the nervous system, Parkinson’s disease and several forms of cancer. In addition to health risks for humans, the usage of chemical pesticides can also lead to loss of biodiversity and difficulties with purifying drinking water.’

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