Thoughts for a Saturday

I was remembering a trip that my husband, daughter and I took a few summers ago. We went to Monticello and Williamsburg. While at one of these places, I forget which one, I had the honor of meeting a lady making a wonderful lotion called Calendula lotion.

She told us how she made it and let me sample some. She also told us how it has many healing properties, including to help scrapes, cuts and as an anti-inflammatory. As I have had arthritis in my fingers for a number of years, I was intrigued that I would be able to make something like this from my home. At this time I had not started trying to go natural.

This summer I decided to grow calendula in window boxes and in my flower garden. Well this has been the year of rain in our area, so the garden flowers have been struggling to survive. However, the ones in the window boxes have just begun to bloom. Yesterday, I went out and cut a few of the flower to begin the drying process. I will try to keep everyone in touch as I go through the process of making the lotion.



Now, I will try to keep you guys informed whenever I try something new or when I make a new discovery. Please post any questions you may have or you would like me to look into.

For today, I would like to let you know a little bit about some of the ways that a few plants can help you.

Acai

Acai, Euterpe Oleracea is a member of the Arecaceae family. It is commonly known as acai berry or cabbage palm.

Generally, the plant where the berries are harvested grow to about 25 meters high. The leaves are ribbon like and the berries hand from the branches in clusters. Each tree produces about 20 kg of fruit per year.

These berries are good to eat raw or juiced or frozen. However, they will spoil if they are not frozen or juiced within 24 hours of harvest. 

This fruit is high in antioxidants, in fact, they have more than cranberries, blueberries and strawberries. They also are high in anthocyanins, protein, fiber vitamin E and iron.