A few things that I’ve learned about care:

• If the humidity in the room goes below 50% misting the tree is necessary…I’ve been doing that upon rising and when I go to bed, twice a day.
• It doesn’t need direct sunlight, but should be in a bright room.  Ours is under a skylight and seems to be happy so far.
• If the branches and leaves/fronds  and fall off, they won’t come back, so the branch will have to be trimmed off…I have trimmed one branch off so far, but it actually made it look more even as it was on a “bushier” side of the tree.
• Water well when soil is dry a couple inches down, but do not let the pot sit in standing water.  I’m planning to put some stones under the pot at some point, haven’t done that yet so try to control the amount of water that I use, and empty the dish after all water has drained into it after watering.
• I have more instructions here.

It isn’t so close to the house that it’s protected from the cold either.  In fact, last week it looked like it was fading a bit, so I thought the cold had finally gotten to it, but we had a brief warmer spell…in the 30′s…and a little rain, and it revived!  If you are visiting and can identify this for me, it would be great…I just grabbed it quickly as it looked like it would be a nice background for my long gone pink hanging petunias.  It was, and now with the Petunias gone for months, has taken over:-)

Hope you are enjoying the Christmas season!

Candles are made by boiling the naturally occurring wax from the berries, and then putting it into whatever candle form one decides to use…simple instructions are found here on eHow.

As for the health benefits, the source that I get medicinal Bayberry from uses the dried bark from the root of the plant. It has been used for a number of body systems, from the reproductive system to the liver and immune system. In contains astringent properties. Even though it has been historically used for the reproductive system, do not use it without consulting with your doctor or health care provider.

I have used it as part of a prepared herbal combination where it works in synergy with other herbs…the particular combination benefit:

• The Immune, Digestive and Respiratory System
• The Lymphatic and Respiratory System (you have more lymphatic fluid in your body than blood)
• As part of a natural, herbal eyewash.

Please contact me by leaving a comment (they are moderated so information requests will remain private) if you would like more information about any of the three combinations listed above.

Image by oakum on Flickr.

We were challenged this week to write something on Squidoo related to pumpkins.  I wrote on how to make Pumpkin Spice Tea…in fact there is quite a nice compilation of pages on Pumpkins if you visit this link.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

I have a post I did a few years ago that is still relevant today about the gifts that the wise men brought to the Christ child…two are herbs, and one is not, but has health benefits. Please visit for the first time, or revisit The Herbs of Christmas, Gold, Frankinscense and Myrrh .

You may also want to visit the following related lenses:

Myrrh, Gift of the Wise Men

Cranberries and the Cranberry Bog

With Christmas coming the snow outside my window right now, with a backdrop of grey trees, is pretty…what we like to see at this time of the year.  But it is cold, and as time goes by, we tend to look farward to spring, and consider making escapes to warmer climates…where it is warm, and you see beautiful flowers like the one above that is native to Jamaica. Something you might see if you were to enjoy one of Jamaicas all inclusive resorts. 

Many, like my brother and his wife and daughter, like to travel to warmer places during the Christmas season, others wait until Spring if they have children and want to travel during their spring breaks. Then there are those who, like my husband and I, are no longer raising children, so can travel if money permits any time of year, and so inclusive Jamaica trips are appealing, as they provide you with everything at a reasonable price, tips included, so that you know exactly what you will be paying up front. This is important with the economy what it is today, and many resorts and travel destinations are doing what they can to help by providing reasonable pricing, and better ways like this to financially plan your vacation. This is what made taking this offer to share with you appealing…we are all trying to cut costs and plan carefully these days.

The website was beautiful when I visited, and there are places like Ocho Rios hotels to stay. Ocho Rios is the main cruise port to the Island, a wonderful place to shop, enjoy a wonderful variety of activities, including beautiful beaches, golfing, polo and famous Dunn’s River Falls for you climbing pleasure. Close by is another popular destination, the resort town of Runaway Bay, one of Jamaica’s most popular destinations, the home to Breezes Runaway Bay.

All the details you need and more are at the links provided. I hope you enjoy a little warmth just visiting the links during these cold months of winter.

Sponsored Post from LoudLaunch – Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis…all opinions are entirely my own.

This is a stop that we made during a trip to Maine a couple of years ago…a wonderful picture of antique equipment used to sort cranberries at County Road Cranberry Bogs in Columbia Falls, Maine.  In our travels (which were wherever the road may take us) we came upon this cranberry bog and the husband and wife who work their cranberry farm.

Since I already have some of the health benefits of Cranberries posted on my website, I thought you’d enjoy seeing pictures of the bog which has already been harvested, and the beautiful antique hand-operated machine they use to sort and clean the leaves and residue off the berries.

The berries we brought home stored well in the freezer, and provided delicious cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for 2 years.  They were sweetened with raw honey that we brought home from a farm in Lancaster, PA last spring.

Frankincense is a resin that is very aromatic, taken from a tree with the botanical name Boswellia carterii. Frankincense has been used since ancient times and is associated with spiritual things and meditation, which may be why the wise men thought it an appropriate gift to give to Jesus and his family. I have Frankincense essential oil on hand.

Myrrh, and is a medicinal herb we have discussed already on this blog, you can find a link to the post in the listing to the upper right of this blog, I list all single herbs alphabetically as they are posted so that they are easy for you to find.

Gold, the final precious gift of the wise men, also has medicinal properties. Here is an article I just found on Gold provided by The Whole Food Farmacy, a wonderful source of medicinal grade Gold in their “Joule” and “Heart of Gold”:

The earliest records of the use of gold for medicinal and healing purposes come from Alexandria, Egypt. Over 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians ingested gold for mental, bodily and spiritual purification. The ancients believed that gold in the body worked by stimulating the life force and raising the level of vibration on all levels.

The Alchemists of Alexandria developed an “elixir” made of liquid gold. They believed that gold was a mystical metal that represented the perfection of matter, and that its presence in the body would enliven, rejuvenate, and cure a multitude of diseases as well as restore youth and perfect health.

As many as 4,500 years ago, the Egyptians used gold in dentistry. Remarkable examples of its early use have been found by modern archaeologists. Still in favor today as an ideal material for dental work, approximately 13 tons of gold are used each year for crowns, bridges, inlays and dentures. Gold is ideal for these purposes because it is non-toxic, can be shaped easily, and never wears, corrodes or tarnishes.

Historically, medicinal gold has had a reputation as a “nervine,” a therapy for nervous disorders. A review of the historical literature shows gold in use during the 19^th century for conditions including depression, epilepsy, migraine, and glandular problems including amenorrhea and impotence.

The most notable use of gold was in a treatment for alcoholism developed by Leslie E. Keeley, M.D. Gold has been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases for more than 75 years, but until now, the way that gold worked has remained a mystery.

Harvard Medical researchers report in the February 27^th, 2006 issue of Nature Chemical Biology that gold, platinum, and other classes of medicinal metals work by stripping bacteria and virus particles from the grasp of a key immune system protein. “We were searching for a new drug to treat autoimmune diseases,” says Brian DeDecker, PhD, “but instead we discovered a biochemical mechanism that may help explain how an old drug works.”

Once again, modern science has confirmed what the ancients seem to have known all along – that gold is indeed a very precious metal. At The Wholefood Farmacy, we are proud to offer two exclusive products which offer an easy and delicious way to bring this ancient wisdom into your life today, “Joule” & “Heart of Gold”.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and offer my best wishes for the coming New Year.

If you would like a fact sheet about any of the items marked in red, please send me an email. Thanks!

It is the season for Holiday Costumes of all kinds, and how I look forward to seeing what the children will be wearing when they come to the door to get their candy treats.

My children are both grown now, but I remember our shopping adventures each year, looking for the perfect pumpkin, and buying costumes. At that time we had to shop at the store as we didn’t have internet access, and shopping online was simply not what it is today. Now you can find Halloween costume stores on the internet. Shopping online for anything…except of course the perfect pumpkin, is always my preferred shopping method. Since I don’t like the “dark side” of the Halloween season, anything I would ever buy would be something funny, happy, joyful. Even our decorations around the house all have to be smiling.

If you have children, what will they be wearing this year? Have you found the perfect pumpkin yet? Have a happy halloween, keep it bright and cheerful!