Withania Somnifera

AKA: Ashwagandha, Winter Cherry

Planting: Dry stony soil in sun or partial shade, hardy annual/tender perennial and reseeding, 24”-72”.

Harvest: All parts of the plant are used, but roots are most common.

Medicinal: An Adaptogen. Important in Ayurvedic medicine, similar to Panax Ginseng. Roots, fruits, leaves are used, but toxic if eaten. A bitter-sweet astringent warming herb with a horse-like smell. It acts on the reproductive and nervous systems. In A. medicine given as a milk decoction with sugar, honey, rice. Powdered roots are used as an ingredient in a variety of tonic formulas and Raja’s Cup coffee substitute. Of the nightshade family (solanaceae), Ashwaganda is rich in alkaloids and should be regarded as poisonous. Internally for debility, convalescence, nervous exhaustion, insomnia, geriatric complaints, wasting diseases, impotence, infertility, joint and nerve pains, epilepsy, rheumatic pains, and the roots are used for multiple sclerosis. . Externally as poultice for swellings, wounds, burns, stings and snake bites (leaves).

Third Eye Vision: Plant in front of the beehive. Bees snacking on the flowers receive adaptogenic benefits.

Seeded: 2008-B6, 2009 D6

Links: Wiki

Sources:
The Royal Horticultural Society New Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses (RHS)

Hints from the Honey Bee

The annihilation of the honey bee population in the last couple of years has caught the eye of beekeeper, farmers, Monsanto and other companies that sell farm goods. But the vast majority of Americans are unaware or uninterested in the significance of this blight. As long as supermarkets still have food to sell, life doesn't change for most people. Where I live in southern Connecticut, most food is shipped in from Florida, California, Chile and other far off places; this leaves a huge carbon footprint for our community every day by breakfastime, whether or not we drive an energy-efficient car.

Living in this community nearly my entire life, I know how hard it is to doff the eye glasses of the suburban mindset and see with a more circumspect vision. However, since 2002 I have been searching for a spiritual/holistic natural healing solution to a 1987 eye injury, and this has led me to a new understanding, appreciation, and vision of the natural world:

Nature is simple; using the simplicity of nature as a guide for our daily lives, we will be more healthy and more happy.

Interpreting this statement -- and proving that it works -- is the subject of this blog. Without some kind of visible proof, I risk being relegated to the ranks of other dead philosophers that become relevant only to college sophomores looking to fill the credit criteria for their major.

Enter the honey bee, that paragon of self-sacrifice showing humans through bee-genocide that our un-natural way of living will surely kill us. For without the honey bee, our race would surely perish. Continue >>