Spring is here with wildflowers blooming in Northern California

& lush, velvety green grassy hills in many areas

& Spring is right around the corner for many of you, too

Sooooo as you contemplate your new Spring garden & lawn ...

I'd like to encourage you to not buy any garden chemicals

or weapons of mass destruction, but try more natural ways

& let me introduce you to a true friend

you may not have been aware of





http://health.learninginfo.org/dandelion.htm


The Benefits of Dandelion



The next time you see a pesky dandelion interfering with the perfection of your lawn,

you might want to reconsider your first reaction to spray it with weed killer.

That little weed is actually an incredible source of vitamins and other substances that can be greatly beneficial to your health.

Many people still don’t realize that the dandelion is even edible,

much less are they aware of the amazing benefits this natural herb can have on their health.

Dandelion contains a significant amount of vitamin A and potassium,

as well as moderate amounts of vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D,

phosphorus, iron, magnesium, zinc, and manganese.

All of these substances can be beneficial to your health, but the dandelion also provides a more specific health benefit. Dandelion can actually act as a gentle and natural diuretic that aids in the function of the entire digestive system, including the function of the kidneys, gallbladder, bowels and more. It can aid in treating constipation and water retention.

Dandelion leaves can be eaten directly from the plant, but their bitter taste makes them less than appealing to the average person. It is better to boil the leaves and add them to salads, vegetable dishes, pasta dishes, and various casseroles. You can also purchase dandelion tablets from various herbal stores and online centers.

Always be sure to consult with your doctor before taking in any new supplement. As beneficial as dandelion can be to your health, it is not for everyone. Those with digestive issues such as gallstones and ulcers should take special care with dandelion and should only ingest it under the supervision of their doctor.

There are quite a few benefits associated with dandelion,
and many people can benefit from its use.
Now that you are more familiar with the advantages of this herb,
the next time you spot a dandelion in your lawn,
you might find yourself eating it
instead of trying to get rid of it.

you gotta be kidding me

I'll find it rather difficult to mow around the dandelions on my lawn.... anyone else???

have you ever actually eaten dandelions? they're friggin gross. yeah, sucks to have hippie parents.

well, if you are so inspired and have a love for them like i do

you can just go around and cut or pull the freshest leaves off

or dig them up & use the entire plant , including the root




...or just leave them be


it 's everyone's own individual choice



if it is a loss or gain , you decide


but whether a person eats them or not


or makes dandelion tea or wine , or sprouts them


at least... by Not killing them with chemicals


It is helping our air and water quality thousandfold

my kids are in their thirties & they are proud of their upbringing


& they all eat very healthy mostly vegetarian diets


My Grandchildren are healthy too, and eat only the very best foods mostly


they are trim & beautiful with clean clear eyes, hair & skin



they are not products of the fast food industry w/ a myriad of health problems including acne & obesity

This remind me of fiddle heads too....lol

and i'm an out-of-shape narcissist who questions everything and usually doesn't believe the answer.
i am not trim, but muscular from working hard jobs and my eyes are hazy from the constant pot smoking.
i'm naturally intelligent but equally unstable so i'm altogether relatively useless.
i'm the kink in the liberal plan. i want to contribute minimally and live to the fullest.
i am selfish with an underlying tone of anger.
why?
my freaking hippie parents made me eat dandelions and other stupid shiz like that. i have to admit, acorn squash is kinda beyond delicious but it still can't make up for alfalfa.

I remember those back east , are they edible too ?

interesting

I just came back from some of the most enlightening experiences I've had in a while


I was in the San Francisco Bay Area & got to meet with a very spiritual Mayan Grandmother


and i have Family & Good Friends who are deep in the Vegan Raw Food Lifestyle


if more people only knew what the stuff they consume & call food is really doing to them


they would look seriously into organically grown raw & slightly cooked natural foods

My mother always made dandelion salads in the Spring. She was doing that long before there were any 'hippies'. A little bitter for me, but I do like the young Spring leaves mixed in with more traditional salad greens. Was never fond of dandelion served in the 'wilted' fashion...ie: with hot bacon and vinegar.

I've had dandelion wine and tea...both were very good.

{{{{{<<<<< LEE >>>>> }}}}}}}


Your presence speaks Volumes .. in more ways than one ...



thank you sooo much .. ..I have missed you

Hi My Sister Lou Lou Soooo Good to see you


how nice of you to stop by & thank you for your positive input



yeah, this has been going on long before there were Hippies


My Grandparents & Great Grandparents ate dandelions & other herbs


& all kinds of fruits & vegies & they always always gardened



i love the baby greens too ...with all kinds of sprouts & vegies

with balsamic vinagrette & EV Olive Oil ,honey & herbs

The Baby Greens can be grown very easily , too

just combine several types of lettuce seeds together in a packet

and broadcast them in an old wine barrel or large flower pot

with several inches of rich top soil or perhaps Miracle Gro Mix

right outside your kitchen door if you are so fortunate enough

to live in a house with a sunny climate with lots of open Eastern , Southern & Western Exposure

so you will have lots & lots of splendid sunshine

I was at the original Woodstock Festival

& i retain a lot of the Hippie & Flower Child Ways ...

I like to sew & make leather stuff & candles & clothes

& get back to nature with gardens as much as possible

I've felt that way since I was little

& I see the need for it more & more each day ...

Especially with the horrors that are going on around us

one of which is a huge one

what monsanto has done to the world's seeds



in fact , i am thinking of posting a thread in regards to it...



look up Monsanto Seeds online




this one & there are many others...



http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16844.cfm




Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach
GM Watch, February 12, 2009
Straight to the Source


1. The great seed monopoly
2. The Multiple Ways Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach

NOTE: Two pieces on the ruthless concentration of corporate power in the seed industry that's allowing Monsanto to drive up costs and aggressively undercut the rights of farmers.
------
1. The great seed monopoly

Extracts from ETC Group's report 'Who Owns Nature?'
http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pu...

In the first half of the 20th century, seeds were overwhelmingly in the hands of farmers and public-sector plant breeders. In the decades since then, Gene Giants have used intellectual property laws to commodify the world seed supply - a strategy that aims to control plant germplasm and maximize profits by eliminating Farmers' Rights.

Today, the proprietary seed market accounts for a staggering share of the world's commercial seed supply. In less than three decades, a handful of multinational corporations have engineered a fast and furious corporate enclosure of the first link in the food chain.

The world's largest seed company, Monsanto, accounts for almost one-quarter (23%) of the global proprietary seed market.

The top 3 companies (Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta) together account for $10,282 million, or 47% of the worldwide proprietary seed market.

ETC Group conservatively estimates that the top 3 seed companies control 65% of the proprietary maize seed market worldwide, and over half of the proprietary soybean seed market.

Based on industry statistics, ETC Group estimates that Monsanto's biotech seeds and traits (including those licensed to other companies) accounted for 87% of the total world area devoted to genetically engineered seeds in 2007.

"The lack of competition and innovation in the marketplace has reduced farmers' choices and enabled Monsanto to raise prices unencumbered." - Keith Mudd, Organization for Competitive Markets, following Monsanto's decision to raise some GM maize seed prices by 35%.
------
2. The Multiple Ways Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach
By Linn Cohen-Cole
http://tinyurl.com/db7fnf

People say if farmers don't want problems from Monsanto, just don't buy their GMO seeds.

Not so simple. Where are farmers supposed to get normal seed these days? How are they supposed to avoid contamination of their fields from GM-crops? How are they supposed to stop Monsanto detectives from trespassing or Monsanto from using helicopters to fly over spying on them?

Monsanto contaminates the fields, trespasses onto the land taking samples and if they find any GMO plants growing there (or say they have), they then sue, saying they own the crop. It’s a way to make money since farmers can’t fight back and court and they settle because they have no choice.

And they have done and are doing a bucket load of things to keep farmers and everyone else from having any access at all to buying, collecting, and saving of NORMAL seeds.

1. They’ve bought up the seed companies across the Midwest.

2. They've written Monsanto seed laws
<http://www.ethicalinvesting.com/monsanto/news/10040.htm> and gotten legislators to put them through, that make cleaning, collecting and storing of seeds so onerous in terms of fees and paperwork and testing and tracking every variety and being subject to fines, that having normal seed becomes almost impossible (an NAIS approach to wiping out normal seeds). Does your state have such a seed law? Before they existed, farmers just collected the seeds and put them in sacks in the shed and used them the next year, sharing whatever they wished with friends and neighbors, selling some if they wanted. That's been killed.

In Illinois, which has such a seed law, Madigan, the Speaker of the House, his staff is Monsanto lobbyists.

3. Monsanto is pushing anti-democracy laws (Vilsack's brainchild, actually) that remove community control over their own counties so farmers and citizens can't block the planting of GMO crops even if they can contaminate other crops. So if you don't want a GM-crop that grows industrial chemicals or drugs or a rice growing with human DNA in it, in your area and mixing with your crops, tough luck.

Check the map of just where the Monsanto/Vilsack laws are <http://www.environmentalcommons.org/image/seed-preemption...> and see if your state is still a democracy or is Monsanto’s. A farmer in Illinois told me he heard that Bush had pushed through some regulation that made this true in every state. People need to check on that.

4. For sure there are Monsanto regulations buried in the FDA right now that make a farmer's seed cleaning equipment illegal (another way to leave nothing but GM-seeds) because it’s now considered a "source of seed contamination." Farmer can still seed clean but the equipment now has to be certified and a farmer said it would require a million to a million and half dollar building and equipment … for EACH line of seed. Seed storage facilities are also listed (another million?) and harvesting and transport equipment. And manure. Something that can contaminate seed. Notice that chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not mentioned.

You could eat manure and be okay (a little grossed out but okay). Try that with pesticides and fertilizers. Indian farmers have. Their top choice for how to commit suicide to escape the debt they have been left in is to drink Monsanto pesticides.

5. Monsanto is picking off seed cleaners across the Midwest. In Pilot Grove, Missouri, <http://www.grain.org/bio-ipr/?id=548> in Indiana (Maurice Parr), and now in southern Illinois (Steve Hixon). And they are using US marshals and state troopers and county police <http://www.opednews.com/articles/MONSANTO-investigator-in...> to show up in three cars to serve the poor farmers who had used Hixon as their seed cleaner, telling them that he or their neighbors turned them in, so across that 6 county areas, no one talking to neighbors and people are living in fear and those farming communities are falling apart from the suspicion Monsanto sowed. Hixon’s office got broken into and he thinks someone put a GPS tracking device on his equipment and that’s how Monsanto found between 200-400 customers in very scattered and remote areas, and threatened them all and destroyed his business within 2 days.

So, after demanding that seed cleaners somehow be able to tell one seed from another (or be sued to kingdom come) or corrupting legislatures to put in laws about labeling of seeds that are so onerous no one can cope with them, what is Monsanto's attitude about labeling their own stuff? You guessed it - they're out there pushing laws against ANY labeling of their own GM-food and animals and of any exports to other countries. Why?
http://nonais.org/index.php/2008/02/15/monstersanto-in-ka...

We know, and they know, why.

As Norman Braksick, the president of Asgrow Seed Co. (now owned by Monsanto) predicted in the Kansas City Star (3/7/94) seven years ago, "If you put a label on a genetically engineered food, you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it."

And they've sued dairy farmers for telling the truth about their milk being rBGH-free, though rBGH is associated with an increased risk of breast, colon and prostate cancers.
http://www.keepmainefree.org/suesuesue.html

I just heard that some seed dealers urge farmers to buy the seed under the seed dealer's name, telling the farmers it helps the dealer get a discount on seed to buy a lot under their own name. Then Monsanto sues the poor farmer for buying their seed without a contract and extorts huge sums from them.

Here’s a youtube video that is worth your time. Vandana Shiva is one of the leading anti-Monsanto people in the world. In this video, she says (and this video is old), Monsanto had sued 1500 farmers whose fields had simply been contaminated by GM-crops. Listen to all the ways Monsanto goes after farmers.
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/CFSMOnsantovsFarm...

Do you know the story of Gandhi in India and how the British had salt laws that taxed salt? The British claimed it as theirs. Gandhi had what was called a Salt Satyagraha, in which people were asked to break the laws and march to the sea and collect the salt without paying the British. A kind of Boston tea party, I guess.

Thousands of people marched 240 miles to the ocean where the British were waiting. As people moved forward to collect the salt, the British soldiers clubbed them but the people kept coming. The non-violent protest exposed the British behavior, which was so revolting to the world that it helped end British control in India.

Vandana Shiva has started a Seed Satyagraha - nonviolent non-cooperation around seed laws - has gotten millions of farmers to sign a pledge to break those laws.
http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Shiva

American farmers and cattlemen might appreciate what Gandhi fought for and what Shiva is bringing back and how much it is about what we are all so angry about - loss of basic freedoms.

The Seed Satyagraha is the name for the nonviolent, noncooperative movement that Dr. Shiva has organized to stand against seed monopolies. According to Dr. Shiva, the name was inspired by Gandhi’s famous walk to the Dandi Beach, where he picked up salt and said, “You can’t monopolize this which we need for life.” But it’s not just the noncooperation aspect of the movement that is influenced by Gandhi. The creative side saving seeds, trading seeds, farming without corporate dependence–without their chemicals, without their seed.

” All this is talked about in the language that Gandhi left us as a legacy. We work with three key concepts.”

” (One) Swadeshi…which means the capacity to do your own thing–produce your own food, produce your own goods….”

“(Two) Swaraj–to govern yourself. And we fight on three fronts–water, food, and seed. JalSwaraj is water independence–water freedom and water sovereignty. Anna Swaraj is food freedom, food sovereignty. And Bija Swaraj is seed freedom and seed sovereignty. Swa means self–that which rises from the self and is very, very much a deep notion of freedom.

“I believe that these concepts, which are deep, deep, deep in Indian civilization, Gandhi resurrected them to fight for freedom. They are very important for today’s world because so far what we’ve had is centralized state rule, giving way now to centralized corporate control, and we need a third alternate. That third alternate is, in part, citizens being able to tell their state, ‘This is what your function is. This is what your obligations are,’
and being able to have their states act on corporations to say,
‘This is something you cannot do.’”

” (Three) Satyagraha, non-cooperation, basically saying,
‘We will do our thing and any law that tries to say that
(our freedom) is illegal… we will have to not cooperate with it.
We will defend our freedoms to have access to water,
access to seed, access to food, access to medicine.’”

or make wine with them

OH YES. THAT WOULD BE NICE

I LOVE WEED....