Alchemica
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Posts posted by Alchemica
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I had a hard time finding a viable seed for purple corn. Tried Morado Pitch Black etc and no luck. I eventually settled on Thai Hybrid F1 Purple Corn.
Enjoyed growing those. If anyone wants me to put some free seeds in an envelope just let me know. Not sure what it will revert back to as it's a hybrid but hopefully something purple
Once again, sorry, No WA/Tas
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-just trying my best to be legit without even knowing what I have to technically be legit about... if it's not an issue I still have a few seed pods on their way and can plonk them to where permissible. From what I've heard TAS is pretty strict on even seed
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Thanks for the interest, have three people!
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I've been interested in this Lobelia as a potentially superior (?) alternative plant to L. inflata.
'The Penobscot people smoked the dried leaves as a substitute for tobacco. It may also have been chewed'.Lobinaline caused a significant, dose-dependent increase in dopamine release and preclinical and clinical data exist that support nAChR-based ligands as promising therapeutic agents for the treatment of depression, alcohol and drug dependence. The alkaloid has been proposed as a treatment for Parkinson's and psychostimulant abuse [1].Lobinaline appears to be distinct from nicotine and lobeline in terms of its selectivity and functional effects at nAchRs and is a DAT inhibitor. Compared to other plant metabolites, such as nicotine and lobeline, lobinaline is relatively non-selective with respect to α4β2- and α7-nAchRsLobinaline displays appropriate pharmacokinetics and low mammalian toxicity in mice relative to lobeline, the most widely studied Lobelia alkaloid.Haven't bioassayed myself but if anyone wants to grow it (say first 3 replies in this thread and PMs) let me know. Seed was collected from the plant pictured.
No TAS/WA sorry.-
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The latest study
Antidepressant Potential of Mesembryanthemum cordifolium Roots Assisted by Metabolomic Analysis and Virtual ScreeningDepression is a common mental disturbance that can be categorized as mild, moderate or severe. Mesemberine alkaloids, the main recognized phytoconstituents of some plants belonging to family Mesembryanthemaceae, are well-known as serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the antidepressant activity of the alkaloidal fraction of Mesembryanthemum cordifolium L.f. (Aptenia cordifolia) roots, family Mesembryanthemaceae using forced swimming test, assisted by metabolomic analysis and in silico ligand-based and structure-based screening. Results showed that the alkaloidal fraction displayed an antidepressant activity superior to imipramine hydrochloride, a standard antidepressant agent. Nine alkaloids were annotated from the metabolomic analysis. Interestingly, among the dereplicated constituents, mesembrane (5) displayed strong binding affinity to SERT protein, which is slightly higher than the antidepressant drug venlafaxine. In conclusion, the alkaloidal fraction of the M. cordifolium (A. cordifolia) root exhibits an antidepressant activity which can be attributed in part to mesembrane (5).
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This year, I moved on to some new patches at home along with my own medicinal herbs and culinary stuff:
For the herb beds I used Red Clover and Self-Heal as edible living mulch and focused on plants like Chamomile, Moldavian Dragonhead, Lemon Balm, Yarrow, Mexican Tarragon, Roselle, Tulsi, Marshmallow, Echinacea etc
The other things were
- A bee and butterfly and flower garden (even has a bee motel)
- A 'medicinal weed patch'
The Bee and Butterfly flower garden has things like Rose, Yarrow, Chamomile, Anise Hyssop, Mexican Tarragon, Lemon Bergamot which are useful medicinally, but primarily this is also a place away from consumption where I make room for and nurture the feminine in life. It is a place I appreciate beauty, sensuality and healthy sexuality
I find rather than being something you need to consume from the garden, often it's connecting with the moment and multi-sensory enrichment via nature that is more therapeutic. It's also good to have a dynamic of novelty/new elements coming into play so each day you get to notice something.
It's a 'Positive Vibes Garden' with a free plants box still. I tried to incorporate elements that to me are useful to day-to-day boost mental well being, particularly that encourage contact with the moment and a sense of connection.
To me, those beneficial aspects include multi-sensory enrichment and company from 'friends'. I know it makes my day when something like a cool insect comes to visit.
It provides sensory enrichment with vibrant bold colours (sunflowers, Cosmos etc) and diverse plants, tastes and smell.
It tries to draw in nature - particularly winged creatures.
The Medicinal Weed Patch has Dandelions, Wild Chicory, Crystal Ice Plant, Milk Thistle There's also purple carrots, chamomile etc spread between it
It's a patch where I reflect on our need to love the unloved aspects of both ourselves and others to heal. Where we have to not fight with the darkness within and around us but accept and grow beyond it. Where when we nourish the darkness with mutual kindness, care, compassion and respect, it can lessen it's hold and be food for healing where we don't fight the old but focus on building the new of better, more loving ways
It teaches us we can take the unloved weeds of life and through loving them, nourish health
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I've generally thought Tulsi Vana was 'clove basil' ie O. gratissimum while the other Tulsi were the O. sanctum/ O. tenuiflorum but could easily be wrong?
From The Medicine of Basil postO. gratissimum
The plant exhibited various biological activities including antidiabetic, muscle relaxant, anthelmintic, antinociceptive, antihypotensive, antileishmanial, antioxidant activity, anticonvulsant and anxiolytic activity.
O. gratissimum contains a high quantity of essential oil (3.2-4.1%), ocimol, gratissimin, β-sitosterol, flavonoids, linolenic acid and polyphenolic compounds and is a strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory with neuroprotective effects [1]
The chemical analysis of essential oils showed eugenol and 1,8-cineole as principal compounds and trans-caryophyllene as a sesquiterpene in higher proportion [2]. The essential oil anti-convulsant, sedative and anxiolytic properties and leaves of O. gratissimum contain constituents which possess anticonvulsant and anxiolytic-like activities [3]
[1] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/13880209.2010.506489.
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20559750O. sanctum/ O. tenuiflorum
O. tenuiflorum is used for treatment against a headache, constipation, kidney infections, cough, cold, and diarrhoea. The medicinal properties in Tulsi are mainly due to the presence of a variety of phenolic acids such as caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, flavonoids, and essential oils. Chavicol methyl ether (estragol), linalool, eugenol, 1, 8-cineole, and methyl cinnamate are the main compounds responsible for the typical aroma in the basil plant.
Leaf extract enhances specific cognitive parameters in healthy adult volunteers [1]
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Did you ever get far on this @LikeAshesWeFade?
While I think you can do a lot medicinally with Salvia officinalis and that should be more widely appreciated medicinally, showing potent modulation of CNS receptors [1], AChE inhibition etc with cognitive and mood-enhancing efficacy [2], I'm interested if the White Sage is even more useful for cognition and mood - as you've highlighted, as far as we know, the biological properties extracts from S. apiana aerial parts were limited to the screen of the cannabinoid or opioid receptors activity (It showed moderate CB1 activity and some constituents opioid activity) [3] S. apiana is particularly rich in phenolic terpenes.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31196061
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5318325/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28025900
Full thesis on the topic including extraction etc : http://thesis.honors.olemiss.edu/622/1/Taylor Hayes Thesis.pdf-
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For rapid result tasty microgreens during the warmer weather while waiting for other plants to mature, sunflowers have become a definite favourite. A couple of dollars gets you a HUGE bag of birdseed (attract some birds while you're at it). Just wash, soak overnight, super densely plant out in soil and harvest in a couple of days... and repeat
From experience, birdseed is a little too unclean to try sprouting in a jar even after washing but is fine done as microgreens
Sunflower microgreens, contrary to many of the greens I have, have a super pleasant, mild sweetness that would be enjoyed by most
They are high in protein and minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron and a source of good fats. They demonstrate numerous beneficial effects [1] including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, wound-healing and cardiovascular benefits. The antioxidant capacity of H. annuus was also much stronger than other microgreens and a proposed to be beneficial for metabolic disorders and diabetes [2].
[1] https://dx.doi.org/10.1186%2Fs13065-017-0328-7
[2] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf300737y
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I've been revisiting this, switching caffeine for Alpinia galanga
Ended up fermenting a non-alcoholic galangal beer (similar to ginger beer) with 25g/L dry A. galanga (found a nice pungent powder) and some fresh rhizome.
Several attempts have been made to develop another natural product which has similar effects as caffeine without producing adverse cardiovascular and nervous system side effects. Of the galangal extracts, the aqueous extract of A. galanga was found to be the most efficient in enhancing the mental alertness which was further assessed by a well-designed clinical study in the human population: it was "more efficient compared to caffeine to maintain the mental alertness without inducing the caffeine-crash like symptoms"
It has actions of inhibiting dopamine reuptake leading to an attention-enhancing effect with additional AChE inhibition and has neuroprotective effects. [1].
[1] https://m.scirp.org/papers/86091
I modified the recipe from [2] and did a quick ferment using
(for a 5L batch):
300g grated fresh galangal
125g dry galangal
1tsp cinnamon powder
Tsp of cloves
250g sugar (added a non-fermenting sweetener to taste)
5 L of water
3 lemons
Got a brew I enjoy but my taste buds are fried so be warned - a family member who had never had galangal didn't like it. You'll want to filter the majority of the galangal out after making the tea if you don't want a thick mess -
An experiment in 'Plant Spirit Art'
Do you feel plants have a spirit? If nothing else, they have an personal, often unconscious imprint of how you relate to them which you can seemingly tap into through things like art.
Been trying Plant Spirit 'Art', art purely for the process, not the outcome, where I take a moment to sit with the plant and actually connect. Taste a bit, maybe make a tea, smell it, see what feelings and memories it brings etc then quickly as possible without letting my analytical judgement get in the way, paint with the plant and it's 'energies'
Some are quite intense energies that inspire a depth of feeling and connection, others are more subtle
This is probably the most 'in the moment with the plant' and connected I've let myself be and it's in a way liberating and nourishing, even though super simple
For example, tried to create a piece of succ-y art. Wanted to see what would happen if I shut my thinking off and just 'became one with the succulent' - what would happen merging the succulent spirit with paint, in the moment? Painted 100% with succulent, connecting with the spirit of the plant and just totally going with it.
It succs but what do you expect?
Feel it's an interesting way to explore the space and spirit of a plant, if I actually had artistic ability
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Complimentary plant material - PM me. Not intended for therapeutic use or otherwise consumption - if anyone has TLC plates or anything, love to see something like that
M. crystallinum (lots) or D. bosseranum (less) aerial parts, dried not fermented.
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Cheers @Micromegas
Pretty confident it's the one that gets used as a green for culinary purposes, game enough to have a taste anyway after checking with a few places. Being not a coastal person, haven't spotted it myself but haven't been lookingInterestingly. the Garden of Eden states it contains "large quantities of oxalic acid" as sodium and potassium salts so it's odd it's finding such wide use in culinary circles without much mention of any risks.
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Can anyone confirm that this wild find in fields of mallow is what I'm after?
Edible:
The crystal ice plant can be used steamed, stir-fried or blanched and is a great complement to seafood dishes.
Medicinal:
Aside from the above findings:
May be a "promising functional food for the prevention of diabetes" [1,2] and have anti-obesity effects [3]
It also has beneficial dermatological effects [4]
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31089648
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24374864
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26390196
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25592948If so, happy to offer dried research material etc
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How is your attunement to the spirits of the skies going?
I've been exploring this, more as feather finding.
It's a really nice (and 100% free) flow state searching for feathers and you really attune and connect to the environment around you - I feel you can interpret your 'feather findings' psycho-spiritually, in a more spirited way than reading tea leaves...I find I often find feathers that are in some way deeply relatable to life. I like to make little objects out of them.
For example, yesterday's feathers to me are a reflection of my current struggle between lower and higher energies, learning to re-integrate shadow aspects, embrace dark and light and coming to a greater peaceful unity between the opposing duality to a greater whole
Today, this one found me:
To me, this is the feather of 'spirit triumphing over darkness'. Even when life is beating you down, there's a glimmer in the spirit to overcome the darkness.
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For reference: From a reputable source, the seeds of M. crystallinum gave seedlings with expected glistening bladder cells
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This is a new start for me.
I got a mandala mindfulness mug started by a woman and finished it.
It's simple art for me but it's a personally big step
I used to gaze at women with the eyes of fear, now I'm finding I can gaze into theirs with eyes of love and healing.
They are my mystery angels and medicine women. How can I love them better?
Having a bit of trouble sleeping as for once, I have those divine beings called women running wild in my mind
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Inspired by something my sister gave to me to give to my mum...
Yep, it would succ without you, friends, family, caring kind people and supportive people I've met through SAB. So I've been sowing succulent seeds and got some free spares
- Delosperma bosseranum x 2 significant quantities
- Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (50 seeds) x 2I've checked viability for both and they've germinated fine on the heat mat for me
If you want a pack of each sent to sow, the first two people to tell me what their life would succ without in this thread get free seedsSow with intent to manifest a kinder, more loving world
Soon I'll hopefully have "life would succ without you starter packs of plants" to give to people of succulents I've known and loved
In case no one has said it to you today and you're feeling down:
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Thanks @HillLily. Hard to hear about your isolation, without knowing the reason could you try to form some connections in your community that might break that via your front yard? Ie. over here we have "Grow Free" carts where it's give what you can, take what you need but a simple something even a box that could form connection? A shared simple herb bed etc.
Wish you brighter days, best wishes-
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As spring starts to come around, trying to get back some creativity as it was nicely therapeutic. Not 'good' at it but better than no creative stimulation. Also brings back 'the moment'.
Trying to draw plants as I garden, or think about them... Particularly trying to draw all the plants as I wait for them to germinate on the heat mat.
Coming up with a wall of plants... art with a heart I like to call it![IMG_20190809_111525[1].jpg](https://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/uploads/monthly_2019_08/2139465717_IMG_20190809_1115251.thumb.jpg.c487fb0730c61136fe53a3067f7663dd.jpg)
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I'm interested in getting Mesembryanthemum crystallinum growing.
I've got some seeds to germinate and in the picture of that one, the plant is covered in glistening bubbles. Is that a defining feature of M. crystallinum?
From Wikipedia: "The plant is covered with large, glistening bladder cells or water vesicles..."
Today I spotted this plant sold as "Mesembryanthemum crystallinum "Rainbow" deep pink flowers"
This doesn't have the glistening bladder cells?
Could it still be M. crystallinum? Or wrong ID?
In a study, the alkaloid content obtained from the leaves of M. crystallinum was found to be 4.2%, compared to Sceletium which had 1-1.5% http://dspace.univ-tlemcen.dz/bitstream/112/6936/1/REBIAHI-RAHMOUN-Malika.pdf
It's also got culinary use
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Thanks for the kind words. Still keeping this up. I find it really healing - try things like 'meditative foraging'
Plants are bringing about social change by developing people's attitude and behaviour towards nature and as a result to people
Having a more harmonious relationship with what we consume makes a big difference: if you aren’t connected to the land where you are, now is the time to start.
The surrounding environment holds a central role and is inseparable from the psychological and therapeutic experience of the plant diets: it is a means of bridging individuals' separation from nature and finding and feeling one's place in it.
People benefit more from this method if the plant they are dieting grows nearby, and the ecological connection to it assists with the spiritual connection: through the active and embedded connection to the plant spirit, diets may lead to the recognition of nature as an inspirited space.
https://www.tea-assembly.com/issues/2019/6/11/french-plant-spirits -
I started re-introducing a few less weedy plants and noticed that I felt worse and worse the further I drifted from the wild plants.
I feel such are a connection to Source, to our Ancestors - to Healing. The more we've cultivated the plants for food, the less healing connection they've come to offer: the further I drifted in food, the more degrees of separation, the more I started losing something really personally Divine: a greater than self connection that brought me a feeling of mental stability, nourishment and self-transcendence: a radical feeling of nourishing, inclusive Oneness. A feeling of Divine connection that I used to seek in unhealing waysThere's something magical about directly interacting with Nature for your sustenance without the intervention of man, in the simplicity of Nature's abundance, something that takes you closer to 'source', to a feeling of Oneness and Love.
As this author puts it in The Wild Healing solution, healing “wild plant deficiency syndrome” - that is, adding wild plants back into our diets - is vital not only to our health but also to our spiritual development.
Are drugs/supplements that are primarily made from combinations of isolated chemicals really the key to enriching our lives? Can they truly correct the deficit that is making us feel tired, unfocused, sad, empty?
"Taking up our wild weeds, let us walk into the field and forest together, mindful that, when we return to our homes and communities, we will be changed, more entangled, more infused with the green blood of our botanical companions. What this will do to our culture I cannot predict, but I hold great hope that the benefits far outweigh the risks."
"Throughout history, human beings (and animals, too) have supplemented their diet with a range of substances to prevent illness, treat disease, and feel vibrant, inspired, and connected.
As people moved into cities and suburbs and embraced modern medicine and industrialised food, they lost their connection to nature, in particular to the plants with which humanity coevolved. These plants are essential components of our physiologies - tangible reminders of cross-kingdom signaling - and key not only to vibrant physical health and prevention of illness but also to soothing and awakening the troubled spirit."
I think it's really important to recognise that our food connection is vital to our sustenance
We haven't really left Eden, all of us have this banished from Eden mentality, we have to cleanse ourselves from that...
Foraging is rekindling the fire within us that recognises I am nature, I am one with it, this is my home, this is my source...
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Lived off the weeds for awhile - how would I describe 'weed medicine?'
'Weeds' are a great leveler medicine to embrace "otherness" that teach us to learn to accept, even appreciate not just Nature differently but at a deeper level, to see, hold and accept ourselves and 'others' in a more positive light.
When you're feeling like a waste of space, like you don't belong, feelings of being useless, low self-worth, lacking acceptance etc relating to weeds as healing food and medicine is particularly nice plant medicine.
When you start to see this otherwise unappreciated life force like a weed in a positive light through compassionately relating to it for your day to day healing sustenance, you kindle a new kind of compassion towards yourself and others. You start to relate to the aspects in yourself or others you typically denigrate much differently.
When you feel like you don't belong, or are lacking acceptance of self or others, the weeds teach you to find that again compassionately and gently, starting small in the world around you and bringing that back into your core to nourish the aspects of yourself that are hurt and hurting and out solidify a new compassionate embrace in the world. You connect deeply with a heartier attitude towards Nature and others in the world around you.
"Wouldn’t it be great if we all started to change our attitudes and broaden our ideas of belonging and accepting, of embracing our differences and trusting that wherever we (and others) are is the right place to be right now? Maybe if we do this, we’ll all gravitate to our natural heart-space..." [1]
[1] https://wildflowerwalker.com/2015/09/21/weeds-maybe-nature-knows-best/
Re-wilding ourselves
It's been interesting comparing gardening, where you're exerting will and control over the environment and striving for productivity, forcing your will on the Earth, to foraging where you're surrendering and becoming at one with it and it's abundant gifts.
There's that power dynamic of gardening/life in general 'control' that gets super softened by living off the land for a bit and you start to embrace a nourishing oneness. I think we have way too many control freaks these days and being able to soften that is often needed...
In healing, I feel giving up that need to control the Mother Earth is particularly special. Our relationship with the Earth is mirrored in our other relationships too. In foraging, you're returning to a primal state of being Mothered by the energies of the Earth which is particularly nourishing and special when you're energies are out of alignment
It's been a pleasure getting to know common weeds as food, medicine and friends/allies. That said, trying to keep some balance so decreasing my reliance on the open source food which was a fun adventure and limiting it to healing allies that pop up in my garden.
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![IMG_20190809_111525[1].jpg](https://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/uploads/monthly_2019_08/554834458_IMG_20190809_1115251.jpg.638654df9ef4d82077c9d3902e79625a.jpg)
Free Purple Corn
in Seed & Plant Swaps
Posted
Let them ripen on the plant. split them up then dehydrated at low temp. Worked for my other corns, hopefully these too. Hope you've been enjoying yours!