Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sowing the Seeds the Winter Sown Method

I got started on my Winter Sown project today. First, I took the cleaned milk jugs and put a little slit at the bottom of the jug, on all four sides, for drainage.

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Then I cut the jugs around all the way to both sides of the label, being careful to leave the label intact, to act as a hinge. I used the middle of the label as the guideline for where to make the cut. After I cut around, I carefully bent the jug open, creasing the plastic and label so I could have access to put in the soil and seeds.

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The Winter Sown site suggests putting a label on the bottom of the jug, as well as the side. I decided to hedge my bets and also put one inside the jug.

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I decided to mix a little perlite into my potting soil, for aeration.

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I didn’t put all the seeds from each package in the container. I saved some back. Again, hedging my bets, in case I have some failures here, I can try again. Some of the seeds were distinctive and I have decided will look nice added to my stillroom book. Adding the seeds will make a nice addition also, as I am adding the pressed flowers, leaves, stems and whatnot to my book of each herb .  My friend Anke wrote a guest blog post about making a stillroom book here.

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The jugs all sealed up, I decided to put them in a wind protected spot, and in a box and crate that wouldn’t hold water and flood them. I didn’t want to take a chance on the wind knocking them over, because believe it or not, we are expecting 40 mph winds and it is snowing! A far cry from out pretty weather two days ago, when the bees were out! Plus, I have some pretty curious squirrels in the gardens. Maybe they won’t be so apt to get into them this way…

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A piece of tape on the other side from the hinge/label and then tape all along the cut, joining the top and bottom together

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(had to smooth the tape out a bit more before putting in with the rest)

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I wrote down on my wild forage/herbal calendar what seeds I started on this date. Then decided which ones to start in x amount of weeks and so on. I will keep you up to date on how this works out! 

Our winter, so far, has been unusually mild. The Clary Sage has been growing like a weed!

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Little baby Clary’s everywhere also. The ground ivy, st. john’s wort, and the different mints have been growing too. I think they are in for a shocker with our weather change…

Herbal and Honey hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xx

 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Flying Bees!

We are having an unusually warm day! The bees are taking the opportunity to come out and take their cleansing flights, (they hold it until a pretty day. seriously. they won’t poop in their home), and look around for any forage. I think they are just enjoying stretching their wings in the sun too :) I use the crush and strain method of extracting honey, so I just put the frames I extract from in a big bag and store in the deep freeze for these kind of days. Then I take them out and offer them to the bees as a celebratory feast!

warmframes

I have to put sticks and bark for them to land on in the puddles, otherwise they just get stuck and drown! That paper is what I use in the bottom of the pan when I crush the honey capped wax. I just store it too..

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This little lady jumped right into the pool of honey before I had the sticks laid out! I gently lifted her out with another stick and put her on the rock to let her clean herself off so she could fly home and tell her sisters about the bounty!

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All cleaned up now, and filling her belly to bring some treats back to her sisters! I watched her fly back :)

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This is how the hives looked all wrapped up snug for winter.

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                                                     (taken in the fall)

Enjoy the day my little lovelies, my little flying alchemists, my queens of the sun! I love you soooo much!! And am so grateful for all you do! xxx

Herbal and honey hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xxx

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Milk Jug Mania! Winter Sown and Maple Syrup

I had a friend visit last night, and the poor dear had to wade through a sea of milk jugs in my kitchen to even sit down for a cup of tea! Myself, my family and friends have been saving milk jugs for some projects, and I am in the middle of trying to get them all cleaned out and sterilized. I have plans for them!

milk jugs ( a FRACTION of collected milk jugs… seriously, this is just a few)

My sweet soul sister Rita, gave me a link for a method of germinating seeds called Winter Sown. Perhaps you already know about this, but it was new to me. I plan on trying it this year! I have been spending part of the day writing down and determining the germination needs for the seeds that I do have. Some of these plants are already in the garden and I just want to increase their numbers, some are new. I have a confession… I have a horrible track record with medicinal seeds! There is absolutely no way to germinate here in the house. Lack of space and too many kitties being the main reasons. I bought a little outdoor greenhouse for cheap at a flea market a couple years back, and did so so with that method… I would love to have some cold frames outdoors, but until we finish taking down the pine tree on the south side of the house, again no real good space for that idea. So this year, I think the Winter Sown idea using milk jugs is an option to try…

Now, not all of these seeds will break germination with cold temperatures, and some require the cold stratification, but then warmth… so determining which to plant up now, which to wait till early or mid spring is taking a bit of research and time to plot out….

seed list

So far, it looks like I can start now with the Winter Sown method.

Cowslip-Primula veris

Sweet Cicely  - Myrrhis odorata

Cascade Huckleberry – Viccinium deliciosum,

American licorice – Glycyrrhiza lepidota

On the Winter Sown site, they give clues, or key words that might be on your seed packets or catalogue, that might indicate the seeds are appropriate for this method. These lists are taken from the Winter Sown site:

Reseeds or Reseeding
Wildflower
Will Colonize
Self-Sown
Hardy, Hardy Seeds
Can be direct sown early.
Seedlings can withstand frost.
Sow outdoors in late autumn or early winter.
Sow outdoors in early spring while nights are still cold or cool.
Sow outdoors in late winter.
Sow outdoors in early spring while nights are still cold or cool.
Sow outdoors in early spring while frosts may still occur.
Name includes 'weed', like butterfly weed, joe pye weed, jewel weed, milkweed.
Needs pre-chilling, freeze seeds, refrigerate seeds, stratify for x amount of days.
Stratify, Needs Stratification

Look for names that indicate origin in temperate climate

Siberia or Siberian
China or Chinese
Polar, Arctic or Artica
Alpine, Alpina or Alpinus
Oriental or Orientale
Caucasian or Caucasica
Canadian or Canadensis
Russian or Camschatcensis, etc. (indicating Soviet origin)
American or Americana
European or Europa

More ideas to think about when considering whether the seed is a candidate

Think about your own garden, think about your neighborhood gardens too.

Do you find plants that have volunteered each spring and shown up as seedlings that you didn't sow? These are all good choices for Winter Sowing. (Let's say that your orange marigolds have returned in spring as volunteer seedlings. You can be pretty well assured that gold, lemon or mahogany, African or French varieties will also reseed. When it comes down to it, a marigold is a marigold is a marigold.

Go to a local Botanical Garden and ask the gardeners which plants reseed there. Any plants they mention would be a good choices for Winter Sowing because the nearby botanical garden has a climate similar to your own garden.

Take a walk at a nearby Nature Preserve to observe the wildflowers, young seedling trees, bushes, vines, etc. All of these plants germinate and thrive outdoors with only Mother Nature to assist them. All of these plants are excellent choices for Winter Sowing.

Following those tips about cold stratification, I add Gaura – Bee Blossom which a friend sent me as a gift for the bees and butterflies to enjoy.

Also these native plants

Prairie Lockspur Violet – Viola pedatifida

Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis

Monkey Flower – Mimulus ringens

Prairie Alumroot – Heuchera richardsonii

Cardinal flower – Lobelia cardinalis

Hibiscus militaris – rose mallow.

And with the tip about country of origin being Europe or Russia, I might plant out half of my Wood Betony – Stachys officinalis seeds and save half for when spring is here.. I don’t have that many of those, so won’t put all my seeds in one basket, or milk jug!

wintersown seeds (the skullcaps will have to wait a bit, I think. I grow lateriflora, but want to try my hand at the other ones too)

So I need to prepare 13 jugs for now. Others I will plant out a little closer to spring. Some in the jugs and some directly in the soil.

spring seeds

The other milk jugs are for a project starting soon.. Maple Tree tapping, also known as Sugarin’ to make our own maple syrup. I adore maple syrup, and sometimes use it for herb cordial making, besides it being awesome on pancakes and cornbread!

In the book, Backyard Sugarin’, by Rink Mann, he suggests there is no need for special containers to catch the sap flow, just use your milk jugs. I like that idea or repurposing. After I am through with them, then they can go into the recycle container.

sugarin book (forgive the glare! My cat Earl Jr. keeps bugging me and I just had to take the picture without worrying about it looking pretty!)

Tap My Trees in a good website to learn more about tree tapping.

Here is a video that shows you how to determine the trees to tap, etc. and shows how easy it is to use the jugs

I will share pictures as I do each of these projects, so stayed tuned! Now I have to get busy stripping bark off these Elder branches I wild harvested yesterday. I am about out of bruise salve, and klutz that I am, I turned my ankle and whacked my arm yesterday, so I need it!

 elder

Herbal and Honey Hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xx

Saturday, January 26, 2013

The Little Book of Honey

I was very happy  to help out this fall, when author Elizabeth Gowing asked for help testing out some honey based recipes for a book she was developing to publish. Elizabeth wrote the book Adventures in Blood and Honey – Becoming a Beekeeper in Kosovo, which I read and reviewed here on Comfrey Cottages. I follow her lovely blog, One Hundred Days of Honey, also.

She emailed me a list of recipes to choose from and I chose a couple to test make and give my opinion of or suggestions for. My husband was pretty happy about it too, considering he got to “test eat” the creations!

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Well, the book, The Little Book of Honey is published and Elizabeth sent me a copy!

book

I am famous now! LOL!

credits

Here is the link for ordering your own copy of The Little Book of Honey so you can find some different ways to sweeten your life with honey too!

thanks

….For Visiting Comfrey Cottages xx

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Doing a little cleaning…

cleaning
Forgive the multiple posts today! I am trying to do a little blog clean up! I had some things in my side bar, my recommended resources for herbal info, mushrooms, gardening etc as big long lists.. I changed those into just one line links that would take you to posts here at Comfrey Cottages. Sorry they are mostly US based links.. I will update as I find good resources to recommend, including ones for my friends in other parts of the world…Just was needing to de-clutter…
I also disconnected from Networked blogs… Facebook seems to have turned into one big place for so many people to just advertise themselves.. I wanted to just step back from that aspect, and since that is what Networked blogs app is for, to recruit followers, maybe sell products on Facebook, I decided to disconnect.. that isn’t what Comfrey Cottages is all about.
Comfrey Cottages is a creative outlet for me. A place to store information and share with my friends, family my teachers and fellow students in my two herbal class adventures. So again, forgive the multiple posting today… What I can’t get cleaned up nicely today.. I will sweep under the rug for tomorrow ;^)
Herbal and Honey Hugs to YOU xxx

Homesteading/DYI/ Survivalism Resources

A list of resources for homesteading, dyi and survivalism resources I like


HOMESTEADING/ SURVIVALISM/ DYI RECOMMENDED LINKS

Mushroom Resources

Just click the sources and be taken to those pages


MUSHROOMS





Some of My Favorite Herbal/ Plant/ Gardening/Wildforaging Resource Sites

Just click on them and they take you to the site

RECOMMENDED HERBAL/ PLANT/ GARDENING SITE/Wildforaging

  All Things Plants

Bob's Brain on Botany

 Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

Monday, January 21, 2013

Apprentice Evaluation 2012

A review of my Springfield Sanctuary 2012

1. Which plants did I grow: new to the gardens would be

Dianthus - Dianthus caryophyllus

Vervain - Verbena officinalis

Goldenseal - Hydrastis canadensis

Sassafras tree – Sassafras albidum

and two new Rosa ssp.

2. and 3. Which other plants have I worked with and what have I done with these plants.

Well, this answer could be quite lengthy as I try to incorporate herbs into my daily life :)

I suppose the thing I did most was work with rose. I made rose sugars, syrups,vinegars, honeygars,  teas, floral waters, tinctures, creams, and more. I tried many different edible way to incorporate rose also.( That really deserves a separate post. ) I used rose hips in most of those ways also. I use a rose hip and hawthorn honey in my tea daily as well as use a lovely rose hip and hawthorn cordial every night.

I wild foraged Wild Lettuce – Lactuca serriola, which did not seem as potent a pain reliever as Lactuca virosa, so I made a double infused alcohol extract of that plant. Myself and my family got good pain relief from it when used for various reasons.

I made my first bitters, and used chamomile as my bitter herb in it.

Learned the value of elder bark for bruising and for spider veins too!

Wild harvested Wild Cherry bark – Prunus Virginiana and been using it this season as part of the helper herbs used in quieting coughs and easing sore throats.

Wild harvested Slippery Elm – Ulmus fulva – Used it in cases of loose bowels, both in humans and cats.

Wild harvested Sassafras –Sassafras albidum using both the leaves and roots. The root tea is a wonderful tonic and is useful in bringing on a sweat when someone is feverish to help cool the body. The leaves, I dry and crumble into various food dishes.

(these trees I harvest from are in a private deep woods owned by a friend and ethical practices are used when I harvest)

This year I focused deeply on incorporating herbs into daily food. I have worked extensively with not only finding the appropriate herb for flavor reasons, but also for the energetics I am trying to add to the dish. Several different herbs, including milk thistle, I have created special grinders of and have been using them a lot. Finding that Tumeric can be added in significant quantities to foods without being overpowering.

Started studying and using more essential oils. Something I had avoided due to the cost, but am finding them to be a valuable addition to the apothecary, with Hyssop EO and Eucalyptus EO having been used a lot this winter since my family has had one flu after another, amongst the various colds.

This last year I made honeys of so many things! And vinegars too. I splash the vinegars in most stews and soups, and the honeys in baking, teas, etc. I often time a spoon of each just into a cup of hot water to sip on. Been working on which one to use when depending on the flavor and desired effect aimed for.

4. and 5. Which workshops, study days, and festivals attended? What did I learn from these activities.

Alas, I attended none as I live on a different continent…I do greatly appreciate and enjoy the photos and other shares my fellow apprentices and teacher share though.

I have learned from the handouts shared though. I really got into the Humoral Handout research and have been using those learnings all year.

6. What books have I read?

Wow, lengthy list. When I say I have read them, I mean I have read every word.. perhaps why I don’t have time to blog more? ;^)

Lots of rose related books as she was my number one chosen ally this year. A couple of ones with a historic theme.

Climbing Roses by Christopher Warner

Rose Recipes  by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde

The Rose Book by Maggie Oster

The Traditional Healer’s Handbook – A Classic Guide to the Medicine of Avicenna by Hakim G. M. Chishti, N.D.

Culpepper’s Medicine- A Practice of Western Holistic Medicine by Graeme Tobyn

Health Secret of Plants and Herbs by Maurice Messegue

Flower Power by Anne McIntyre

An Ancient Egyptian Herbal by Lise Manniche

Garland’s, Conkers and Mother- Die by Roy Vickery

Hatfield’s Herbal by Gabrielle Hatfield

The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners by Wolf Storl

Herbal Emmissaries by Steven Foster and Yue Chongxi

Weeds by Richard Mabey

Herbal Rituals by Judith Bergner

plus the magazines Herb Companion, Herb Quarterly and Herbal Gram.

( I am sure I am forgetting some books)

Right now I  reading The Western Herbal Tradition by Graeme Tobyn, Alison Denhan and Margaret Whitelegg (excellent btw)

7. What have I really enjoyed this year?

Reading! lol!

very much enjoyed our monthly task list and the research involved also.

8. What have I found really difficult?

This year it was a challenge just to keep the garden going due to drought. My daughter and I were involved in the rescue, tending and re- homing of 22+ stray/rescued cats, so just the time to garden was difficult also.

How have I changed?

1. What can I do now that I could not do at the beginning of the year?

Grow roses! And propagate them ;^)

I learned a lot from the humoral research and how to apply that knowledge also.

Learning to make the bruise salve from elder bark was amazing too.

I think I have changed also in my approach to getting herbs into our daily diet consistently.

2. What have I decided to stop doing or do less of this year?

Hmmm I am praying there are less cat rescues this year so I have more time for herbal things..

3. What are my plans for next year?

I am getting ready to try a form of seed germination called Winter Sown!

Press more botanical samples and work on my stillroom book more.

4. What would I like to do more of this year?

Last year I acquired some longish deep concrete planting boxes and transplant some catnip and peppermint into them. I found this so handy for keeping the plants really clean and well tended. I would like to do a few more of these container type gardens. Dandelion, plantain, violets and a few others are the plans. These can be placed in appropriate areas as far as the plants needs are concerned. I just really want to wild forage and garden more in general!

5. What would I like to do differently?

Besides rescue less cats? I would really like to figure out a great herb drying system… Difficult in my home due to lack of space..working on that..

6. Who/ what can help me achieve this?

My husband. We have a lovely slide in truck camper that would be perfect for herb drying… Try to convince him to move it on to brick patio in back gardens instead of where it is now at a different one of our properties.. Or, haul the plants to where the camper is.. which is time consuming and with the grandchildren to tend in the summer.. hard to accomplish.. need to try to manage time even better, so I need to help myself with this also.

 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Skull Structure Study: Focus on Eyes, Nose, Sinuses, and Ears

skull                   ( Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons )
The skull is the protective case for the brain and the organs of sight, taste, hearing, balance and smell. It has two main parts: the cranium or brain case and the facial bones. It is divisible into two parts :
the Cranium consisting of 8 bones which lodge and protect the brain. There names are:
Frontal, Parietal (2), Occipital, Temporals (2), Sphenoidal, Ethmoidal
and the Facial Bones which number 14:
Nasal (2), Maxillae (2) , Lacrimal (2) , Zygomatic (2), Palatines (2), Inferior Nasal Conchae (2), Vomer,  and Mandible
For a total of 22 bones making up the structure of the skull.
The base of the skull is stronger and thicker than the top and sides, and has many openings for blood vessels, nerves and tubes to pass through. The facial bones enclose the front of the brain and form the openings for the eyes and nasal and oral cavities. The mandible is the only movable bone of the skull.
When you inhale air, it passes through a series of chambers and passageways that conditions, cleans and warm it before it reaches your lungs. The air first enters your body through two nostrils, which open into two large chambers, the nasal cavity. These cavities also contribute to resonance and timber of your voice. Explains why your voice sounds different when you are congested, doesn’t it ;^)
paranasal sinuses                        (courtesy of WikiMedia Commons)
The sinus are a series of connected cavities in your skull. They are: The maxillary sinuses located in the cheekbones (#4), the frontal sinuses in the low center of the forehead,(#1) the ethmoid sinus which is between the eyes at the nasal bridge (#2), and the sphenoid sinuses,(#4) in bones behind the nasal cavity. As a group, these pairs of sinus cavities are known as the paranasal sinuses and each is named for the facial bones in which they appear. They are lined with a soft, pink mucosa, a thin layer of mucus.
Allergies, colds, pollutants and other irritants can cause problems with these sinuses and nasal cavity. The mucous production can become accelerated in an attempt to “wash out” these irritants from the body. The whole works can become inflamed, swell up thus blocking the mucous flow causing  infection and impaction making the person subjected to all this headachy, congested, sneezy, runny nose, watery eyed and have plugged ears, amongst other things.
The ears, nose and throat are all connected by the Eustasthian tubes. That is why if you are having trouble with your sinuses, generally you might also have trouble with your ears and throat also! To help unplug by dissolving and removing this excess mucus, catarrh and phlegm, anti – catarrhal herbs include coltsfoot, fennel, hyssop, linden, sage, elderflower, cinnamon, and mullein.
For seasonal allergy problems, one of the best things is to use local raw honey year round. A tablespoon of organic apple cider and honey in a cup of warm water before going outside during the allergy season, works to block our bodies histamine reaction and helps with inflammation also. Nettles is excellent for this seasonal reaction. Eaten as a food, tincture of tea, an easy way to help ourselves. Essential oils that might help are Hyssop, Thyme, Cypress, and Peppermint.
Whether your sinus problems are due to allergies, a cold or other irritant, you might consider a simple tea blended from antihistamine, anti inflammatory herbs such as nettle, yarrow, elderflower, peppermint, hyssop and thyme when faced with a sinus inflammation or infection.  A neti pot is useful during this time. Horseradish and wasabi are sure to unclog your sinuses and get things moving if you are plugged up. Fire cider is good way to support your immune system and counteract your bodies response to soothe things out.
Essential oils diffused that might be helpful include Eucalyptus, Lavender, Melissa, Chamomile, Hyssop, Peppermint, Sage or Thyme in a pot of boiling water or a vaporizor. Humidifying the air is helpful in itself. Just simmering some elecampane root, peppermint leaves or mullein leaves in a pot of water and inhaling the steam can help with congestion.
ear                                  ( courtesy of WikiMedia Commons)
The outer ear is made up of the pinna, the ear canal and the surface of the ear drum. Ear wax is produced in the outer portion of the ear canal.
The middle ear is an air-filled cavity behind the ear drum, )tympanic membrane) and includes the three ear bones, the ossicles which are the malleus (or hammer), the incus (or anvil), and the stapes (or stirrup). The opening of the Eustanchian tube is also within the middle ear.
The inner ear includes both the organs of hearing, the cochlea and the labyrinth or vestibular apparatus, which is attuned to the effects of both gravity and motion. The other parts of the inner ear consists of three semicircular canals and the vestibule. The inner ear is protected by the hardest bone in our bodies and this bone has fluid-filled hollows. The chochlea has three fluid filled spaces also. The scala tympani, the scala vestibuli and the scala media. the eighth cranial nerve comes from the brain stem to the inner ear. Sound strikes the ear drum, this movement transfers to the stapes, whose footplate presses into one of its fluid-filled ducts through the window of the cochlea. The fluid inside this duct is moved and flows against receptor cells in the Organ of Corti. These stimulate the spiral ganglion which send the information to the auditory portion of the eighth cranial nerve to the brain. Fluid in these canals and hairs cells within help with our balance.
When we are congested and have “plugged ears” anti-catarrhal herbs can help with this problem also. ( I listed several of these earlier.)
For ear infections a few drops of warmed garlic and mullein infused oils are very helpful in otitis media, or middle ear infections. Ear infections are common in children due to their smaller Eustachian tubes. If there is a suspicion of perforation of the ear drum, massaging this oil behind the ear might be helpful. These oils will help break up and wash out wax build up too.
External otis, or ear canal irritation happens sometimes to swimmers, especially. Prevention by making sure the ears are good and dry after swimming is important. Bend your head to the side and cup your hand against it and press creating a vacuum to help pull out excess water.
David Hoffman recommends for painful earache, Pennywort juice. Crush the leaves and sieve, collecting the juice. A couple of warmed juice drops placed in the affected ear with a cotton ball plug might be helpful. He also recommends Lobelia tincture the same way. Or if none of these are available , a couple drops of warmed infusion of Chamomile, Yarrow or Hyssop.
Tinnitus is another condition which can affect the ears. Likened to having the sound of crickets constantly playing in your head. Sometimes caused by exposure to too much industrial noises and others times by catarrhal congestion. Hoffman recommends Golden Seal and Black Cohosh for either cause taken as a tea or capsule over time.
Whether it is your sinuses, ears or head that aches with a cold or sinus infection, a lavender fomentation might be helpful to relieve the pain. Put some cold water in a bowl and add some drops of Lavender Essential Oil. Soak a cloth in the liquid, wring it out and place on the painful area. When it warms up, repeat. The herbal constituents permeate tissue. Placed on the back of the neck these herbal actions go right into your central nervous system to calm down the inflammation associated with a sinus headache. Can also be used against your ears, or facial sinuses for relief.

eye               (  courtesy of Glaucoma Research Foundation)
The eye is protected by a tough, white covering called the Sclera. Part of the Sclera can be seen at the front of the eye when you look at it. A clear, delicate membrane called the conjunctiva covers it. The cornea is at the front of the eye. It is the clear part of the eye’s protective cover. The iris is the colored part of the eye. It contracts and expands so your pupil can let in the right amount of light. The pupil directs the light to your lens which focuses the light on the membrane at the back of your eye, the retina. Nerve fibers in the retina carry images via the optic nerve to your brain. The front part of the eye is filled with intraocular fluid or aqueous humor, which is a clear fluid made by the Ciliary body. The fluid flows out through the pupil and is then absorbed through the bloodsteam through the eyes drainage system. The drainage system is a series of canals around the outer edges of the iris. Tears are produced by glands, and are release through tear ducts  outside the eye and moisten the outer surface of the eyeball. This keeps the eyes moist and washes away most debris.
Glaucoma is a condition where the drainage system of the eye can become clogged, the intraocular fluid can not drain and damage happens to the optic nerve and vision loss can occur. Unfortunately, this can also be an inherited condition.
Other conditions that can affect the eyes include conjuctivitis, an inflammation of the conjunctiva.   This can occur as a side affect of a cold or hayfever, or environmental pollutants.  Taking the aforementioned herbs for these conditions might help as well as using an Eyebright, Euphrasia officinalis,both internally, as it is a good decongestant and externally as a beneficial eyewash. You can also apply a Eyebright tea soaked cloth to your closed eyes for relief. Calendula might also be used the same way and for the same reasons.
Lots of accidents due to foreign objects hitting or getting blown into the eyes can occur also. For those of you with Facebook accounts, you might find this video by Sevensong Sevensong of interest on using an eye cup.
There are many other conditions and accidents that can happen to our skull and it’s parts, but these are just a few I chose to highlight for part of my Springfield Sanctuary Apprenticeship program, October/ November Task list assignments.
Herbal and Honey Hugs to all Who visit Comfrey Cottages xx