Daughter of Vision: dirt

Healing Mask

Ok, so yea, that looks a little gross...But, it works. Of course we looked like little green monsters:

you could feel it sucking out the bad stuff ;) it actually felt very invigorating!!! You can find this particaular mask here.

I got another herb book in yesterday that I ordered off of Amazon, if it looks familiar that's because it is a sister book to one I ordered before:

Herbal Remedy Gardens By Dorie Byers.
Sister book to Herbal Tea Gardens.

I was so excited today because I found out what a certain "weed" in our yard is. At first when I saw it coming up, I thought is was my pinapple mint coming back with a vengence, but upon closer inspection (rubbing, smelling and looking a bit closer at the leaves) I cam to the conclusion that it was not, but that it probably was a mint of some sort. So, I picked one of the flowering heads and brought it in and searched through pictures of mint, until I found it, here is what it looks like:

This is called "Henbit" or "Purple Nettle or sometimes combined as "Henbit Nettle", or if you are looking for it's latin name: Lamium amplexicaule L.
It is supposedly good on salads or if you want something to chew while out in the wild it's good for that;) If you feel like cooking throw a few in with your greens.
I of course had to find out if there was any medicinal value to it, so to the search engine again. Does it? Oh yeah, it is antirheumatic, excitant, fever-reducing, laxative, stimulant, and has agents that induce sweating. So will I let anyone mow or dig this weed *Clears throat* excuse me, Herb up...NO WAY!!!

I have also been mothering several aloe plants and rooting my spicy globe basil from last year, here are two that are out enjoying the sun:

Lookin good, huh?

I had to take a few picks of my up and coming plantain, as you know it is one of my favorite plants and I personally use it for a cure-all ;) So here are the plants that are coming up right now (hopefully they will get really big this Summer):

this is a nice little patch that got into my garden, most people would weed it,
Not me, I was so happy to see it had made it's home in a welcome place.

You can actually see a bit of henbit in there

Well I have plenty of house work that needs to be done, so I must say good bye. Lord willin I'll see ya'll again sometime soon!!!!

Have I mentioned my garden lately?

Well if I haven't I am going to now...he, he, he... I had a woooonderful day today. I worked in the garden almost all day ;-).

Gardening is so relaxing and fun. When I walked out the door the air was so clean and fresh and crisp and well just plain fall, I LOVE it!!!

I have neglected my garden for the past month or so. I had so many other things to do and I just left my garden at the hands of nature, the poor thing...no wonder my stevia died. Well today I was going to do something about it and so I did, but my garden went from looking like this:

to looking like this :

in a matter of hours, it was so, so, well empty (O_o). But it will be ok when I get to plant some new stuff in it next spring, isn't it wonderful how God made seasons for everything? "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:...a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted". Well today I plucked up that which I had planted. I thought it was sad in a way, but it had to be done (even if it did make my little plot look a little empty). I am sure I looked like a gypsy once I got done, my hair going every which-a-way and it was full of dirt and weeds (don't ask me how they got there?), and my feet as black as the dirt they had been stuck in, my fingernails so dirty they looked beyond repair ;-) it was definately an enjoyable day... as you probably know I love just sticking my bare feet into freshly tilled (or in this case hoed) dirt, I just absolutely LOVE it!!! Sometimes I wish I could have a whole field of tilled dirt I could just lay in ;) Well maybe someday, eh? Who knows?

I do know one thing I love to plant things and see them grow, and this got me to thinking about how God is the same way, why else would he say to "Consider the lilies how they grow: ..." I think we are a lot like those lilies in fact I know we are because Jesus tells us the parable of the sower (read here) and the seed falling on good ground, then He tells in John 12:24 that a seed must die first before it will bear fruit.
Sometimes I wonder do we as Christians think we will be able to live like the world and serve Christ also? No my friends, would it not be better to suffer for Christ than to lose a soul just so we can have more fun? Just as the seed in the ground must die before it bears fruit, so must we die to self so that we may be a beautiful glorious light for others to see. If we are living in Christ will He not make our burdens lighter , if we deight in the LORD will He not give us the desires of our hearts? We must not dim our candle by living like the world, we must be set apart, a Holy and Righteous people so that others may see that we are different and be able to ask us "of the hope that is in us". Will you be like the seed that fell on good ground, will you die to self and serve Christ wholeheartedly ? Will you be a seed in God's Garden?

Here are some pictures of todays work and harvest...enjoy and leave me a comment on what you think :-)