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A great big welcome to the February 2008
edition of our newsletter. It is great to still have ALL our existing
subscribers and of course, to have so many new names to post
to! As always, I hope you enjoy this newsletter and that you
carry something away from it - even if it is just a bit of inspiration!
If there are any topics that you'd like me to cover or have any
questions whatsoever regarding herbs, please contact me
and we'll try to include as many of these as we can in future editions.
Thank you everyone for the great response in sharing your Herbal New
Year's Resolutions. These are the top five herb plans for 2008 from our
subscribers:
1. Use more FRESH
herbs in cooking
2. Create a herb garden at home
3. Learn more about herbs
4. Use herbs and spices (general) in food
5. Use herbs for medicine
Good luck to everyone, we sincerely hope the newsletters will help you
stick to those resolutions!
Well what can we say - hot, hot February! The height of summer surely
lets itself be known nowadays. Luckily the heat seems to go
hand in hand with some typical summer showers to cool things off just
before you reach your limit.
Of course, February is also a hot month where love is concerned -
Valentine's Day on the 14th makes sure that you cannot miss the
gazillion hearts and cupidos wherever you look and the typical red and
white colour scheme is everywhere to be seen. Being the month of love,
and as cliche as it is, I decided to do this
month's newsletter with a focus on Roses. Hopefully you'll learn a few
interesting tidbits and fabulous secrets about this magnificent flower
(and herb) that will make you appreciate it in your herb garden, your
cosmetic cupboard, pantry and even medicine chest!
Have a Fabulous February!
Okay, okay - enough "fluffy" valentine's images for this edition, I
promise! :)
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- World Wetlands Day, 2 February
- News
- Plant Profile: Roses are herbs too
- Specials
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There is another
important date
in February and that is 2 February -
World Wetlands Day.
Having just spent some time in Mtunzini and
visiting The Greater St Lucia Wetlands on the Kwazulu-Natal
coast, made me apprecaite the miracle of these pieces of natural
paradise on
earth again. Recently the statistic has been thrown that South Africa
already lost 50% of its natural wetlands - a staggering figure indeed.
To learn more about World Wetlands Day, why not visit RAMSAR World
Wetland's Day page. The theme for this year is Healthy
Wetlands - Healthy People and here
is a page focusing on some common medicinal Wetlands Plants.
Also have
a look at some South African efforts with regards to World Wetlands Day
by visiting SANBI
(The South African National Biodiversity Institute) - their PDF
document is very informative and also covers a few of our
indigenous
plants found in wetlands specifically that are traditionally used for
medicines and food.
Remember that not only the large water systems need our
attention, small local wetland areas are just as important!
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| MARIJUANA VENDING MACHINES |
"Patients
in California can now buy legal medical marijuana
through a vending machine at a herbal nutrition centre in Los
Angeles." says Sydney
Morning Herald and according to BBC UK
"The machines can only be used by people who have been prescribed the
drug for health reasons", citing a number of
checks you need to go through before being allowed to use these
machines.
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| ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE SEES GROWTH |
Newburyportnews
and Freshnews
report that more and more people are turning back to alternative
medicines for primary healthcare.
"Holistic health practitioners are seeing a "massive"
increase in the number of clients", but there are also still lots of
controversy around these medicines: "Some people do not
like alternative herbal medicines because they smack of a foreign
spirituality or magic."
A number of alternative therapists are also commenting on the views of
government and Big Pharma on this trend: "This rise in
consumer interest has spurred regulatory
controversies. The alternative therapies are under fire
by the government, the Food and Drug Administration, the pharmaceutical
companies and the cosmetic companies, because they make the same things
we do."
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| GREEN FAIRY FLUTTERS FREE |
All
through January news sites reported on the comeback of the once illegal
herbal alcoholic drink, Absinthe. Here are a few stories:
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