Plant Spotlight: Chamomile

The "Earth Apple"

***Did you know?***

"Chamomile" derives from the French, Latin, and Greek root: "khamai" meaning "on the ground," and "melon" meaning "apple." In Spanish, chamomile is called "manzanilla' or "little apple."

Chamomile is a common lawn plant, native to Northern Europe and countries along the Mediterranean Sea. It is identified by its spiny feather-like leaves and white flowers surrounding a yellow cone center. There are actually two types of chamomile that have been classified: the "Roman" and "German" variety. Roman chamomile is perennial that prefers fertile soil and grows low to the ground. It produces small flowers that have a bitter taste. German chamomile, on the other hand, has the more notable sweet quality produced from its larger flowers, and can grow up to 3 feet tall. German chamomile, if propagated, is an annual and can tolerate dry, clay soil.

 Chamomile has incredible healing properties, including its ability to treat skin ailments, relieve allergy symptoms, calm the nerves, and aid in digestion. The therapeutic qualities of chamomile are found in the yellow flower head, which contain the beneficial oils and active substances for medicinal use. Dry the whole flowers and crush into a tea to aid in sleep and relaxation. Use the plant as a soak for burns, scrapes, and any skin inflammation to relieve swelling. Chamomile also has an interesting ability to lighten hair when used as a hair conditioner (best results in already blonde colored hair)! It is safe for use on all parts of the body, both internally and externally.

For more information:

Herb Wisdom

Mother Earth Living

German Chamomile

Honey Day at High Line Park NYC

It's Honey Day !!

On Wed July 29th, High Line Park hosted a "Honey Day" event. From 2-7pm Beekeepers from across the New York State area presented their local honey to the public. The vendor lineup included: SkylineHoney, Andrew's Local Honey, The Brooklyn Grange, Mike's Hot Honey, and Ruth Harrigan's Honey / MEEBeauty products, to name a few.

 

While I was there, I got to learn a whole lot about bees and beekeeping! Here are some interesting facts I picked up that day^.^

• The place where bees are kept and farmed are called Apiaries. The process of beekeeping is called apiculture.
• Bees prefer to keep their hives in quiet areas away from humans to protect their Queen and their honey - that is why city rooftops have proven to make great Apiaries!
• The color of honey is dependent on the type of seasonal flowers available. Light to golden-colored honey is harvested from Spring to Mid Summer. The bees pollinate flowers such as Linden in that time. The darker, brown-colored honey is harvested in Late Summer to Early Autumn which have pollen from Goldenrod and Clover.
• Honey is extracted from combs by centrifuge. The "frames" of honeycombs are placed into an extractor that spins the frame until honey is pulled out and drained into a container.

Ever since I watched the eye-opening documentary "Vanishing of the Bees," I have really grown to appreciate the presence of bees. Seeing the bees at Honey Day made me feel really happy. Nowadays, I feel less afraid of them and more appreciative of their existence. When I was very young I was stung by a bee - right on my poor chin! - during a school trip to the Queens Botanical Garden. From that experience I was traumatized and develop a big fear around them. As I grew up too, I was always given the impression that bees are dangerous, or that they are like pests. Bees would make their hives on the gutters of our old house, and my parents would violently spray them down with water to kill them. People around me would also be afraid of bees and run away at the very sight of them. As you can see, I grew up with a strong preconception about bees and was never educated about them until just recently. I truly had no understanding before about what they do besides sting people and make honey!

But bees don't just make honey! They pollinate 80% of flowering crops which includes the numerous fruits and grains that make up 1/3 of the staples in our diet. Bees are also important for livestock as they pollinate crops like Alfalfa feed for cattle. Strawberries, Apples, Avocados, Almonds, Cocoa, Coffee, Tomatoes, Carrot, Flax, even Cotton, and the list goes on, are all crops pollinated by bees both naturally and commercially. So basically, without bees, our entire agricultural system would come to an end.

And what I learned is that it's important to keep chemical pesticides OUT of our food, because bees are unable to withstand the effects of chemical treatment to crops. Upon direct exposure to pesticides, they immediately die. Over time, the bees that pollinate from treated crops also die, although at a slower rate. Chemical pesticides are a direct factor in the occurrence of "colony collapse" when thousands of bees abandon their hive and die. It is a really horrifying and sad situation as documented in "Vanishing of the Bees."

However, the good news is that backyard and city apiculture is helping the bee population regain their numbers, adding to the gene pool of healthy, disease-resistant bees! It also brings more awareness to the value of bees to the larger population who are now separated from methods of food production. Many of the local New York beekeepers at "Honey Day" started out as hobbyists themselves. Robert of SkyLine Honey in the Bronx, and Ruth Harrington of MEEBeauty in Queens, being great examples!

While though they are acting purely out to their own interest and passion for beekeeping, in turn, they represent a new movement that is helping our agricultural system, bringing forward a greater acceptance for an organic and sustainable lifestyle that keeps us close to a more harmonious way of living amongst the earth and our non-human friends.

A big HURRAY for Honey Day! 

Honey Day is an annual event hosted by High Line Park -  a beautiful reclaimed old railway track boasting lush gardens and unique public works in Manhattan. The event is also in partnership with the Brooklyn Grange, the world's largest rooftop soil farm located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

More Information
How can you help the Bees? [PBS]

Vanishing of the Bees

NYC Beekeepers Association

MEEBeauty

SkyLine Honey

Brooklyn Grange

Announcement: A Surprise Guest on The Big Trip 2014....

Introducing...

Phillip the Mad Scientist !

Dear Friends,

Good News!! Phillip will be joining Sunshine on the veghippy van during the Big Trip 2014! Together, they will discover brave new lands, keep each other alive, and experience a journey of a lifetime!

Phillip is an artist and dancer from Queens NY. He shares a deep care for saving the Earth and helping others.

veghippy's Big Trip 2014 | My new trip on Roadtrippers.com!

Together, Phillip and Sunshine will make their way to Taos, NM for the world renowned Earthship Academy program. There, they will join 38 other students from all over the world to receive extensive training on the principles of sustainable design, construction methods, and philosophy. Earthships are a complete off-grid housing system that runs on solar power, catches rainwater, and is built from almost 50% recycled materials. The concept was invented by Earthship Academy founder, Michael Reynolds, who started designing them in 1970. Taos, NM is the original location for Michael Reynolds' early works, and now serves as an educational center to teach people about Earthships and Earthship build.

"It's gonna be an awesome trip!" -Sunshine

"I can't wait!" -Phillip

PLEASE DONATE TO THE BIG TRIP 2014 TODAY!
Phillip and Sunshine need your help desperately to make this trip successful!

Remember, even just $20 today will help fill half a gas tank! Keeping the veghippy van going!

[http://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/big-trip-2014/210868]

-Peace~*

Plant Spotlight: Ginkgo Biloba

A Prehistoric Plant!

***Did you know?***

The origins of the Ginko Biloba tree has been traced back to the Paleozoic Era almost 270 million years ago! It is considered a living fossil, existing as the only known species classified of its kind.

This week in the Plant Spotlight is: Ginkgo Biloba, also known as Maiden-hair tree. The Ginkgo tree is cultivated across the world and revered for its historical value, its beauty, its environmental benefits, and its significant medicinal uses. It is distinguished by wide fan-like green leaves, which shade into a lovely golden yellow in the fall.

Although the Ginkgo tree has long been known to the East Asian continent, it was thought to be extinct in the Western world until 1690 when German botanist Engelbert Kaempfer documented the plant during his visit to a Buddhist temple in Nagasaki Japan. He brought the Ginkgo seeds to Utrecht and thus began the spread of gingko trees to Western continents, eventually including North America.

Ginkgos can be grown in almost any environment. They are said to tolerate typically unfavorable conditions for trees such as in urban cities, where there is high stress from pollution, insecticides, drought, and disease. On the contrary, Ginkgos are found to be highly tolerant of pollution and resistant to chemical exposure. They have an impeccable ability to photosynthesize carbon dioxide into oxygen compared to many other plants, and are favored to absorb pollutants from storm water below ground.

The Ginkgo leaf is typically harvested, dried, then drunk as a tea  The benefits of Ginkgo are complex, but have been found to target circulation to the brain and acts as a powerful anti-oxidant. The seeds produced from the female gingko trees can also be cooked and is found in specialty Asian dishes such as Congee and Buddha's Delight.

More Information:

Herb Wisdom.com

Chinese Herbs Healing.com

Ginkgo Trees in Oregon

Landscaping: Ginkgo Trees