Here are some new pictures from the farm taken by Gnome! He has made improvements in leaps and bounds in his photography…his former pictures used to be blurry and out of focus. Hmmm…maybe it is because he changed his glasses?!
This is Redhead (Hamelia patens) which is known for its natural medicinal properties; The flowers, leaves and stems are boiled in water and skin conditions such as wounds, sores, rash and insect bites are bathed in the decoction. Furthermore, the oral consumption of the decoction of the flowers and leaves is supposed to relieve menstrual cramps.
The berries from this plant are also edible…get them before the birds!
Ear mushrooms (Auricularia auricular); these wild mushrooms are edible and much loved by Asians. Great in stews and stir-frys.
A beautiful ornamental. These produce seedpods that resemble woody roses.
I confidently said in an even tone,
Just writing to let you know that NJV Pharmacy on Front Street, Punta Gorda has stocked up on our Casa Mascia products. A Big Thank-you to the Vernons for continuing to support locally-made natural products. You will find our usual goodies including Copal Medicinal Soap, Oil and Ointment, Lemongrass Insect Repellents, a selection of our Massage Oils and lots more!
Hello There!! We made it through the hurricane; just some light drizzles and no damage on the farm. We are really grateful that everything was okay down here. Our hopes and well wishes go out to the rest of the country.
It’s the quiet before the storm; we are preparing for Tropical Storm/ Hurricane Earl. This one is really for friends and family because communications may be down for the next couple of days. Well, we have everything boarded up, kerosene lights ready and plenty of food. I baked a whole tonne of bread today too! Gnome will hold a special meeting with the fowl this afternoon to remind them to keep their feet firmly planted on the ground…with demonstrations! Got to get some humour in it otherwise we could easily whip ourselves up into a frenzy!! Good Luck to all of us in this position!
We have had heavy rains and we are surrounded by a sea of water, the Jacinto River is up and there are flood signs everywhere. The river floods onto our road every year and it looks like this occurrence is imminent. In addition to all this, the truck is behaving dodgy (oh how technical of me!) and the two tonne front gate is still done broke. In other words we are on forced house arrest!
In response to this, I lifted my arms up in the air and flailed them from side to side. Testily I said,
Gnome:
