Columbine flowers are quite unique... and pretty. Every year I enjoy their appearance in mid spring. The colors are beautiful amid all of the greens that are growing by this time.
They are actually rather odd looking also.... and delicate. A contrast, of sorts.
I have noticed that it seems I am getting some I haven't seen before.... and I didn't plant them. I do enjoy them, though... and after a bit of research, I found that they are good at self-seeding and if they self-seed, many times they will combine with others nearby and make natural hybrids. This can be prevented, if desired, by deadheading the flowers.
I don't plan to do that.... as I like the surprise of wondering what the flowers will look like. :)
Some of them, I have every year... others vary.... and I like all of them.
They are a woodland plant when they grow wild... I guess that fits in parts of my yard since we have a lot of shade.
As I do with so many plants that grow in my yard, I searched to see if it has any herbal uses.
Surprisingly, I found that it does, although they are not really used anymore since it belongs to a family of plants that can be toxic.
It has been used as an astringent... and externally as a poultice to treat ulcer and skin conditions.
The flowers have been used as a tea.
The seed has been used to rub in the hair to get rid of lice. The flowers have been used in salads.
The crushed seed also has a pleasant smell and has been used as a perfume.
Very interesting information.... but again and again I found that it is not used much today because of concerns of the toxicity, so I am not at all recommending it... just sharing what I have learned.
As I have said before, I am not a health professional, nor am I recommending you use this plant in any medicinal way... and I have never done so.
I am interested to learn about the plants in my yard... and if necessary, I would do much more research before I used them, but I like knowing that they do have uses... other than just being pretty. I also love seeing continuing evidence that God has provided what we need... even through the plants that He has created. I plan to just remember the possibilities for using this one, but I do not have plans to actually use it... at least not this year. Maybe another year... and after more research, I will... but for now, I sure enjoy their beauty in my yard. :)
Shared on:
Foodie Friday and Everything Else
Charm of Home
Green Thumb Thursday
Paula's No Rules Weekend Party
Homeacre Hop
Create It Thursday
Thriving On Thursday
Wise Woman
Homestead Blog Hop
So Much At Home
Wordless Wednesday
Wake Up Wednesday
Tell It To Me Tuesday
Maple Hill Hop
Tuesday Garden Party
Roses of Inspiration
Tuesday Talk
Image-in-ing
Monday Macro Mixer
Good Morning Monday
What'd You Do This Weekend?
The Art of Homemaking
Saturday Sparks-Pieced Pastimes
TGI Saturday
My Favorite Things Saturday
Friday's Blog Booster Party
Frugal Friday
Funtastic Friday
This is the time of year when the pine cones are falling.... and there are a lot of them. Pine cones are pretty and useful too. We have 2 big white pine trees and we love them... they are beautiful trees, but the more I learn about them, the more I appreciate them.
Right now, the cones are falling... what to do with them? I was hoping to find some wonderful way to eat them or turn them into a great medicinal remedy, but so far, I haven't found that.
Each pinecone is quite amazing in design.... my son has had a pine cone that fell from a neighbor's pine tree, but it wasn't open yet.... and it opened in about 3 days... they enjoyed watching it.
Many people use pine cones for decorating... especially around Christmas. I read that if you bring them into the house, it is a good idea to bake them for about 45 min at 200 degrees to bake any bugs that may be hiding in them and keep them from coming out into your house. Seems like good advice... I do NOT like bugs. :) After such treatment, they can be varnished .... or varnish and add some glitter to the wet varnish... or paint them.... or keep then natural.
Right now, there are many falling from our two beautiful trees.. these are getting run over by bikes and lawn equipment.... and kids, but we still have lots more.
People also make firestarters from these... one way I have heard is to drizzle wax over them... or dip them in wax. They can be used to light a fire in the fireplace or in a fire pit.
I read that young male pine cones can be eaten.... hmmm, maybe we will have to try that next spring... I wonder how I could sneak them in, so that the kids won't reject them simply because they are pine cones. My husband is a "bit" more tolerant... he says, "Well, if it helps the budget." :)
Pine trees have anti viral, anti tumor and anti bacterial properties, so I like finding ways to use them to improve our health. I couldn't find any ways to eat or ingest full grown pine cones... except for using the pine nuts .... and the pine nuts on our trees are too tiny to bother with. SO, I guess the pine cones will be used for decoration or as fire starters here.
As I write this, I am drinking a cup of pine needle tea... I started a pan of water to boil, then cut up lots of pine needles into it and boiled slowly for about 1-2 minutes. The tea turned a bit yellow. After straining, I added honey... it is fresh unprocessed honey, and it came out faster than I expected, so the pot of tea was sweeter than I intended. My kids all drank a cup of it also (because Mom asked them to)... we have had sickness here.... the respiratory virus and more and I am starting to have a bit more energy so that I can try even more things to get us well and build immunity. Pine needles have a decent amount of vitamin C as well as other goodies.
Some of the kids liked it, and one son KNEW he would hate it (before he even tried it) because he saw a couple of stray pine needles on the counter and suspected what kind of tea it was. *Sigh* Ever since I made Redbud Chef Salad
he has been suspicious... after all, there was no hiding those pretty redbud flowers in the salad. He thought it unmanly to eat "PINK" flowers. He remains on the lookout for anything I might add to our food that isn't "normal"... hmmm... We have a good natured on-going argument about the benefits of all that God has provided in the wild.... and the desire for "regular" food, which he also gets PLENTY of, so don't feel too sorry for him. :) As you know if you have read my blogs for long - especially the Gentle Joy Homemaker blog, you will see that we do cook a lot of wonderful foods... in large quantities and he gets plenty to eat! The ironic thing is that he experiments also.... on all kinds of things (we call him The Professor, sometimes), but he draws the line at experimenting too much with food. He loves my regular experiments where I have developed recipes like cranberry muffin bars and more... but doesn't want experiments with out of the ordinary foods. :)
As you can tell, there are still a LOT of pine cones on the tree waiting to come down.... too bad we can't eat them, but I'm sure I will find more uses for them.... and I will give many of them away...
I do plan to make some drawing salve from the sap of the pine tree.... it is so helpful... and there are many other things I can use the pine tree for, but no, apparently we can't eat the pine cones. :) By the way, if you search and experiment with wild edibles like I do, be sure to do lots of research.... there are so many wonderful things to use for food and health BUT there are also some dangerous things and you don't want to use the wrong thing. There is a lot of information available in books, online and more. Online research is great, BUT I would test the information as I do not believe you can trust all of it. With that said, though, there are a LOT of great things to learn. :)
Thank you for visiting my blog today..... :)
Shared on:
Frugal Crafty Home
Dear Creatives
Pin Worthy Wednesday
Tuesday Garden Party
Weekend Brew
My Favorite Things Saturday
Saturday Soiree
Weekly Wrap Up
Frugal Friday
Paula's No Rules Weekend Party
Homeacre Blog Hop
What You Wish Wednesday
A Little R & R Wednesdays
Wise Woman Link Up
The Art of Homemaking Monday
Women Helping Women
Hip Homeschool Hop
Homestead Barn Hop
