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Shelagh Young's avatar

Here in the North the mood-adjusting plants are ready to be harvested as the year starts winding down (Half over! Already?) to help with all those time-based and other anxieties.

St John's Wort is in bud, Chamomile and Valerian (original plant from which Valium was copied) are flowering, with various degrees of calming in each.

Ingested Valerian root is potent, but the perfumed flowers added to a hot bath will cure any sleep issues with no side effects.

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Leah Payne's avatar

dried or fresh flowers? I doubt I can grow valerian in the low desert.

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Shelagh Young's avatar

It grows absolutely wild here in Maritime Canada, springing up out of the gravel along the sides of dusty back roads. Some soil amendments might help though... Most medicinal plants are extremely tough and adaptable. Worth trying, at least IMHO.

I have packed fresh flowers in salts for winter baths, but haven't used dried ones, but imagine the effect would be the same, like any herbal tea.

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Jul 8
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Shelagh Young's avatar

Noted. Thanks. The lore repeats the "copy" story, probably because the plant existed before the drug. Similar effect and nomenclature, different composition.

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Liz Burton's avatar

Then there was ephedrine, an excellent herb for treating sinus congestion when used properly, that was suddenly discovered to have caused severe injury to 2 or 3 athletes allegedly using it for frivolous purposes, with the predictable result it was banned right around the time Big Pharma started coming out with its various brands of antihistamines.

And don't get me started on sassafras root. Fortunately, they haven't managed to kill all the dandelions yet.

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Diane Eddington's avatar

Bayer owns Round up... It's only a matter of time before your grass looks greener and you will soon need cancer drugs to preserve your body ...

Eat, drink and stay healthy with dandelions❤️

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Dissident Daughter's avatar

They said we were going make meth with it. The old Actified formulation is the only antihistamine that works for me and my kids, and we had to jump through hoops to affordably get it because of the ephedrine ban

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Liz Burton's avatar

You're thinking of pseudoephedrine—literally "fake ephedrine". It was when that was released OTC that the need to ban the natural version became "a matter of public health". Ephedrine is directly derived from an herb, and I relate to your problem of finding something that works. Mint can work to relieve congestion for some people, so maybe experiment with a combination of mint and echinacea with green tea. Teas work better than pills.

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David Robson's avatar

Ah yes, Actifed. A marvellous drug. I often used it as a sleeping draught even when I didn't have any congestion.

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Susan Crabtree's avatar

Me, too! But, because of the ban, I don’t know how to obtain it. Could you please share more info on where to get it?

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Kenny Macrae's avatar

I just started growing ephedra sinica, its not illegal to grow it, just to use it, having a hard time getting them to start, I see 2 sprouted out of 40 so far

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Liz Burton's avatar

Don’t overwater it. Ephedra species are semi-desert natives. For the same reason straight potting soil might not be the best planting medium—try mixing it with sand or vermiculite.

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Agent 1-4-9's avatar

I decided a few years ago to search my five acre property and identity all the plants growing here and see if there were any edible or medicinal herbs. Growing wild, we have feverfew, chamomile, wild lettuce, several varieties of mushrooms, pine pollen, plantain, dandelions, lambs quarters, raspberries, ground cherries, several varieties of mint, and many more. Check around, you have a pharmacy in your backyard!

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Pairodocs's avatar

We did much the same thing on our property just outside Moncton NB. We found wild sarsasparilla, rowan berries, bunchberries, wild blueberry, blackberry, beaked hazelnut, sugar maple, red elderberry...and a few more that I'm forgetting. We've planted chestnut, red currant, high bush blueberry, apples, pears, grapes, thornless blackberries, plums and cherries. Can you tell we're fast becoming preppers?

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Rebe Roze's avatar

I did the same thing a few years ago. We also have 5 acres and I set out to identify what was growing on it. We have white yarrow, SJW, red clover, white clover, plantain, sugar maple, crab apple, lamb’s quarter, dandelion, mulberry, autumn olive, wild raspberries, echinacea, and others. We’ve planted apples, peaches, and blueberries. I was amazed when I found all of those things!

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Agent 1-4-9's avatar

Great! Haha, I didn't list more or list what I planted because I didn't want to sound like I was bragging. But now that everyone else is opening up it feels more like sharing than bragging, so I'll post a few more. 😁

We have a two older, good sized mulberry trees and the chickens absolutely love the berries. We built their coup underneath them and just shake the tree when they're ripe. Our chickens free range and we had a cicada boom this year, so between the berries, kitchen scraps, and cicadas, they ate like kings this year. I made it a goal to plant at least one fruit tree every year before I die and we've got about 50 now, plus the ones I've planted at my kids homes. We've got apricots, plums, cherries, apples, pears, and peaches. Thornless blackberries grow like weeds and we have a giant bramble from 3 little plants I planted over a decade ago. The grandkids love them. I planted a big strawberry patch and an asparagus patch, beside the huge garden I grow. Gotta go, but I love hearing about your plants. Take care

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Pairodocs's avatar

Sounds like paradise! And it's so good for kids (I think) to see where food comes from and how things grow. Well done!

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Agent 1-4-9's avatar

Thanks. Our 40th wedding anniversary is coming up soon and we will have all 11 of our children and all 27 (so far!) grandchildren coming over. That will be paradise for me. I've been blessed to spread the love of gardening to my whole family. It's contagious!

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Rebe Roze's avatar

That’s amazing! I’ve told my husband that I would like to plant a maple orchard so that by the time we retire we can start tapping them. We only have 2 right now. (pst! You can also tap walnut trees…) We currently have 3 of our 5 acres doing nothing but growing wild flowers and wild herbs. Plantain loves growing around our fire pit.

I love the idea of planting one new fruit tree each year. We only have a few right now that are 3 yrs old and two others that are 10 yrs old.

My garden is little right now, but I’ve been working on adding plants and herbs to the regular landscaping.

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Agent 1-4-9's avatar

Los of times you can go to your local big box home store when the prime season is over and make a deal on the fruit trees they have left. One year I bought the last of what they had (14 trees) for $50. You can often get them for a third of regular retail price.

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William J. Shearing's avatar

From your knowledge what would be the best source for some of that knowledge? Like how did you educate yourself.

Thankyou, Bill

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Pairodocs's avatar

Others on this thread are probably more knowledgeable, but for us it was just tons of reading, some trial-and-error, but as much as possible tapping local knowledge. ie: it's great to read a piece about growing cherries online, but talking to the old guy down the road who can say things like "don't try English cherries here, they don't like the soil" is incredibly valuable.

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Rick Gibson's avatar

It’s truly frightening how much money Big Pharma will spend on “marketing”, meaning virtually anything that boosts sales of their products while blocking any form of competition, including herbs.

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FortheLoveofFreedom's avatar

Big Pharma and the mainstream media (who lack all morals, it seems) take people down a garden path to nowhere. They keep pushing drugs that are often times loaded with side effects and harm and when it comes to Ivermectin and HCQ, Vitamin D plus natural herbs, they can always pull a study out of their backsides that punish these things but low and behold they have the perfect drug to suggest. Laughable really. And those who follow every syllable said on tv, eat it up. Herbs have been around for many many moons and the healing proof of Vit D has been well established. I don't trust Health Canada period. Luckily, there are people who are showing how other things are more safe, more effective, and are non-addictive. Thanks for sharing your views.

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norica's avatar

A paper was published in 2020, "Influence of conflicts of interest on public positions in the COVID-19 era, the case of Gilead Sciences"

France requires Healthcare professionals to make public details about the relationship they have with pharmaceutical reps. Even dinners.

 https://www.transparence.sante.gouv.fr/

This information aided in determining whether or not Gilead Sciences may have been influenced to promote remdesivir and not promote hydroxychloroquin

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7558214/

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Pairodocs's avatar

We appreciate the links - will have a read of them. Thanks!

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norica's avatar

Hi. Great to see you all are writing again. Gilead sciences proved to be useful to the narrative.

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Jim MacDonald's avatar

Hadju will be up for the Order of Canada next. I have no doubt your assessment is correct from a medical standpoint, but it strikes me that TDS played an equally deadly role in the "response to COVID. Once the Donald mentioned taking horse medicine and drinking bleach alternative approaches were doomed. The haters in media, medicine and the regulators kicked the propaganda machine into high gear and people died as a result.

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Pairodocs's avatar

Yes, I think you're right. As soon as he mentioned HCQ, for example, the medical establishment started going on as if it were some deadly exotic medication (as opposed to one that people often casually decide to take prophylactically if they're travelling to an area where malaria is endemic.)

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NotaBot's avatar

If any of you have kids or grandkids, I recommend the board game Wildcraft, for learning herbal remedies. Definitely talks about SJW and many other common plants and herbs for a range of ailments and conditions.

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Diane Eddington's avatar

Neva mind the kids or grandkids, LOL😊 I want one for myself. I'll bring it to the senior center! I haven't been yet, been meaning to associate with my generation. This could be something big! 😊👍🔥😍

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NotaBot's avatar

Why not! Have fun. :)

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Diane Eddington's avatar

I watched a herb person on utube talking about the benefits of Holy Basil and lemon balm, both effective for depression and anxiety... It's in the backyard... Go get some right, rather than taking synthetics that our body was not made to ingest...

Thank you for your reinforcement of the truth that it being buried...

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Rjj's avatar
Jul 8Edited

In Ireland it got banned, yes banned by our idiots, in 2000, for bs reasons.

In 2015, they graciously allowed a version of it to be prescribed ( pacifica ) with one of our own 'distributors' ( Fannin Ltd ) taking a cut of course.

Presumably it took a while for local gombeens to get a taste, an example in this kip of what goes on globally perhaps.

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Pairodocs's avatar

I didn't realize it had gone that far! Leave it to Ireland. Ugh.

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Rjj's avatar

Pharma accounts for 60% of Irish exports to the US, employs thousands, they fall over themselves with pharma corporates ( well all corporates of course ) to keep them happy with sweetheart deals.

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Jen Adams's avatar

Thank you. I will save this article for any friends who might be waking up slowly.

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Christine T.'s avatar

Excellent post! A big problem in Canada are the pharma lobbyists. Just check out the NHPPA who are fighting the regulations that were passed hidden in an omnibus budget bill that will restrict the natural products we can get:

https://nhppa.org/crisis-summary/

By the way, we love using herbs here. I live in a large city and don't have access to all these amazing plants so thank goodness for places like St. Francis Herbs that provide these. Essential oils are great as well.

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Mystic William's avatar

Ozempic is the latest pharma catastrophe. Ten years from now it will be withdrawn and many lawsuits and payouts happening. Payouts that will total about 10% of the profits garnered.

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Pairodocs's avatar

Agree completely! I have written about this already.

https://pairodocs.substack.com/p/ozempic-wonder-drug-or-false-hope

The adage "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" comes to mind. When will we learn there are no magic pills with no side effects?...

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Mystic William's avatar

Penicillin and Insulin were two magic pills. Everyone has been chasing the next pill ever since those two.

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Classic Rider's avatar

Oh, Pfizer. Read Alex Berenson’s articles about that company. And he is currently suing them for violating his 1st Amendment rights during Covid. That company is complicit in manufacturing death disguised as pharmaceuticals.

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Moro Balakrishnan's avatar

Well known story about early Covid months of 2020 and 2021 - a very good reminder to all those who would not have known about those sordid times and who, having known then, would have forgotten now. This is actually a curious story about the west, the doctors having to fall in line. Elsewhere, like in India where I am from, the doctors are free to follow their clinical noses, this was not the issue, when the Ivermectin story became well known among the doctors beginning early 2021. They also realised that the first few days of the infection was purely a viral respiratory infection capable of adding up secondary bacterial respiratory infections. So they took recourse to a combination of Azithromycin, Montelukast, Levocetrizine, classical respiratory drugs,some adding Ivermectin/HCQ too and adjuvants like vit c, vit D, Zinc etc. It is the usual, time tested practice to treat an emerging severe respiratory infection with a combination of drugs. So such a prescription made eminent sense and when in full flow in a raging infection by mid 2021, became the top killer of the infection and virus. The Omicron wave in early 2022 was also quickly subdued. While the label indications of these medicines had a role in fighting the infection, they were also off label anti virals and in combination provided a powerful anti viral therapy. Ivermectin or HCQ alone would not have worked for all and they needed to be part of a package. So, it was easy for the authorities in the West to dismiss them as single drugs. What is appalling is that these successful experiences with repurposed drugs were ignored in the West through 2021, 2022, 2023 when Covid continued to rage there. Good, proven medicines are common good and the experience of using them for the well being of the population is an open, universal understanding. Why would the medical community there brush this wisdom aside ?

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Susanna Mills's avatar

This. Today. Back, down and under in Australia…

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-09/medicinal-cannabis-regulations-ahpra-/105506828

First, they ‘ease up on regulations’ for a short time to allow all the entrepreneurs to establish the business pipeline and the demand.

Then, via captured institutions they act all concerned about ‘safety’ and organise a ‘crackdown’ to further eliminate competition.

Finally, they proffer their expensive (often inferior) product as the only one that may be prescribed.

tah dah!

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