This Month’s Speakers: “Stop Pain Now” John & Marie Thorp
Society members John & Marie Thorp will be speaking about the benefits of detoxification through ionic footbaths. The footbaths pull toxins from the body, aided by herbal teas and essential oils. They will explain how they have personally benefited from the use of the ionic footbath, and how
you can do the same.
Herb of the Month: Chocolate
A Look Ahead:
March 7, 2007: TBA Herb of the Month: Vick’s Plant
April 4, 2007: Christian Miller— How to Make a Rain Barrel for garden use and water conservation Herb of the Month: Licorice
May 2, 2007: TBA Herb of the Month: Meadowsweet
June 6, 2007: TBA Herb of the Month: Vanilla
Meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm in the Fruit & Spice Park Auditorium. All members and guests are welcome! Our Tasting Table, Raffle Ticket Drawing, and Door Prize Drawing follow each speaker.
Monthly Society Project: Come garden with us! Meet in the Park at 10am on the Saturday following each monthly meeting. You get free park admission and free herbs to take home.
Herb of the Month: Chocolate (Theobroma cacao)
Other Names: Cocoa, cacao
Description: Cocoa trees are small evergreen trees with glossy leaves that are pink when young. Pale yellow flowers form directly on the trunk or branches, and develop into pods containing seeds suspended in pulp. Native to South America, cultivation has spread, and now about half of all
cocoa is grown in Africa.
Cultivation: Cocoa trees require shade, high humidity and shelter from wind. Minimum growth temperature is 61 degrees. Grows from seeds, air layering or cuttings. Fruits are harvested all year long.
Culinary: Chocolate is used in many dishes and beverages. Most are familiar with the sweet treats, but chocolate goes well into savory dishes also, like Mexican mole sauce.
Medicinal: Cocoa powder is used for treating angina and high blood pressure. Cocoa’s antioxidant levels have recently gotten a lot of press, too.
Other uses: Cocoa butter is used in skin care products and cosmetics. At one time, cocoa beans were used as currency among the Aztecs and the Maya. Both also used cocoa in religious rituals, considering it to be a divinely brought food.
Sources: The Encyclopedia of Herbs, Spices & Flavorings by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz.
The Herb Society of America Encyclopedia of Herbs & Their Uses by Deni Bown.
IFAS has an article on cultivation of chocolate in the home garden. It can be found on the web at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS307
More About Chocolate:
* Chocolate was introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus, but was not popular until the 17th century. * Much like coffee, chocolate beans are fermented, dried, then roasted to expose the ‘nibs’, which are the part processed into cocoa. * White chocolate contains no cocoa, just cocoa
butter, milk and sugar.
Thank you to Leila Werner for her contributions of bell pepper and
cabbage plants for members to adopt at the meeting.
Get ready for the Asian Arts Festival! This event is coming on March
3rd and 4th, and we will have an informational booth there. If you
are interested in helping out, let Kristin or Tracy know! There will
be a sign up sheet at the February meeting also.
John Thorp enlightened us about a terrific deal from Home Depot. They
sell pallets of torn bags of various gardening materials at a
fantastic bargain price.
I should have known by the number of changes and explanations offered ahead of time by our scheduled speaker that he wasn't going to make it to the meeting. So I figured I'd take it in stride and use the time to get some much needed feedback from all of you. With the chairs set in a circle,
it looked a little like a support group meeting. (“Hi, I'm Kristin and I kill herbs.”) And I guess it sort of was, in that there were many ideas and suggestions in support of good meeting content for the coming year. In fact, it was so supportive that the group decided we should do this kind
of meeting again every January!
We all agreed that culinary herb use, and consumption, is a main draw for most members and that 2 or 3 cooking demonstrations throughout the year would satisfy most appetites. With a little persuading, Leila Barnes and Tina Pavel agreed to team up as presenters so look for them on the
schedule later in the year.
Many of us would like more practical information on growing herbs in our climate and micro-climates, and may of us have had success with different plants and methods. In addition to inviting local "experts" to lecture, the suggestion was made to have a open discussion forum once a year to
highlight some of our members’ green thumbs. Several requests were made for previous presenters, like Seth Berman and Mr. President himself—Miguel Cisneros-Abreu, among others. We also have quite a few members and park staff who do great things with herbs at home, rather than as their
profession, who would be wonderful at sharing information at an upcoming meeting.
Thank you to all who attended and contributed to January's meeting. I f you were unable to attend, you can still offer suggestions by participating in the short survey on our website or by contacting me via e-mail or phone. jaydedj@mac.com 305-342-5844
There are many ways to use herbs for cleansing and ridding yourself of unwanted toxins.
Baths: The easiest way to use herbs for detoxifying is to add them to your bath. The skin is the body’s largest organ, and most effective for ridding the body of toxins. Fennel seed, hayflower, salt, and baking soda are the most common bath additives. Oatstraw is also effective.
Teas: Teas can be imbibed to rid oneself of toxins. A pinch of cayenne pepper in water or a combination of water and apple cider vinegar can help eliminate the smell of chlorine after swimming. Fennel seed and peach pit tea (in small doses) are also cleansing.
Other uses: Apple pectin is said to be helpful in eliminating toxins, as are powdered basil and cloves used together. Coffee enemas can be used for extreme cases (they are said to be very strong in their action). Oatmeal compresses can be used to help remove foreign objects from wounds, and
are good for skin care in general.
Source: Dian Dincin Buchman’s Herbal Medicine by Dian Dincin Buchman.
The newsletter will be going primarily electronic. Those members who have provided email addresses will have both versions this month, but beginning in March, we will only be sending it electronically to those with emails. The benefits of this are that you get it earlier than you would in
the mail, and it is in COLOR! It also saves us printing and postage costs, freeing up funds for other things. Anyone who has not submitted an email address is encouraged to do so, either by calling, mailing, emailing, or catching me at a meeting (just not this month).
It’s the busy time of year again, when the Fruit & Spice Park has many festivals planned. REHS has always had a presence during these times, and we would like to continue to do so.
As the membership has changed, and with the last couple of years being tough on growers, we have moved away from a fundraising perspective during these happenings, and moved toward growing our membership.
We need volunteers to staff the booth during upcoming events. Admission is free for those working the festival, and if there is enough staff at the booth, you will have plenty of chances to look around as well.
On March 3 & 4, there is the Asian Culture Festival, one of the largest park events. We will have an informational booth there, and a sign up sheet will be available at the February meeting. This event happens before our March meeting.
If you are unable to attend the meeting and wish to sign up, call or email Kristin or Tracy to volunteer.
February 3: Florida Keys Safari. The group will tour public and private gardens of the Keys and see Key deer in their native habitat. 8am departure from FSP. $40.
February 24: Propagation with Chris Rollins. Learn grafting, air layering, planting and seeding. 10am-5pm. $40 includes tree for grafting & taking home.
March 2: Polynesian Luau. Fundraiser benefits the Fruit & Spice Park. Hors d’ouevers & wine tasting at 6:30pm, dinner at 7:30pm. $50 per ticket, $450 for tables of 10.
For more information on any of these events or to register, call the Fruit & Spice Park at 305-247-5727.
All members and guests are invited (but not required) to bring a contribution to the monthly tasting table. For those not inclined toward the culinary arts, paper plates, plasticware and beverages are also very welcome.
Donations are also encouraged for the raffle table. Tickets are on sale at the raffle table during each meeting, and are fifty cents each. Ticket proceeds benefit the Society.
Once again, I failed to put out a sign in sheet, and so I cannot thank everyone personally for their contributions. There were delicious things on the tasting table— if you weren’t there, you missed a yummy time. Leila Werner brought her awesome rosemary shortbread,
John Thorp brought a delicious avocado salad, Leah Sherman’s cream cheese and peach dip with horseradish & mustard was wonderful, and there were a lot of other tasty savories as well.
The raffle table was very full as well, and I regret not having a list of those contributions.