Grow your own Pain Relief

It's the first day of July, and hot enough lately to feel like it. I know its summer because I made my first small batch of dill pickles this morning. Yesterday I picked zucchini and last night I sliced them up and put them in ice water in the frig overnight.This morning I got jars ready, made the brine and canned them. So easy, in the sterilized jars put a clove of garlic, 4 peppercorns, and 1 head of dill or 1 teaspoon organic jarred dill. Pack in the drained, dried zucchini, add another clove of garlic and a sprinkle of dill seed, pour the brine, half water, half white vinegar and pickling salt over the top, put the lids on and process for 12 minutes. All sealed, and cooling on the counter now and the mess cleaned up. Good thing too, just opened my last jar from last year. These need a 3 week cure time and they will be ready. By then, there will be more. The vines are heavy with cucumbers and zucchini so will keep me busy. Most of the aches, pains and illnesses we suffer from are caused by inflammation in the body. And you can grow herbs that will ease those aches and keep your body inflammation free. Bet you never thought of Basil as one of them. You use the leaves of course, and its listed as anti inflammatory, antispasmodic and antiviral. Dry the leaves and use as a tea or make a tincture, a bit more complicated. Also relieves tension. And of course is good in lots of cooking areas. Black cumin is second,its an annual, and you have to harvest the seeds which have a peppery taste, you can toss them on salad, even put them in pancakes. You can make a tincture or just add the seeds to your food. If you want to make a tea, use 1 teaspoon of peppermint leaves, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cumin seed oil, available at health food stores, 1 teaspoon of honey and add a cup of boiling water to steep.Those are the easiest, and you know about ginger and turmeric. Been out and worked in the back yard a bit this am, yesterday was garden day. Takes a lot of water right now, the heat sure evaporates it out fast. No complaints, like this much better than winter. Somehow the older I get, the more I feel the cold. Can handle being warm much better. So here we are, looking at the fourth of July. Somehow, America has slipped and no longer feels like it did 20 years ago. We have lost so many freedoms, and the government does not seem to represent us now, it just hems and haws and makes big bucks at our expense. Sad. I miss the days of saying the Pledge of Allegiance, singing our patriotic songs, having a prayer in school to start the day, and its made a difference in how we live. I hope we can gain back the pride we had before all the terrorism, taking out of our rights etc . Planning a quiet day at home, gardening most likely. Hope your day is all you want it to be. See you soon.