Poisonous Seeds and Mystery

I was emailing my friend Jen and we were talking about seeds. She found some mystery seeds in her purse. I find those myself frequently. But her comment reminded me that I had put some poisonous Poke seeds up high somewhere. Somewhere..... Then today while writing on the computer I found them. I just finished putting them in a pot in some soil. Horizon Herbs says they have a slow germination rate. Oh well. They also say "(Poke) is incredibly effective for resolving lymphatic blockage and is used in treating mastitis..." I can attest to the validity of this from personal painful experience. As I mentioned Poke is potentially POISONOUS. Most of the usage I am familiar with is in an oil that is used externally. You may often see it on the side of the road. With its dark purple berries it does seem to dare you to touch it. But then again maybe toxic plants only talk to me that way. I certainly get that message loud and clear with poison hemlock which is very common in much of California. But I don't think I will be growing it any time soon.

My sister told me about a woman she met who likes to grow all sorts of poisonous and toxic plants in her backyard. I find that fascinating and troubling. I would be a little worried just to work back there. I am absent-minded; what if I were weeding and hurt my finger and stuck it in my mouth? Very good incentive to be mindful at all times. After I potted the poke seeds I also potted another bunch of purple seeds. I am guessing they are from a Boston Ivy plant I saw in Chico. Or maybe not. The plant although clearly a vining one was also dead from the frost. We shall see what comes of it.

I have so many seeds that need homes and need to be planted somehow. But many of them require stratification of some sort. It takes me a lot of time to keep them labeled and soak them and/or refrigerate them and then pot them. I may just throw them in pots and keep going from there. Lots of happy accidents that way and unknown failures.

My sister has put together the most fantastic food awareness library. If she reads all the books she has bought she will be so well informed about what she eats! I need to read many of them myself. I borrowed one book that she had which I have been wanting to read. I say that a lot. A Nation of Farmers is written by Sharon Astyk and Aaron Newton. I read Astyk's blog which is now on ScienceBlog. She is way over my head in terms of how much she reads and how much she knows about climate change research, oil depletion, and just general economics. But she is also witty and funny and down to earth. I can't say I always feel great after reading her stuff because a lot of what she sees is pretty bleak, but I don't find that I can often refute her either. I just hope she is wrong on many things. But hope and willful blindness can be pretty good friends some times. She is a good writer but a wordy one. So, many times I just skim. As many of you may do! Ha ha ha.