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Plant of the Month - The Elder (Sambucus) The elder is an extremely tenacious plant with an ancient history related to carpentry, witchcraft, catering, music, entertainment and healing.    As it is tenacious, we have been rather severe in pruning ours in the past but for the last couple of years,  have been more lenient and it is  now all around me and covered in the lovely black berries of Autumn. These berries are a known source of Vitamin C in the plant kingdom. It is such a versatile plant being famous as part of delicious jams, jellies, wines, beverages, puddings and cakes. Elder flowers have been...

Joint Cream With MSM Was Made A National Sensation By Daily Mail In the mid 1990’s Katie May of Yin Yang Skincare produced her first run of skin cream containing MSM.  Katie had learned that MSM was accumulating a reputation for benefitting the skin because of its high sulphur content – around 34%. But a surprising thing happened: users of the cream with symptoms of osteo-arthritis began to report a reduction in joint discomfort and improved joint mobility after having applied the product to skin around the joints. Most surprising of all was the case of female friend of Katie’s who suffered arthritis in her fingers: after using the cream to treat...

Raunchy Red Lipstick It might yet be sunny and warm – but let’s not kid ourselves, summer is definitely last season. Still there are compensations, for no matter what the winter eventually throws at us, right now and for the next eleven weeks - girls it’s Party Time. This is not the season to take up yoga or to suddenly develop an interest in Victorian Water Colours, instead you need to look out that reliable “little black dress”, buy a new RED lipstick, the raunchiest red available to really light up that mistletoe, and invest – (yes invest) – in...

Medicinal Herbs Now, as the Autumn progresses, anyone who brushes a Stinging Nettle will feel a sharp burning sensation across any exposed skin, the result of formic acid released from the hair like spines that cover the stalks and leaves of the plant. At the end of the British Summer and early in the Autumn, the Stinging Nettle [Urtica Diocia] is at its most spiteful – which makes it an unwelcome plant in the garden or along footpaths. The botanical name tells us much about this ubiquitous weed or, depending on your point of view, useful herb: Urtica deriving from...

Why Supermarket Cheddar Might Not Be Quite as British as it Seems The Daily Mail has once again highlighted the plight of the British Farmer. This time it is about our Cheddar, which has enjoyed pride of place on the British cheeseboard for nearly 900 years. Its sharp, tangy flavour and firm texture have helped to make it the country’s most popular cheese. However, increasingly the cheddar in our supermarkets is being produced abroad. Between January and June this year we imported 62,003 tons of cheddar, compared with 48,633 in the same period last year, according to DairyCo, a body...