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12/6/05. Researchers have found more than 170 phytochemicals in oranges, including more than 20 carotenoids. Oranges are among the few major sources of a group of flavonoid phytochemicals called flavanones, including the one called hesperidin.

These flavonoids help prevent DNA damage from cancer-causing substances and decrease inflammation throughout the body. Regular consumption of oranges is associated with a significantly lower risk of lung and stomach cancers. An orange can contain up to 5 times the amount of phytochemicals than a glass of orange juice.......

We have had a query from a lady in New Zealand about herbs to help with adult-onset diabetes. I can speak with some personal authority on this, because I’ve been there, and herbs and diet changes fixed me.

Obesity is usually the main culprit of type II diabetes so the first step in managing this disease is through a good diet. Eliminate any refined foods, carbohydrates, sugars and other processed foods. That's not so hard to do.

To help get through those sweet cravings, try chromium picolinate tablets available from any health food shop. Bilberry and blueberry leaf tea can also help to regulate blood sugar levels. Garlic, goats rue, holy basil, and French (haricot) beans are all hypoglycaemic, and will help lower blood sugar levels.

Haricot beans are usually crushed or powdered, and a tea made from them. Drink 4 cups a day, hot or cold. A bit more exercise will also help to keep weight down and burn up any excess calories. Most important of all, avoid taking drugs to reduce blood sugar levels, except as a very last resort. Ive been here too, and still suffer from the side-effects. * Patrick

5/6/05. Did you know that it was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the brides father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.

Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month we know today as the honeymoon.

I mention this because recently my first wife (we were married 21 years before divorce, and we are still friends, which is important) got her Diploma this week.

When I rang to congratulate her on her achievment, she laughed and reminded me about the first night of our honeymoon. I actually left her at the motel the first night and went fishing! I can't believe I did that, but I did. We had fresh fish for our first breakfast together, that I had caught myself. I think that's pretty romantic. Cheers, Patrick

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31/5/05. I flew out of Canberra yesterday, after a 4 days visit, and while I was there I managed to visit the ACT Botanic Gardens. I have to say it is very good, in spite of a longrunning drought.

Situated on the side of Black Mountain, it has a majority of native plants, some from most States. I got some nice photos, including an attractive pincushion hakea in flower, that I had never seen before. Its the photo on the right below, the other is a grevillea.

They also have a very nice glasshouse display, with many tropical plants. Unfortunately it was too humid to take a good camera in there,next time Ill take cheap digital, because they had plants in there that I would have liked to photograph. Cheers, Pat

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25/5/05. Theres nothing funny about hard drugs, but this little story is more about dogs!

In Melbourne Australia they train Beagley sort of dogs to sniff out drugs at airports and railway stations. Well, someone lost the bag of cocaine they were using to train the dogs, and somehow it unknowingly got replaced with talcum powder.

So when the dogs went to work, they started barking at just about every bit of luggage, cause most of the bags contained talc. According to the authorities, how the mistake happened remains a mystery!

Tommorrow I fly to Canberra for few days. I know it will be cold now, but hopefully no snow. I'll be up in the mountains during a documentary and a photo shoot. Im hoping to get time to visit the Botanic Gardens again. On my last visit I was pretty impressed. They really are nice. Cheers, Patrick

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12/5/05. Beerlovers will be pleased to know that a German brewery has developed a beer containing vitamins and minerals it says are designed to slow the aging process. The Neuzeller Kloster Brewery plans to introduce its "Anti-Aging-Bier" this year and sell it in grocery and drug stores, a spokesman for the company said Friday.

"It tastes like beer more than it tastes like anything else," the spokesman told Reuters. The brewery said the beer contained a host of added ingredients that promote good health. But the German government may object to the brewery calling the drink "beer" since a law dating back to 1516 says beer brewed in Germany can only be made from barley, hops, yeast and water.

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4/5/05 Hi everyone, IsoResources just got four times better!

You can now get access to UltimateFour which gives you membership to 4 Iso sites that if joined separately would cost you over $26/month.

I purchased exclusive rights to give you this membership because my goal is to help you succeed and UltimateFour.com gives you 4 outstanding service sites that will benefit you now and well into the future.

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You can purchase Ultimate Four giveaway rights too, or Master Resell rights if you wish. Check it out!

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27/4/05 While in Melbourne last week on business, I took the opportunity to visit again the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. It was rather disappointing, I’ve seen it looking much better on previous visits.

Maintenance seems to be lacking, and unfortunately that is the usual story nowadays with public facilities. Local politicians have no reservations about diverting funding from public properties to other perceived priorities, usually to improve their re-election chances.

The herb gardens were nice, although a bit neglected looking, the echinaceas had just finished flowering, but nevertheless I got some nice photos.

The native forest areas were looking good, but Fern Gully was very sad looking without the former resident flying foxes. The flying foxes were moved on last year in a disgraceful episode of lies, corruption, and mismanagement by MBG and government bureaucracy.

I wont go into the details, they were well documented at the time, but basically the MBG instigated a media campaign of lies and misinformation to justify the killing of the flying foxes, claiming they were damaging the vegetation.

When public protests created the real risk of the whole affair bringing down the government, the decision to kill them was changed to a relocation attempt. Eventually after many attempts, and the spending of over a million dollars, the flying foxes were relocated to another riverside site in Melbourne.

No-one knows how many died of stress in the unsuccessful attempts. Another 3 million dollars will be spent over the next few years to monitor and encourage them to stay where they now are. The offending bureaucrats responsible for the whole sorry mess are still in their jobs.

Meanwhile, without the flying foxes, the MBG is only half the Gardens it used to be, but still worth a visit!

Melbourne is a City of great contrasts. They build strange arty statues and edifices all over the place, on the footpaths, and on any bit of spare space. Must cost a fortune, and homeless people sleep on them and under them. I saw one old bloke with his coat hung on the corner of one of these monstrosities, and he was asleep on the pavement under it.

When I sauntered through the Bourke St Mall one night, half the mall was blocked off so Nicholas Cage could make a film, a large crowd was watching, and the homeless people were asleep in doorways and on benches. A City of contrasts indeed!

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21/4/05 Tomorrow I fly from Queensland to Melbourne for a few days on business. I've made sure I put a day aside to visit the Melbourne botanical gardens. They are a superb gardens, and Im looking forward to seeing them again. Ill write a short report when I get back. * Patrick

Success Tip.

How many times have you had an idea either through a dream, while doing the dishes, sitting at your desk, or driving the car, and have thought that as soon as you have time, you will make a note of it. When that free time rolls around, you have forgotten some or all of that great idea.

Some of the best ideas I ever had, happened on a passage in the middle of the night, at the tiller of my boat! It’s a very good idea to keep a journal or notepad handy at all times. When you have an idea, write it down immediately. Not while you are driving though!

Bitter Herbs

The bitter herbs are a diverse range of plants that commonly have a bitter taste. Bitter herbs start their therapeutic effect through the taste buds, and a reflex action in the stomach. They stimulate the appetite, and secretions of digestive juices, enhance absorption, improve liver function, and promote the flow of bile.

Digestive drinks and tonics compliment food, and aid digestion. In holistic herbal medicine, bitters are stimulants used for a wide range of treatments. Bitter preparations should not be sweetened as this can counteract the stimulation. *

A daily pint of dark beer such as Guinness may work as well as an aspirin in helping to prevent heart attacks, said researchers at the American Heart Association meeting in the US this week. Researchers from Wisconsin University released study showing that dark beer significantly reduces conditions which can lead to the dangerous clotting that causes heart attacks in heart disease patients.

The same results were not seen with lager however. Several studies have shown that beer can, in moderate quantities, promote heart health. However it is not yet clear whether this is due to the effects of alcohol (similar results are seen with other alcoholic beverages) or the high antioxidant power of beer’s ingredients.

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29/3/04. As from Easter 2005 our Home Herb and Garden newsletter subscribers are going to be given a huge gift! We are giving away fr*ee membership to IsoResources, a $12.97 per month membership site with hundreds of eBooks and business tools! It’s absolutely f*ree from us here at Home Herb and Garden to our valued ezine subscribers! This is the same membership site that many high earning eBiz owners use to promote their business ventures.

We have purchased the giveaway rights, and we are passing this amazing membership site on to you for nothing! So in the next eZine (due shortly) we will have the link where you can join this $12.97 a month resource membership site for nothing, just for subscribing to a very interesting newsletter! You also get access to more than 20 lifestyle and business ebooks that you can give away if you wish. Subscribe to our Newsletter now!

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22/4/05 I’ve been reading a lot of fiction lately, when I have the time. Of course if you operate an Internet based business, you have to read lots anyway. Ezines, eBooks, emails etc, and if you don’t read the information that is available, you will never make a red cent online, because the Internet world is changing so rapidly if you don’t keep up, you fall off!

But I love books, and printed books will never be replaced by eBooks. Although eBooks are great, printed books are greater. It’s as simple as that!

Anyway, I’ve been reading fictional books about the old sailing boats, books by Julian Stockwin and Patrick O’Brien. I suppose it could be said that I read Patrick O’Brien’s sailing books because I love the sea. It could also be said that it’s because he has the same name as I do!

Even further, I suppose I could claim some kinship, as we Irish, just as many other cultures did, relocated all over the world in the 1800 and 1900 hundreds. Patrick probably wouldn’t want to reciprocate that kinship claim though.

Some of us relocated by choice, and some not. In Australia, most of our forebears relocated in prison ships, with shackles around their legs. When shipping convicts to the Colonies to be rid of them became politically unacceptable, our forebears, or those that survived prison in the New World, were released. Some became bushrangers.

The smart ones got a job in the Government. Their descendents are still there today, formulating foreign and domestic policy, and running the Federal Treasury. Some that couldn’t get a job in the government, but had the blarney, became politicians and entered Parliament. The not-so-smart ones, like my ancestors, went into exploitation, mining and farming

My forebears went into mining, my great grandfather was mining engineer, as were my grandfather and my father. By the time I was ready to look for a mining career, the gold had all been dug up and sold. Only the big polluted holes in the ground were left. So I became butcher, and now I’m a herbalist!

Anyway, as I said in the beginning I love reading. I always wanted to have a second hand bookshop, but never had the time to actually set one up. However, I’ve got all the research done, and I’ve put all the information into an eBook. If you love books and think you would like to start up a second hand bookshop, then you can download this eBook at (no charge of course!) here!

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8/3/05 Ive just had a week away from home, partly work and partly play. I managed to fit in long walk on a deserted beach with a special friend, and attended a couple of meetings. What really stood out on my 7 hour drive each way, was the number of loony and dangerous drivers on Queensland roads. It's no wonder we have so many road accidents, and nary a copper to be seen!

7/3/05 A company, feeling it was time for a shakeup, retires their old CEO and hires a new one. This new boss is determined to rid the company of all slackers. On a tour of the facilities, the CEO notices a guy leaning on a wall. The room is full of workers and he wants to let them know he means business!

The CEO walks up to the guy and asks, "And how much money do you make a week?" A little surprised, the young fellow looks at him and replies, "I make $300.00 a week. Why?"

The CEO then hands the guy $1,200 in cash and screams, "Here's four weeks' pay, now GET OUT and don't come back!"

Feeling pretty good about his first firing, the CEO looks around the room and asks, "Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-off did here?"

One of the other workers mutters, "He was a pizza delivery guy from Domino's."

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28/2/05 Every Saturday morning during reasonable weather, people in cities across the United States, Australia, UK, Europe, Canada and the rest of the World pile into their cars and drive around residential streets searching for garage sales. Most do it for fun. A growing number have discovered they can do it for profit.

Sure, there’s always someone reported to have found a missing Rembrant beneath an overlay of dust and grime. It happens, but it isn’t what this eBook is about. This is about turning 50 cent purchases into items worth dollars, enough to pay the gas for the Saturday morning garage sale jaunts or maybe enough to jazz up your income, or even replace your income. This is a free eBook for our Herblog readers,and you can give it away to your friends, or even sell it if you wish!

Download it here!

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23/2/05 Going through my flower and garden photos the other day I found these two below and decided to share them with our readers. It never fails to amaze me how much color and beauty is to be found in the average home garden. Even a small window box has the potential to provide it's owner with a glimpse of the beauty of flowers that can fill the heart and soothe the soul...... Flowers, I love 'em!

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21/2/05 A new survey has shown dogs can help men find the woman of their dreams. A national survey by Petcare Information and Advisory Service suggests that dogs bring out the more sensitive and caring sides of a man, as well as being a good talking point for strangers. The survey said 64 per cent of respondents thought women were more likely to start a conversation with a man who had a dog with him. Seventy per cent said women saw dog owners as more caring than non-dog owners, 66 per cent said they seemed more responsible and more sensitive. For info about Herbs for Love Click here!

India has suffered the ignominy of being slapped with a commercial trade ban by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for not complying with requirements on a separate law to specifically protect wild animals and plants life listed by CITES. A decision which came late December and which has the potential to hit the medicinal plant and essential oils trade. India hopes CITES will relax its stance in a month or so. It is not immediately clear how much exports and imports will be affected. So far, it is claimed no consignments have been turned back by CITES countries. It will affect certain medicinal and perfumery-based plants such as kuth, agarwood, perhaps even the cancer-fighting Himalayan Yew. *

Watering herb seedlings is extremely important during the first 3 weeks. This is the time when young plants develop root structures that will anchor them into the ground, and develop fine rootlets for absorbing nutrients. Even dryer loving herbs need a good water supply during this period. If you are buying herb seedlings, look for the healthy ones. They will have a well-developed rootstock, and strong stems.*

When harvesting herbs, pick early in the morning, and if they are for drying and storage, pick just before the full moon. For more info about gardening by the moon click here!

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14/2/05 Garlic has long been used as a spice, and scientific studies have shown it to lower blood sugar levels, and to also have anticancer and antitumor properties. Now a report in the Journal of Nutrition, noted also is its ability to reduce harmful triglycerides in the blood. But the big news now is that new studies proved garlic also DECREASED BODY FAT.

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12/2/05 We have had a question from a lady in the UK asking about herbs to use when cooking fish. Well, it depends on the fish of course, and the way it is to be cooked. First of all I personally believe fresh fish only needs a squeeze of lemon and some fresh cracked black pepper.

However if it is fish to be served cold, many people like dill, fennel, parsley or basil. For baked fish use fennel or sage, for shrimps or shellfish use tarragon, chervil or parsley.

I still favor lemon and black pepper! Cheers, Patrick

Do you know another herb to serve with fish, we'd love to know?

11/2/05 Should spiders stay in the garden and eat caterpillars?

One of the most successful TV advertisements we have ever been shown in Australia is the one where someone is driving a car, they pull down the sun visor and there is large huntsman spider! The car crashes, lots of collateral damage occurs, and the advert sold lots of insurance policies for a leading car insurance company.

But why was the advert so successful? It was simply because most of us can relate to a similar experience. You have probably had one yourself involving a huntsman. You are driving down the road, whistling, singing, listening to the radio or whatever you do when are driving, and out of the corner of your eye you are horrified to see a large huntsman spider run across the driver’s side window.

Heart pounding you screech to a stop, trying to convince yourself the spider was outside the car, not inside. You jump out, check the car for the spider and you can’t find it on the car. Telling yourself the spider has fallen off or gone under the car you drive away again. But the spider didn’t fall off the car. As you opened the door it ran inside and hid under the seat.

Some days later you are driving again. Suddenly you feel a very large spider run up your trouser leg. You grab your trousers where the spider is now heading up past your knee, screw and squash it into a ball, hoping to kill it, or at least stop it from going any further. Trying not to get bitten, you hold it away from your leg. You stop the car, if you haven’t already crashed.

Heart pounding, you fall out of the car, kick your shoes off, desperately undo your belt with one hand and pull your trousers off. Cars going past toot their horns, and kids peer out the back window laughing at the funny man staggering around and getting undressed on the side of the road.

Then the police arrive…..

You shake out the dead spider. Your good trousers are in a mess with a large area of squashed spider blood and stuff. Then you suddenly realise you are wearing your purple boxer shorts with the hearts on them, that an ex-girlfriend gave you one Xmas. The police drive away laughing. Heart still pounding, you turn around, drive back home in your purple boxer shorts, make a strong cup of tea, and lie down for an hour or so.

Thats why spiders should stay in the garden and eat caterpillars!

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10th Feb, 2005 *Legend has it that in around 2737 B.C., the Chinese emperor Shun Nung discovered tea, when one day some leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant were blown into his bowl of water. Noting the delightful aroma, he tasted it and declared it “Heaven sent!” From its humble beginnings as a refreshing and replenishing beverage, it has now grown into the world’s second most drunk beverage after water. People not only enjoy tea as a welcoming beverage, but also for its health benefits. Tea is an excellent source of several B-complex vitamins. It helps weight control, while fighting bacteria and tooth decay.

Ask a question about herbs!!

Yes roses are red, and violets are blue,

They are easy to grow, and I’ll prove it to you,

You go to my website, and have a look round

All the good info, is there to be found

How to grow green things, how to grow flowers

There’s enough info there, to keep you for hours!

And just in case roses, and violets bore you

Herbs and palm trees, are even there too

Just go for a visit, and have a look round

It’s glad that you’ll be, pleased that you’ve found,

A website that tells you, what you need to know

To get back to basics, and green things to grow! http://www.home-herb-garden.com

Ask a question about anything!