Yes, we are getting a good amount of rain in intervals. I’m very happy with what we are getting right now, but feel very bad for Kentucky, about 4 hours from us. Tragic what they got.
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Yes, flooding is bad. There’s more minor flooding going on right this minute actually in some of the same areas.
Though the area that actually got ‘record breaking’ flooding was a small concentrated area, the fact it happened at night is the main reason that led to 37 deaths.
Have you heard Ralph Stanley’s “The Flood of '57”?
(Google it if the link doesn’t cooperate).
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Had never heard that song before. Sad.
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Hopefully everyone has had a good growing season this year.
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I’m doing a wine grape vine fence across my back yard for the same reason.
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I am definitely working on my own tea! It will be next year before I can harvest any tea leaves off my plant, but it’s filling out very nicely for me now. Planning to bring her in for the winter. I also went and pruned my rose bushes out front to get more rose petals/hips going, and have a variety of herbs going in my AeroGardens. My favorite tea blend is black tea, rose petals, rose hips, and black peppercorn from some little frou frou tea shop out of state, but her prices have increased significantly, and I just can’t justify paying that much anymore.
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I’m adding 2 grape plants to my fence, I used to grow them at previous places, they were kind of messy. So I try again.
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i highly recommend hazelnuts. they bear in 4-5 yrs and are very prolific. the meats are a good plant source of protein and good fats. they are a easy to store, long term food source. bugs dont touch them here but they need some protection from deer and rabbits. i have a whole freezer full of this years small fruit that im dehydrating to free up space. also been making jerky with my moose hamburg from my hunt last fall. i add a little pork so its not dry. that has also freed up some space. been making peanut butter granola with the dried fruit. the fruit is still crunchy when you eat it. theyre awesome. my painted mountain corn is done. im letting it on the stalk to dry then grinding to cornmeal with my new grain mill. if you buy a extra bag of this or can of that when grocery shopping, over time, its amazing how much you can put away without having to spend alot at once.
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you can make tea out of just about any fruit leaf. ive dried raspberry , mint, lemon balm and blackberry leaves to steep with my black tea and ground stevia leaf. its very good. i change up the mix for variety.
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OH! I didn’t actually know that about the fruit leaves! I’m very new to this. Thank you for the suggestion! I got plent of mint and lemon balm. I even dried some lemon grass for a few green tea blends I have in mind. 
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Seconding the hazelnuts, but I would go with American hazelnuts given a choice. European hazelnuts tend to have issues with eastern filbert blight. I did go ahead and plant a few seedlings of Yamhill and Jefferson, which are supposed to be blight resistant Europeans, so if you want to try Europeans, it might be a good idea to get a variety that has proven to be blight resistant.
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I have some hazelnuts producing, but the squirrels get them all.
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I know that raspberry leaf tea is used traditionally by midwives to encourage labor to begin, and it might increase the risk of miscarriage if consumed earlier in pregnancy. Not sure if that’s also true for blackberry or other brambles, but it’s something to keep in mind for anyone who might be pregnant or trying to get pregnant.
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i didnt know that. funny the article that recommended them for tea didnt say this.
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It’s possible that it’s one of those apocryphal “traditional medicine” things that maybe isn’t based on science, but we had a midwife for our last couple babies and she gave warnings about it. Also, blackberry may not have whatever compound is in raspberry leaves, even if there is a scientific basis.
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Saw this story recently:
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article264867109.html
A Congresscritter’s wife supposedly died in 2021, from consuming an ‘herbal’ white mulberry leaf supplement. Color me skeptical. I wonder what may have been in that ‘supplement’ other than M.alba leaves.
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Hemlock, maybe? But just a guess.
The entire supplement industry is extremely unregulated so it really could have been almost anything. Or bacterial contamination, who knows. Any time someone does an independent analysis of supplements they rarely have whatever they claim to have in them in any meaningful quantities.
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I’m guessing Lucky’s comment is unrelated to your answer.
As for health foods having to have goobermint approval…glad they don’t!
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Actually, BB, I think both comments apply.
Nefarious exposure to another toxin in unexpected deaths… always gotta consider it.
Gov’t regulation/oversight of ‘herbal’ supplements is…well… take 'em at your own risk… they may or may not even contain what they purport to contain.
While I’d been unaware of - and never suspected - that M.alba leaves - consumed in moderation - would pose any hazard… the deer and cattle sure eat them with impunity, and I’ve seen people tout them as a salad green. But… in googling, I’ve seen cautions about M.alba leaves having the potential for toxicity in some people.
I’ve learned my thing for the day…
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