This is how it used to look! Click bait! You probably thought I was talking about ‘the system’ that is crushing us all, but it’s something less existential. In fact, it was one of our big IBC ‘ponics beds. There were two, half IBC beds, not there’s only one. The IBC was gifted to us and, until recently  I hadn’t known that some brands weren’t UV stabilized. Over the last year, the one most exposed to the sun has cracked a couple of times and last weak, a final, inoperable crack appeared. I removed the media and investigated but realised that it was a lost cause. Many small cracks were appearing so it would be a long term struggle.  Thinking about how to avoid the work of getting a new one, I spoke to Jelina and it turned out she was pleased to reclaim the space for her art studio. Win win ! The frame for both beds had been built to support and balance both and now there is only one, it was, like me, a little unbalanced. So I got to bracing it with the goal of rebuilding it to hold just one tub. Without emptying the tub. Like most home handymen, I thought I’d done an amazing job! Then on a final inspection, I saw a leg right at the back that I couldn’t remember. It was under the tub and inaccessible because of the fence behind it. The rest if my worked seemed sturdy enough, so I thought ‘bugger it, I donn’t need it’ and hit it with a bit of 50×50. Of you’ve read this far, you’re probably guessing what happened next. Yep, the whole thing pitched forward throwing media and water everywhere ✓ Subscribed I even reset the pavers that had sunk under the old weight. Busy boy! I was lucky I was crouching to the side and that I’d shifted the pump likewise. The black tub underneath didn’t fare so well. Squish! I was in such a tizzy about it all that I forgot to take any pics of the mess but trust me, it was exactly that. I managed to reuse some of the wood and used some scrap pieces laying around to make up the rest. The only thing I needed to buy was some more paint – my old stuff had dried to a crust. I received a shock at the price but that’s life and I got the cheapest possible ($60 for two litres). Fortunately we had several days over 45 degrees, so that helped the drying time a lot. The media was the next issue, two tubs full had to be used and I had thought about making the single new bed a constant height bed with the media level below where it was. If you’ve been following our adventures, especially of the ‘ponics kind, you’ll know that the media in this bed had been padded out with upturned, empty, ice cream containers. I’d decided to go without the padding and run it with a lower height of media. The upshot was maybe 1/3 cubic metre of clay balls and scoria mix had to find a home. There’s a lot to find a home for! Filling the new tub to the desired level, I was left with a remaining pile that I still don’t know what to do with. It’s too valuable to throw out or even just distribute it around the garden. I’ll give it a think… The other benefit was that the pump developed a leak in the swivel housing of the outlet bit. It is a submersible pond pump and with a swivel ‘head’ to allow the jet of water to go where directed. This had split. Digging in my boxes, I found an interesting looking threaded right angle fittig that, with a little adaptation, fitted nicely and now the water flow wasn’t restricted…we have a lot more pressure and flow rate – so much that I had to fit a tap to the end of the pipe! It is enough to run the tub with a Bell siphon – every wannabe aquaponics guru’s ultimate goal. Bell Siphons allow the whole media bed periodically, automatically quickly drain, allowing more oxygen to get to plant roots and also allowing worms to survive and clean up debris. Within minutes, I had a siphon working, though the water level at which it tripped was a bit too high. I cut the stand pipe down progressively and got the height right but then the siphon wouldn’t trip. Hmmm…time to adjust the flow rate …It’s just on the verge of kicking in but not quite (this is a fascinating part of the process, something I enjoy torturing myself with over several days). Next up was some new bird netting. This bed is for leafy greens, meaning that they don’t need pollination. That equals using a finer mesh net without making it too fine for the predatory wasps that make our ‘ponics their home. 5mm is perfect and a suitable size was conveniently on sale at Mitre 10. The last part to work on is some shade cloth. With the extreme temperatures, we need something and the grape vines I planted to shade this area aren’t grown enough yet. As a matter of fact, they got scorched themselves. More thinking… Nearly done! I won’t be planting out until next week. Temps are w-a-aa-a-y-y-y-y too high and we have a nasty dry wind. Who’d put seedlings through that? Jelina’s happy with the increased space. I’m happy with the improved woodwork and efficiency. If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Share on Print (Opens in new window)Print All of the information on Ligaya Garden Online is freely shared. Please consider making a small donation to keep it free for everyone. Just click this blue button.Submitting form

We’d like to make a moment in which we acknowledge that we live on Aboriginal land. Gawler is Kaurna land and borders on that of the Peramangk people. According to historical information from all parties, this land was never ceded but rather colonised through theft and violence. In this light, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, past present and future, and look forward to  working together to heal some of the damage done and to build a better future for all. Ivaritji. Kaurna Elder . Photo taken in 1928 Much of our personal connetion with Indigenous Australian Culture was formed on Ngarrindjeri Ruwe (Country) further down south.

It’s traditional to start the year espousing plans for the upcoming months. We’re no different here, finishing the year with a bit of a personal retrospective and starting the new one looking the opposite way. Here’s a little video of the garden, as it stands, just click the pic. We made many changes this year, some that we hadn’t planned, some that had been brewing for ages. For 2026, barring the unexpected, there should be few major alterations to the garden as its ticking along just as we like it.  The only big change will be the area around the now deceased Plum tree. It’s death (plus a little hard pruning) will leave a nice, illuminated place in front of the chook run. Hopefully, this will become another, well protected herb patch. The Apple and Nectarine trees now take on the role of primary shade trees, having reached a height that is quite nice for my aching joints to work with. By the end of 2026, I’ll have finished my herbalist qualification course and be just a couple of months short of graduating from the Grad Cert in Counselling. The two will combine together nicely and give me a pretty unique practice. Jelina will have finished her Master’s in Public Policy too and will be out there changing the world. We’ll still be running the workshops that we’ve become known for. I have 10 in the series now, making it easily possible to run one a month. and hopefully double up some too. I’ve been chatting a little with Nicole Rose from the Solidarity Apothecary in the UK about bringing more of her excellent books down under to support prisoners and victims of state violence. The shipping is a huge expense, so I’ll be suggesting she get them printed here rather than the UK. That’s all up in the air at the moment, with the festive season rolling past. Also, as I think I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve been connecting with other mutual aid projects from around the world lately, most notably, at this time, Herbalists Without Borders and Herbalista Free School. This is opening the doors to many  more potentials activities. The donations and subscriptions that some of you make goes toward subscriptions to these organisations, magnifying your kindness greatly and bringing many more resources for us to share here soon. If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Click to share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Click to share on Print (Opens in new window)Print Jelina’s hoping to get back to the Philippines to help her family celebrate the 10th anniversary her Mum’s passing. I won’t be able to afford to go with her, but it’s a hugely important thing to her so I’m right behind it. 2026 will be the 10th for my Mum too. Jelina and my Mum were close, so 2015 hit her with a double whammy, losing both Mums within a few months! The work with the Anti-Poverty Network will, undoubtedly continue  I can’t see social and political change happening quickly enough to stop the need for that, though times are changing and the political/economic right are facing more and more diverse, challenges than at any other time in history. We live in hope. In the same vein, I can see my activities with UCare continuing and possibly increasing as people will still need food and other support. None of this will go away in a hurry. This website will, through natural processes become more political. Everything we cover from growing yeggies, conserving water and making your family a little more food secure, to the rebellious act of teaching people how to make their own medicines are all things that are political acts nowadays  I won’t be bringing it into the main texts but will wrote about it on a separate page that’ll be accessible from the menu at the tip of the pages. Some of this is quite confronting to people who have never had to think about it before, so rather than trigger folks new to the ideas, I’ve decided to keep it separate but easily accessible. I haven’t come up with a name for the page yet but it’ll be there soon. I have written the first post for it though, that’s what gave me the idea. Sadly, I see racism and cookerism on the rise in 2026 as people find life more frustrating, and grifters like One Notion step up their inflammatory activities. These things always happen in tough times, and though they eventually fade in the light of simple logic and compassion, they never go away entirely. Unfortunately, herbs don’t help. Plants and critters will continue to show is the way, if we are observant enough. Some will die out locally, populations will shift, and new species will continue to rise in range and frequency. I’m seeing it locally with the rapid spread of Gazanias everywhere I look. They haven’t shared their role on the world with me yet, but continued observation will undoubtedly deliver some insight. I just that moment had a humorous insight. ‘Gazania’ contains the name ‘Gaza’. Maybe all the focus on that story and name has been attracting the plants. Words have meanings and connections, and while I’m not a particularly spiritual person, I freely acknowledge that there is much out there that I don’t understand. My big hope for 2026 – peace and the dismantling of the forces that oppress us. As Paolo Freire says, people aren’t saved from oppression, they must save themselves by partaking in their own liberation but first, they must become aware of their oppression. So many folks think that the world we live in is ‘normal’ and ‘inevitable’. A lot of my activity and studies over the last few months have been focused on waking myself and others up. It’s been tying in well with the subjects covered in the counselling course too. From a friend’s advice and my moderate knowledge of the Chinese Zodiac, the progression we need  has been with us for the last couple of years. 2024 was about coming into our personal strengths. 2025 was about identifying and discarding what doesn’t work and is redundant. 2026 is about stepping up and acting It all sounds like busy year but I will be working to relax much more, resting and consciously practicing laziness. The recent purchase of two inspiring books has lead me to believe that, to paraphrase Tricia Hershey and Devon Price – rest is, indeed resistance and laziness definitely doesn’t exist. Ill be resting and encouraging people to relax as much as possible, whenever possible and have planned a series of herbal posts to help. Rest up, take your ease, things seem to be working to a plan… Happy 2026! All of the information on Ligaya Garden Online is freely shared. Please consider making a small donation to keep it free for everyone. 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Happy Solstice, folks! If you get down at Christmas, whether it’s the economic drain, the fear of disappointing your kids or family, or maybe there’s someone the day brings memories of. Maybe you’re ASD or similar and all the fuss, noise, and lighting are overwhelming. There are other alternatives. Here’s something older and kinder to celebrate or just observe; a natural cycle recognised as healing and powerful for longer than we’ve been around…the Summer Solstice. Some just label it as the longest day of the year and have done with that, but it marks a halfway point in our home’s yearly cycle, a halfway point through the cycle of natural changes. As the Winter Solstice brings a time to rejoice in renewal, the Summer one lets us rejoice in natural change and the return to a period of rest Give thanks instead to a billions of year old rhythm of change and movement that has allowed us to be right here, right now, just who we are. If you’d like to help keep us going in the wind down to the Winter Solstice, please consider one of the subscription or donation options  below. ✓ Subscribed All of the information on Ligaya Garden Online is freely shared. Please consider making a small donation to keep it free for everyone. Just click this blue button.Submitting form

I’m sitting  with a Sparrow,  here in one of my favourite spots, shaded from late morning Sun by some lovely old vines. This year’s been a bumper one for growth – the periods of rain and warmth have kicked  many a plant into a frenzy of expansion. Every week, I’m  hacking a trail along our path in the garden, and it feels just like I’m back in the jungle in Sumatera. My writing companion. But rapid expansion has its costs. If we don’t water the rapidly spreading vines in the tubs out in the back at least twice a day, they wilt. Last year, we lost many a grape to a sudden hot northerly that lasted two days. The apples and pears, too, suffered; most of the leaves falling with the same northerly, exposing unripe fruit to the full Sun and the birds. Our beautiful Packham’s Triumph really copped it in 2024. The biggest infestation of Pear Slugs destroyed the foliage, then the wind, then the Sun. I’ve been trying to deal with Pear Slugs for a few years now. They’re the larvae of a species of Sawflies that live in the soil until late Spring when they emerge and bake a bee line (or is that a slug line) for our leaves. I’ve tried digging over the soil at the base of the tree and letting the chooks loose on the area. Sticky collars around the trunk are useless in our garden – everything’s so intergrown that the slugs just use another route. Some years, I’ve sprinkled wood ash or diatomeceous earth over the leaves, but these bring their own problems of shifting the pH in the area and harmony other insects, respectively.  This year, though, there’s been a respite, maybe to do with the sudden growth that is the topic of this post. Jelina planted Warrigal greens, and, true to form, they smothered the area below the plum (sorry Hyssop) amd along with the Nasturtiums seem to have provided a barrier to the slugs. Maybe it’s the rough texture of the Tetrahgonia, maybe the biting mustard oils of tje Nasturtiums? Maybe the convoluted route makes the journey too long for the slugs? I’m not sure, but it’s all worth watching and learning from. I was thinking that maybe it’s too early for the slugs, but we’ve seen a few (easily squishable) individuals, and many insects came early because of the shifting seasons. It’s worth meditating on. It’s a positive for me but a negative from the slug’s perspective. I left those last couple of paragraphs in the post to show how hopeful I am of achieving natural balance in the garden. The Pear Slugs didn’t listen, and two days after writing those paragraphs, they made an appearance and started their annual onslaught. Dessicated leaves everywhere! Rapid growth  can have unexpected benefits, too. If we get too much rain, a lot of plants throw up lots of soft young growth that then withers with the first heat. But maybe with older, larger plants, that’s a protective mechanism? They are all wiser than we, and maybe they can tell when extreme heat is coming. Maybe they throw up this soft growth, knowing it will wither and in witheringly, protect new growth beneath it from the Sun. They may use water when it’s freely available to build a protective layer that save’s water when its not. If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Click to share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Click to share on Print (Opens in new window)Print Vines take things over, interestingly, Vine is the Bach Flower Remedy for times and folks who dominate others, who smother and control, maybe its useful when growth is top quick? There’s lots to learn from Flower Essences. I think we’ll be saying goodbye to our Plum tree this Summe4… Our Satsuma Plum tree is dying. I think it is from our short-sighted greed but something we have to see as part of the cycle of things. We have become well known for the dense planting in our garden, something we got carried away with. The Plum was one of the first guests in our space and grew to a good size. It provided shade for house and garden, food and habitat for many, not to mention the sheer joy we got from it welcoming us every time we left the front door. Last year, i saw traces of a mosaic virus on some leaves, this year, it looked like leaf curl, but I could see no signs of the  Aphids  Now the leaves have all shrivelled and fallen. Maybe it’s a disease, but I can’t get it identified. My thoughts ate that it’s just been outcompeted by the other more rapidly growing trees that surround it. The Mulberry and Nectarine, which are it’s neighbours have put on an unprecidebted boost in their growth, and I think it’s taken all of the resources from the Plum. We’ve been giving it extra water and fertiliser and lots of gentle talking too, but I think that even the extras are being consumed by its neighbours. Tje ums roots spread widely through the garden, so it’s hard to feed it directly without boosting companions, too. I’ll cut it back a lot, take off all of the fruit and give it a few sorays with Oak, Crab Apple and  Star of Bethlehem Bach Flowers to help it in its struggle but eventually, Walnut may be needed to help with its transition. ✓ Subscribed If it passes, it will leave a patch of sunlight where there hasn’t been one before, maybe its just the natural development of the family that we’ve built in that small space. Even Blackbird babies (of which there have been many this year) push each other out of the nest as they grow. Maybe the same pattern is happening with the trees? Have a great holiday season, folks! If you’re Christian, have a Merry Christmas, and we’ll all catch up in the New calendar year!

There’s still some tickets available for the Intro to Kitchen Herbalism extravaganza at the Hills Environment Centre  on Sat, July 6. Come along and learn a whole lot about converting those wonderful plants in your garden into effective remedies for you, your family, and your  community. We’ll cover everything from harvesting to infusios and oils and a lot more. Everything we cover is available on this website, but, however educational and accessible we try to make the info, it’s always a lot more fun in person (with biscuits, too)! Ticket prices are on a sliding scale, ranging from AUD $8 to $20 and are available here – https://events.humanitix.com/introduction-to-kitchen-herbalism? If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Click to share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Click to share on Print (Opens in new window)Print Sliding scales for payment are an excellent way to make sure that the widest range of people can afford to attend events while ensuring the organisers can cover some of  their costs.. Or you can click on the pic to book! A donation option is also available on the ticket registration page so that you can support the good work of the Hills Environment Centre as they bring nature to you. ✓ Subscribed Other herb pages on Ligaya Garden We cover a lot of ground on many herb related topics here on our website. There are whole pages devoted to different topics as well as frequent posts. Some of the links are – Garden Herbs Wild Herbs Making Remedies Mushroom medicine

Don’t be put off of reading these posts if you don’t consider yourself an activist and just want to learn about herbs and gardens. It’s all relevant. Just by accessing this website, you are learning how to grow food, save power, make remedies, and treat minor health issues, all without much recourse to the inttitutions that are causing all of our problems. Every dollar you keep out of the hands of the big companies is a form of activism. This is the second post in a brief series about self care and health support for those involved in activism. Whether it’s climate campaigning, poverty alleviation, anti-fascism work, or work about any kind of injustice or oppression you may identify with, we all need a little support. As you may have seen in the last post, the Bach and other Flower Essences can be a great support in these times. There are many other kinds of flower essences out there but I’m writing mostly about the Bach Essences because I’m very familiar with them. The previous post covered essences that I think are most suitable in the lead up to or during an action. This one will be more about those that can affect how we better chose our tasks. This post’s essences are- Wild Oat Wild Oats may help us to align better with our true calling. If you’re like me, you may have drifted from job to job, interest to interest, and action to action without really finding a home. Some of these activities may have helped you feel partially connected or even brought great satisfaction for a while, but that always faded. Wild Oat helped me to refine what I was doing as a gardener and casual herbalist into a career dedicated to herbalism and healing. More recently, it has helped me take advantage of recent offers and challenges in various areas and  focus my energy, for a while, on going back to university to undergo a graduate diploma in counselling. Wild Oat has helped me find my calling. It is a calling that people have been telling me about for decades, but I just couldn’t connect with it. Wild Oat has helped me to be settled in this thinking. I’ve heard of some surprisingly powerful realisations coming to people after just a single dose and a good sleep. Wild Oats are that potent. Chestnut Bud. Have you ever found yourself getting the same difficulties over and over again? Getting involved in online arguments that go nowhere, getting drained by attending every protest, rally, or action? Getting involved in things and wondering ‘why am I really doing this’? Then doing it all over again. Chestnut Bud is the Bach Remedy that is for people who keep making the same mistakes over and over. They may not learn each time, or may be so passionate about things that they just get involved in any way. It’s also a remedy for activists who see people making the same mistakes and not learning from observing those experiences. We often get stuck in the same forms of protest and activism and just don’t see that they’re not achieving what we want them to. Chestnut Bud, like Wild Oat, helps us align more clearly with our path. Both help us focus on it and bring us closer to why we really are here. Chestnut Bud helps us to realise that we are burning precious energy and causing ourselves all kinds of agitation when we don’t need to. Realising this, we can simplify, clarify, and act. Maybe  you do other things that are undermining your energy and resources. Whenever I became interested in a topic, I had a habit of buying several books on it all at once. Then I would absorb what I needed from one or two of them, and the books would lay silent, some of them even unread. Taking Chestnut Bud when starting a new venture or moving into a new field of interest has helped me save a LOT of money that way. ✓ Subscribed Scleranthus Do you get worked up wondering which option to take? Does the choice between two things make you anxious? Are you constantly switching between one option and another as the better, unable to decide? Scleranthus is for you. Like the previous two essences mentioned in this post, Scleranthus clarifies things by helping us to move closer to our true calling. When we have two choices, logically, one will always seem better, but often, the second option is close or has a more emotional appeal. Neither may be perfect, causing us to vacillate between the two. Scleranthus helps us to decide what we already truly know inside of ourselves. It may help us make the best decision for ourselves, or it may even help us to realise that neither is suitable.  Cerato Cerato is best suited for those who are constantly second-guessing themselves. It helps when we often make a choice that we suddenly wonder if it was the best move? It’s not about actually making a mistake – they’re integral and exciting parts of living and learning, it’s about making a choice, then wondering if it’s the best one. Over and over again. Cerato also benefits those who don’t heed their own counsel and are constantly seeking advice from others. This remedy can align you better with your own intuition, helping you to follow it and, thus, your own counsel. Heather Heather is one of the remedies that I’ve found a new use, contemporary use for.  It is usually recommended for when folks find themselves self obsessed – I like to think of the example of  the kind of person you go on a date with who would talk only about themselves. The ‘oversharer’ fits under Heather’s umbrella, too. I get it a lot as a herbalist (the oversharing, not the dating side of it) – I sit down for a chat with folks and suddenly I’m hearing long, extremely detailed descriptions and questions about their health. Sometimes, I wish I had a little spritzer of Heather that I could give them a quick spray with! Of course, I understand their need – the medical system doesn’t listen, so they need an outlet, but sometimes, I just want to talk about the weather. Heather is for the oversharers. Those who wear their hearts on their proverbial sleeves and need to tell people what they are thinking and feeling at every opportunity. That’s why I call Heather the ‘anti-facebook remedy’. Heather is especially suited in this social media age of quick posts and quicker responses. A world where people are constantly trying to validate them self with self obsessed pics themselves or even of their food and spraying every single thought they have out into the ether. Then only feel good when the likes and hearts come rolling in. If you think you are spending too much time online and getting too worked up, maybe Heather is for you? It affects activists, too.  You may see injustice online and want to share it, needing  everyone to know how you felt about this issue. Heather isn’t for those who write long posts that are thought out, researched, and often rewritten many times. Rather its for those who are constantly posting or reposting things, almost without reflection. Sharing ones ideas and even one’s pain is perfectly normal. As a communal species that has evolved by sharing, we need to do it. We it in order to be part of a healing community When one is in a place where they have no ability to regulate this need, a person may find themselves sharing at every single perceived opportunity. They may share something that then opens the floodgates to a dumping of a whole lot more than they bargained for onto the poor listener. It may make the listener feel uncomfortable and may also embarrass the speaker. Heather helps us rein in this tendency. Sharing is great but when it becomes an overwhelming need, it can be detrimental. If you’re an activist involved in planning and organising, you will undoubtedly have come across that one participant who keeps turning the conversation to themselves and their needs or trauma dumping and draining the impetus out of the meeting. Heather is for them. If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Click to share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Click to share on Print (Opens in new window)Print Red Chestnut Sensitivity to other’s suffering is one of the hallmarks of being a decent human being. It’s what radicalizes many of us and turns us into activists. However, it can become a negative trait when it becomes too exaggerated. It is hard to watch children starving in Gaza, and it is difficult to hear of deaths in the Sudan or Congo. Maybe we have friends caught in the horrorshow that is the current the US too. Naturally, we can become worried and concerned, but sometimes, that concern can become a huge drain on the energy that we need to live our own lives. Concern is a natural, positive thing and one that’s got us through many of the trials and tribulations we’ve experienced both in our daily lives and as a culture, but like many things it can take over. Like any other emotion (I classify concern as an emotion, others many not), concern and worry for others can overwhelm us at times. If you’ve ever kept listening for a car to come up when your kid is out on a date or spent sleepless nights worrying about your partner’s health when all they have is a relatively minor illness, you have experienced some of the things that Red Chestnut can help with. Laying awake night after night worrying about families in Gaza is something that, while it shows your humanity, doesn’t do you any good, It drains your energy and erodes your health. Red Chestnut doesn’t make us cold and indifferent. It brings us the understanding that there are times and places to do our work and that our energies are sometimes better conserved. Red Chestnut can help refocus your energies and concerns and help you understand that there are some things that you should not spend every moment pouring the energy of worrying into. It helps you understand that while there are things that we can do, that, this, right now, isn’t helping and that your energies are better conserved for other tasks.  It also helps us to understand that everyone has their own path. Whether through divine guidance or personal choice, we all have to follow our own path and that we can’t be responsible for all of the choices and actions of others. If we take that responsibility on ourselves, we smother them and their opportunities for growth at the expense of ourselves. I think this set of remedies can help us clarify our thinking, easy our energy use while still remaining true to our hearts and make it easier to maintain our efforts as activists without getting stuck in areas that may not be right for us. I hope youre enjoying this little series. I think its time to prepare ourselves for more challenging times but not in the prepper way. If we look at and are honest with ourselves we can make greater , more efficient changes where the world needs.  Flower Essences help us with this.  Next in this series, I’ll address the sadder side of activism with the remedies that can help us with grief, sadness, and disappointment.  Other herb pages on Ligaya Garden We cover a lot of ground on many herb related topics here on our website. There are whole pages devoted to different topics as well as frequent posts. Some of the links are – Garden Herbs Wild Herbs Making Remedies Mushroom medicine All of the information on Ligaya Garden Online is freely shared. Please consider making a small donation to keep it free for everyone. Just click this blue button.Submitting form

It’s been a while since we posted any pics of the garden, so I thought I’d better get my act together and show you kind folks what’s been growing. Click the image and let Athena take you for a stroll ✓ Subscribed If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Click to share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Click to share on Print (Opens in new window)Print All of the information on Ligaya Garden Online is freely shared. Please consider making a small donation to keep it free for everyone. Just click this blue button.Submitting form

There's a few events coming up over the next month that yours truly is presenting along with The Precinct and the Hills Environment Centre

This is a post about how to nurture your own activism in these tense times. Whether it is purposeful gardening, focused non violence, local protests, letter writing or engaging on social media. All of that stuff can get to us. This is one of a short series about supporting ourselves and our communities when facing any of the many injustices in the world that we are seeing at the moment.

Leave Chia seeds in water for a long while and you’ll get a wonderful, gooey mucilage that can help your digestion, reduce inflammation and boost your immuntiy. Chia (Salvia hispanica) is in the Mint (Lamiaceae) family and shares this feature with other members of the family such as Basil. Basil seeds are used in the Middle East as an additive to many drinks because their mucilage helps make them more soothing. ✓ Subscribed Mucilages are fascinating. Their chemistry is pretty simple (polysaccharides that swell when wet) but their powerful effects on our body are myriad and fascinating and reflect our development from embryo to the gorgeous bags of bacteria that are our mature bodies. It is easy to see their how contact with a mucous membrane can soothe it, especially if that membrane is in our mouth or upper digestive tract where direct contact is inevitable but how do they work with intestines, bladder or even our nasal membranes, from which we are often working to remove mucus. It’s all to do with the development of our nervous system and mucous membranes from when we are a tiny embryo, possibly since inception. They all grow and develop from a single source, differentiating as the embryo matures but staying connected. The nerves that serve the membranes also develop at the same time and they all keep in touch! So when a bit of mucilage touches one mucous membrane, messages are sent to all of them so that they all know that one is being soothed and all respond and the body reduces inflammation, inncreases mucous production and whatever else is necessary to heal themselves. One of the terms for this is ‘reflex action’. You can learn a lot more about mucus and mucilage at Food Underfoot because one of the plants we investigate is famous for its mucilage. Can you guess which plant it is? Other herb pages on Ligaya Garden We cover a lot of ground on many herb related topics here on our website. There are whole pages devoted to different topics as well as frequent posts. Some of the links are – Garden Herbs Wild Herbs Making Remedies Mushroom medicine All of the information on Ligaya Garden Online is freely shared. Please consider making a small donation to keep it free for everyone. Just click this blue button.Submitting form If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Click to share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Click to share on Print (Opens in new window)Print

An era ends as the covers close on Grass Roots magazine.

Hi! We have glorious weather here at the moment. Today, there’s not a cloud in the sky. Wow! This weekend, I’m doing a little talk on how we control pests here at Ligaya Garden (spoiler…we do nothing!). It’ll be at the Spring Garden Festival at the Mt. Pleasant Market on Saturday if you want to come along or if you’re a regular market attendee. So, I thought I’d share  a brief post with a few garden pics to celebrate this gorgeous day! If you’re finding this information useful, share it with your community Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Pinterest Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Tumblr Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window)Threads Click to share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail Click to share on Print (Opens in new window)Print ✓ Subscribed All of the information on Ligaya Garden Online is freely shared. Please consider making a small donation to keep it free for everyone. Just click this blue button.Submitting form

For 18 days, six members of JVP-Chicago led a hunger strike that helped re-center Gaza in the public discourse and pressure elected officials.