Digging Up Earthnuts (Conopodium Majus)
The custom of grubbing for Earthnuts, or Pignuts is as ancient as mankind itself. Although these tasty tubers are beloved of pigs (hence the name) they are a most unusual and rewarding woodland snack and there was a time when they were a popular nibble for country children on their way to and from school.The fern like leaves appear along with the Lesser Celandine in the spring. During May and July they develop umbellifer heads with white flowers not unlike Cow Parsley. According to Gerard and others the Dutch once ate them 'boiled and buttered, as we do parseneps and carrots'. Unearthing a pignut is a delicate operation.
The root disconnects from the tuber very easily, which can be several inches from where the stem appears above ground.Follow the stem under the earth using careful scraping with a twig, fingernail or knife. Eventually you will reach the pignut which is covered with a chestnut coloured skin. If you can wash the nut at this stage it avoids getting muddy fingernails while peeling. As soon as I found the one shown in the picture, an earthworm appeared and
dived into the hole it left!Scrape off the papery outer coating to reveal the Earthnut. The older name for Earthnuts is 'Earth Chestnuts' and this gives you a clue to their taste - a chestnut texture but with a more earthy taste.
There's nothing like carefully digging one of these up during a walk in the woods. Do it with your fingernails. As the earthy taste hits the senses you are drawn more completely into contact with the nature around you. A true 'pomme de terre'.Gerard's Herbal mentions that 'There is a Plaister made of the seeds hereof, whereof to write in this place were impertinent to our historie'....Probably witches again!
Earthnuts get a mention in Shakespeare's 'Tempest', from Caliban as he promises: "I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow;
And with my long nails I will dig thee pignuts". With thanks to R.
Maybee, R. Phillips and M. Woodwards version of Gerard's Herbal..
Simon MitchellFrom an ebook called ‘Wild Food’ underway at simonthescribe. If you wish to republish this article (with this resource box intact) you will find excellent quality pictures to accompany it at http://www.simonthescribe.co.uk/pignuts.htmlHome Gardening Tips
Copyright (c) 2006 Ngullen Rivera
Home gardening can be fun, no matter what kind of garden it is. For instance, you can decorate the perimeter of your house with beautiful tulips, lilies, or other flowers. In addition you can sustain your household with a healthy supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Gardening is quite a task, no matter what kind of garden it is. Those who have never planted a garden may need some help with the steps for creating a garden that will produce. In order to have a blooming garden you need to keep in mind the following tips:
o Make sure you plant your seeds or flowers in the right types of soil.
Some plants grow better in loose and sandier soil, while others grow better in rich, dark, and moist soil. You can even find plants that grow better in rocky soil, or soil that contains large amounts of clay or metallic minerals. Therefore, when you choose flowers or vegetables for your garden you need to make sure that...
Home Gardening Tips
Seeds > Home Gardening Tips
Do Not Ever Link to a Site Without Doing This First!
Links are a crucial part of attaining high search rankings, but you must be very careful about to whom you link.
I'm going to help you develop a simple link strategy for your website that will help you decide which sites to link to so you're making your way up the search engine rankings and not accidentally hurling yourself backwards.So the natural questions are:Should I link to everyone I can find?Should I allow everyone to link to me?Should I get one of those "link to 2,000 site for $10" things?The answer to all of the above is NO!Develop
A Link StrategyWe're going to do an easy-to-digest version of what a search engine optimizer would do if you were to hire one.
There are many reasons for having your site professionally optimized which would take up articles in themselves.
This is one of the attack strategies for determining optimum, quality links for your site. Step 1
Where are your competitors linked?Don't arbitrarily find random sites...
Seeds > Do Not Ever Link to a Site Without Doing This First!
Plants, Herbs, and Roots for Love
In the column Plants, Herbs and Roots For Prosperity, I explain in detail how to practically use a plant material to attract things to you, so refer to that if you have never used plant matter in magic before.In brief, the main methods of using plant material to draw love are: carrying the substance on your person in a locket or a sachet, boiling the herb and sprinkling the residual water around your residence, putting a sprig of it under your bed or in your pillow and burning it as incense. Also with love attracting, just keeping the living plant in your house can help increase your vibrations. Some flowers can also be dropped in a bath.Here is a list of common plants, herbs and roots used in love magic with some tips about how to use them:Apple Blossoms: One of the simplest love attracting spells involves dropping these pretty blossoms in your bath. It is said to make others thing that you are more attractive than you are! Apple blossoms are also said to increase fertility. Carrying...
Plants, Herbs, and Roots for Love
Seeds > Plants, Herbs, and Roots for Love
What Does the World Owe You?
Copyright 2005 Sometimes many of us feel like we've made deposits into society, yet we are unable to make withdrawals. Whenever I have felt that way in the past, I read essays like Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Compensation, which I made into a free downloadable copy and distributed last week in the special success issue of my ezine.The other day a good friend of mine told me that I deserve to be more successful because I help so many other people, and so often without seeing a direct reciprocation. Just this morning, it was implied in another conversation that the internet community "owes" me something, in return for all the free site promotion and marketing information I give away.But the truth is, I don't wonder about what the world owes me any longer. That's because I know better, through a long road of mental, physical, emotional and financial struggle, I've come to understand that the world really doesn't owe me anything.I've already been paid, and so have you.We get our gifts at...
What Does the World Owe You?
Seeds > What Does the World Owe You?