Barb I never participated in a RR. Do we send our shares to you and you contribute them to others`? Karma since you do not sell them, I guess I have to try it this way lol GORGEOUS you are just the bestes housewife ;-) I AM IN :-) Lucy

Well, after having a minor disagreement with Canada Post yesterday over the $9.00 postage fee they wanted to charge to send that envelope of seeds, the seeds were repackaged in a large envelope and posted for $1.96 as Heather said CP would charge. Beet5, the envelope is on its way to you with a nice selection of tomato seeds. The envelope is not traveling too far so you will see it soon. I added 32 "different" varieties after taking 19 packets. Thank you the participant who added the tomato packets with the writing in blue permanent marker. Those were quite the selection of tomato seeds. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank Heather for hosting this round robin. Your generosity and dedication are very much appreciated. Thank you! Cheers, Deb

You are a bunch of swap addicts! And I'm not! Really! Anyway, I was looking if there was a subcategory on GW for medicinals because I have a whole book on Tropical medicinals written by a Tahitien (wow I'm reading his biography-here all the Tahitiens consider him their own , looks like one too, but he's French all the way, not even half!), an awsome pharmacist(who travelled extensively throughout the world as a French naval officer), who learned and recorded many of the ancient remedies of all of Polynesia (and from other parts of the world), from the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, and the windward and leeward islands, which include your more familiar Tahiti and Borabora respectively. So even when our old medicine men and women have mostly left this world, because of his efforts, we have many recorded for our posterity. And the plants he has highlighted are ones that you guys have been trading forever, and I want to leave a record somewhere , accessible to all about what treasures of pharmacology you are growing. For example, would you not want to know that your: Sesbanian grandiflora: .In India the leaves are used for head colds and migraines, but mashing them and inserting them in the nostrils. At first profuse secretion drainage, then the sinuses will fell better and the migraine is gone quickly. Hig in Vit A B1, C, young bugs are cooked and eaten by them and the Burmese, Vietnamese. Cassia alata: A paste made of dried leaves and water or fresh lime juice are rubbed vigourously on snake(cobra) bites in Malaysia, at the tikme the book was written it was among the promising plants that proved to retard cancerous tumors in rats. Cassia occidentalis: Decoction of leaves for fever, add some roots it also becomes a diuretic. The fresh seeds are poisonous but roasted become a caffeine free coffee. Tamarindus indica:boiled fruit pulp for fever and constipation. the decoction of leaves are applied topically for rectocilitis, enteritis. an infusion of leaves for conjontivitis, anticancer properties as the other cassias in mice. Averrhoa carambola(Star fruit) The juice of the green fruit rich in potassium oxalate is used to shine metal surfaces. Ficus prolixa (Banian):Chinese tradition says that leprosy is a boold disease activated by hot and humid climate where banians trees multiply, from their roots a poison is exuded to the soil, then to the water, and passes to humans. To diagnose leprosy, Chinese from the Yunan province would then confirm this diagnosis by making the afflicted with a decoction of its roots and wait for 10m days for the telling signs on the person's face. In polynesia the white tips of aerial roots are used for bronchitis ( I remember my mother sending me in the neigborhood to get some for my brother),gingivitis, for yeast infections,and anthrax! The subterean roots , a diuretic used especially for tuberculous persons Phyllanthus urinarius (red /puple), or amarus(white): considered the plant for ear problems, the whole plant is mashed and strained thru a coth the suc is then mixed with coconut oil(mono'i)heated over a lamp and applied around the ears nad sometimes on the calix (on the head)too. Shoot, I thought this is what you girls called the 'sensitive plant, but one of my seed packet called that mimosa pudica, so i' don't know if the two are the same, all i remember is that my mom would send me to get the former especially making sure it was mature enough to have the round nodes on the underside of each leaves and she even justused those little round nodes to make the remedy for my borthers ear infection, but she mixed the juice from them mixed with coconut oils and heated over a lamp then put the drops right in the affted ears and around the ears too. I am quite interested to draw the parallels between the uses of these tropicals with their uses here. Am I wasting my time for wanting to put this on GW?

Hey Barb, They are pretty easy to grow and if they bloom for you, they attract butterflies at least here in zone 10. I don't know if you have the same butterflies as we do. The temperature might drop to freezing tonight which doesn't sound like much except almost every plant here shows damage at less than 32 degrees. I've covered things with sheets. My garden looks like I'm set for Halloween with ghosts. boooooooo Barb