I use a neti pot (aka 'nasal irrigation') for general sinus health. Since I started about 2 years ago, my chronic sinus issues have improved by 80%. I mix 1/4 tsp salt (with a little bicarbonate) per cup of water, heat for about 12 seconds in the microwave to make it approximately body temperature, and put it in a neti pot and pour it through one nostril, out the other. This helps moisturize the sinuses, flushes allergens, and improves the health of the cilia and mucous membranes. Some neti practices include adding a drop or two of vegetable oil (sesame or sunflower) to moisturize when humidity is low, or use of diluted herbal teas with salt to directly treat the sinuses. I bought my neti pot at a major pharmacy chain near my house - it included basic instructions and 50 or 100 premixed saline packets (nice for travel). Now I mix my own salt and the cost per day is a fraction of a cent. There is a short book on Neti by David Frawley that covers the subject in more depth. Good if you Really have sinus issues, but not necessary if you just want to do the basic saline rinse from time to time. Here is a link that might be useful: Neti page at Wikipedia

From a distinguished expert on herbalism and other forms of alternative medicine, Edzard Ernst: "Craniosacral therapy (CST), which, confusingly, is sometimes also called âÂÂcranial osteopathyâÂÂ, was invented less than half a century ago by an osteopath. He thought that the spinal fluid is pulsating, the cranial bones are sufficiently movable to enable a therapist feel this pulse from the outside, and that it is possible to influence this process with very gente manual manipulations which, in turn, would restore health in sick individuals. According to the inventor, the CST-practitioner uses his or her own hands to evaluate the craniosacral system by gently feeling various locations of the body to test for the ease of motion and rhythm of the fluid pulsing around the brain and spinal cord. Soft-touch techniques are then used to release restrictions in any tissues influencing the craniosacral system..." "To many desperate patients or distressed parents of ill children - CST is often advocated for children, particularly those suffering from cerebral palsy - this sort of lingo might sound impressive; to anyone understanding a bit of physiology, anatomy etc. it looks like pure nonsense. CST has therefore been considered by most independent experts to be on the lunatic fringe of alternative medicine."... Clinical trials have not been kind to craniosacral therapy. "The conditions treated in the trials were diverse: cerebral palsy, migraine, fibromyalgia and infant colic. All the badly-flawed studies reported positive results. The only rigorous trial was the one with children suffering from cerebral palsy - and here the findings were squarely negative. The conlusion of my review was blunt and straight forward: âÂÂthe notion that CST is associated with more than non-specific effects is not based on evidence from rigorous randomised clinical trialsâÂÂ. This is a polite and scientific way of saying that CST is bogus..." "In a nutshell: 1) ineffective therapies, such as CST, may seem harmless but, through their ineffectiveness, they constitute a serious threat to our health; 2) bogus treatments become bogus through the false claims which are being made for them; 3) seriously flawed studies can be worse than none at all: they generate false positive results and send us straight up the garden path." http://www.ebm-first.com/craniosacral-therapy.html Note that I could have just said "Craniosacral therapy is bogus" without any references and expected readers to believe me. But I think visitors to this forum deserve more than personal opinions.

I live in eastern Washington and the people here are the same way! If you see someone in the park looking at roses or other plants, then most of them are happy to discuss plants and even offer suggestions of where to learn more. It's also common for neighbors to share plants, when they do garden. Not many people grow herbs, but those who do are also happy to share information and make recommendations. However, some have gone to school for this, others have life experience and some have both. If you want to get the most help available, I wouldn't discount any of these paths....since they all lead to knowledge and the ability to share that knowledge with others. FataMorgana- Nice to 'see' you...and I hope your gardens are all doing well. I agree with everything you said about growing your own plants and the reasons it is important to do so. Thank you for your insight :)

Dang, I wish I could go, but we have other plans. I took a course from one of the speakers, Gary Koller, last fall and he's really great. I never knew daylilies were edible!