I'm someone who always likes to be learning something and will pursue the current passion for a few years before moving on to the next interest. Serious food storage (beyond the long-term basics), gardening, history, and clothing production (sewing and knitting so far--weaving is in the future), among other interests captured my attention in the past and I continue to apply what I have learned to my life.
Alternative medicine is my current focus for personal education. Unfortunately, the actual practice isn't something that you can just decide to do each day, or any day for that matter. I can get up in the morning and decide to try a new food storage recipe, read about events leading up to the Civil War, or start spinning some wool and angora for a sweater. But no one here is volunteering to find a rattlesnake and get bitten (rightly so) so that we can try out some herbal treatments. Tumbleweeds are reputed to have been used by the Native Americans for treating smallpox. Did a tumbleweed wash actually work back then? Would a tumbleweed wash work on the current strains of smallpox should they somehow escape the laboratories where they are studied?
Who knows?
Information presented here in the alternative medicine section of the blog is only a springboard for your further research. You should verify everything you read about alternative medicine. I can present results of studies conducted mostly in other countries (Big Pharma doesn't like us using plants in this country) and anecdotal accounts of herbal remedies used by Native Americans. Plant-based medicines can be very powerful. There is a reason why pharmaceutical companies pour a lot of money into researching plants and isolating compounds from them. Throughout all of human history, our medicines have come from plants. But Big Pharma can't patent plants and make money. Big Pharma can only patent synthetic compounds, so they isolate the active constituents of a plant and reproduce it synthetically. And charge big bucks.
Poorer countries can't afford Big Pharma's prices for their designer drugs. So they are more likely to do research on alternative folk remedies that have been used for hundreds and thousands of years.
Someday the United States is going to become one of those Third World countries. And when we collapse, we won't even be able to research alternative treatments. We need to do that now. Or perhaps, we need to study what has been done, and learn how to use it. Plants are sources of incredibly powerful antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, antihelminths, etc. And they're renewable and sustainable, unlike the fish or leftover antibiotics that you've squirreled away. And bacteria can't develop resistance to them. Awesome, huh?
And now for the standard disclaimer: As you read these posts on alternative medicine, keep in mind that all of this is for entertainment and informational purposes only. It's to help you decide whether the uses of any given plant will be of benefit in your future and whether it's something you need to research more on your own. Plant-based medicine can be extremely powerful (opium or foxglove (digitalis), anyone?) and can interact with traditional pharmaceuticals. Do not take any herbal without consulting your physician. There may be contraindications, especially during pregnancy. Just because it is a plant does not mean it is perfectly safe. And, anyone can experience an allergic reaction to anything at any time.
My husband has wanted me to do this for years, mainly as a means of
additional income for the family. With my professional writing
experience and years of living and teaching a self-reliant lifestyle, he
figured it was a no-brainer. I opposed the idea for at least a few
reasons: I definitely did not want to attract the attention of the bad
guys; seven or eight years ago when my husband first started suggesting
this idea I was sure our societal collapse was imminent, and therefore
encouraging people to prepare through my writing would be pointless; and
writing takes time and any project I undertake (especially one that
will have an audience) must be done very well.
So
what's changed? Nothing. I still don't want to attract unwanted
attention (or any, really--I loathe the limelight). I still feel
collapse is imminent. Few people will be encouraged to prepare through
my writing and there are already loads of other blogs out there.
Writing still takes me forever; I think a preparedness blog should be
done every day--after all, preparedness is a daily way of life--not
something that happens weekly or monthly or whenever. And blogs are
supposed to have pictures. Lots of pictures. I loathe taking pictures
and taking the time to insert them and I don't have a good camera or
good lighting for it most of the time.
And I hear a
friend's voice advising me not to let the great be the enemy of the
good. My goal is to provide a good source of information and ideas for
preparing better. I'll take pictures when absolutely necessary.
Because we are busy people and because many learn and retain information
best when it is presented in small amounts more frequently, this will
be a daily blog, Monday through Saturday, with most posts that can be
read in just a few minutes. If you have questions, post a comment and I
will answer ASAP.
If collapse is imminent, I
shouldn't attract too much unwanted attention, so it is ok to begin this
project. As I write this with the purpose of educating my children and
grandchildren and getting my brain on paper for them--and doing it on a
daily basis, I have to let go of perfectionism in my writing. And I'll
have to let readers use their imagination or the internet when most
writers would let pictures do the talking.
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