Lots of plants to start

Ephedra - Natural adderall?

Another plant growing from old seed (6-10 years old). Aren’t seeds amazing? Ephedra sinica is somewhat notorious, because ephedrine was purified from it and used in excess by people wanting to lose weight. I believe they can make an artificial ephedrine too.  So the FDA prohibited selling supplements that contain ephedrine. Of course, anything used in excess can be dangerous, even water. But it is legal to grow your own plant. 

It’s a stimulant kind of like coffee with caffeine. I have trimmed  several tips, about 1/4 teaspoon and chewed them, but didn’t really notice anything.  I guess you need more.

There are several kinds of Ephedra. Ephedra sinica (also called Ma Huang) is apparently the most potent. It hails from the desert steppes of Northern China. We also have Mormon tea (Ephedra nevadensis or Ephedra viridis) here in the U.S. It looks the same, but apparently doesn’t stimulate, but is used to alleviate asthma and the common cold.

Ephedra grows up to two feet tall, Maybe I should put mine in a bigger pot. There must be a female and a male plant to get fertile  seeds, so with one plant I won’t be able to get seeds. You can buy Ephedra seedlings at Strictly Medicinal Seeds. Their seeds are out of stock at the moment. You can buy seeds on Ebay. 

Plant Name Tags

99% of the time I won’t remember what I planted in such and such a pot. So I always need to identify the seeds that I planted.

I do this by cutting up aluminum cans like soda or juice cans. Then with any kind of sharp point, pen or pick, I write the name of the seed on the bit of aluminum, And the name will always be there, never fades, because it is impressed into the metal.

I was a member of an organic forum and when I suggested this method of identifying seeds, I was excoriated by the members for suggesting using any kind of aluminum in my garden. Once the plant is growing, I'll pick up the tags.

I don’t know, but the aluminum doesn’t “rust” like other metals, so maybe there are a few atoms left in the soil. Would this be so terrible?

Lemongrass. Useful and easy plant to grow.

This is my lemongrass plant.

I grew it from seed. And get this. The seeds were at least six years old. I have a lot of old seeds that I got six to ten years ago. So I thought I might as well try and see if they will grow. This place says you propagate lemongrass by division. There are different kinds of lemongrass, so that might be a factor. I plan to divide this so I have more plants.

You can also root lemongrass from lemongrass stems you get at the grocery store. I had a lemongrass growing last year, but it died. Maybe it didn’t die. Maybe it just was dormant, and I didn’t give it time to come back after the winter.

Unlike citrus plants like lemon and lime, lemongrass is quite easy to grow. As I noted in my last post citrus plants are not that easy to grow if you are a casual gardener. This Australian gardener shows you how to grow lots of it outside if you live in Zone 11 or above.

One good thing about lemongrass, it’s easy to identify. It tastes like lemon, duh. I have been clipping several inches off the ends every few days. Some say to use the bottom of the stems for cooking, but the whole thing tastes like lemon, so I don't see why not use the top part too. I like to add it to anything I cook—soups, stews, casseroles. Especially since I learned about how healthy it is for you as they tell you here, 

You can buy plants or seeds at Richters. And seeds on eBay. It certainly is an easy, visually interesting and useful plant to grow outside or inside your home.