As I went walkabout before the storm today I noticed a sassafras sprout down by the blueberries ... Reminded me of Spring habits when I was a child...The Blueberries, by the way...apparently are completely barren this year...healthy looking bushes, but very heavily shaded by young John's climbing oak tree....They're way yonder too old to attempt to move them , so ...I set out another bush a few years back out in the sun, and it's got a normal amount of berries on it and everything..so ..Gotta be the shade....I fertilized them while I was down there... I'm re printing an article I wrote about sassafras sometime back....If you're as forgetful as I am it'll mostly be new to you anyway ! *grin* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sassafras tea comes out of the ground, in the form of roots from a bush that can grow into a thicket if left alone, or if it is one tree it can be as big around as a 5 gallon bucket , like the one in the yard next door to me. It has seed that the birds liberally sow, and we have one of the seedlings that came up in the wildflower garden that is tall as the house almost, but not too big around yet....The leaves can be in about 5 different shapes ,[one is like a mitten..] all on the same branch. It's pretty in the Fall when the leaves color up very brightly.. In the Spring Southern folks dig the roots of sassafras , wash them well, and simmer in water to cover them until the water is a deep rusty red. It is drunk hot or cold, and is good either way....Gotta add sugar to it...I believe there are two kinds, and the red Sassafras is the most hunted. Don't know how to tell the two kinds apart...I just use whichever I manage to get... I can remember when I was about 8 or 9 us three oldest kids took the chopping axe and went to get some roots..Daddy might have plowed them up, as I don't remember digging....We took a shortcut through the woods on our way home and rinsed most of the dirt off the roots in a big puddle we found in a little wet weather creek....Guess Mom was proud to see the roots didn't need much washing, because water had to be drawed up out of a well . It wasn't too deep, but had one of those long skinny buckets ..We drank the tea cold as well water would make it, but friends in Southern Illinois drink it hot....It's good either way....You can freeze the extra roots for later use....I see bottles of Sassafras tea extract in stores, but haven't tried it....At one time you could buy shavings that smelled like the real thing OR bundles of pieces of root in the store...Not now...Causes cancer I read ..some part of the root. Heck, folks drank it all their long lives, back in the day.....Jeannie T PS: I've read that early settlers to this country smelled the sassafras before they even came ashore....Don't understand that, unless there had been a storm...Speaking of storms, hope you and yours are comfy and dry , in spite of the crazy weather.... ____________________________________________________________ 2550% Penny Stock Gains? Our last pick exploded 2550% - Join our newsletter for free picks! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4dccd6d0a8d4a1abebm06duc

I enjoy the flavor of sassafras--in teas or in drops for the throat-they sooth my throat when allergies make it scratchy. I think many of the old remedies that my grandmother taught me work better than the medicines the doctors now give us. Warm honey, lemon juice and whiskey helped us sleep when we had congestion, mustard plasters helped chest congestion and nasal blockages, herb teas soothed the stomach and I remember her putting mint leaves around the mop boards so the ants did not go in the pantry--I was trying to remember some others--when we had cramps a hot water bottle held on our stomach always helped so much. I sometimes think some of the medicine we are given are dangerous in the long run--my sister takes a lot of medicine for various illnesses and the warnings on them would scare me so, I would never take any of them! An aspirin when really needed is okay! I an a great fan of Mentholatem(spelling?) I rub it on my nose and chest and it works well and I love the way it smells! Helen

I don't really remember how mentholateum smells, there was something my mom used to get from the "Watkins" man that we used for colds. She would put a drop on the pillow or handkerchief to help you breath better with a cold. Just don't remember what it was called. Louise ----- Original Message ----- From: "helenware" <helenware@comcast.net> To: <memory-lane@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 10:54 AM Subject: Re: [ML] Sassafras tea time... >I enjoy the flavor of sassafras--in teas or in drops for the throat-they > sooth my throat when allergies make it scratchy. > I think many of the old remedies that my grandmother taught me work better > than the medicines the doctors now give us. Warm honey, lemon juice and > whiskey helped us sleep when we had congestion, mustard plasters helped > chest congestion and nasal blockages, herb teas soothed the stomach and I > remember her putting mint leaves around the mop boards so the ants did not > go in the pantry--I was trying to remember some others--when we had cramps > a > hot water bottle held on our stomach always helped so much. I sometimes > think some of the medicine we are given are dangerous in the long run--my > sister takes a lot of medicine for various illnesses and the warnings on > them would scare me so, I would never take any of them! > An aspirin when really needed is okay! > I an a great fan of Mentholatem(spelling?) I rub it on my nose and chest > and > it works well and I love the way it smells! > Helen > > > > > > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mbousman1/memory.htm > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MEMORY-LANE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message