Neem and Witch Doctors?

The neem tree is fantastic because every part of the tree has medicinal value.....the only problem is...it doesn't grow in Canada...or does it? Bummer...I just checked it out ....Neem can survive for a very short time at 4C. So we are out of luck! We could do the whole  heated greenhouse thing but that is just unsustainable and besides I'm to lazy! Alright now what do we do? Should we spend our hard earned money on expensive imported products at your local Health Food Store? No way! We simple livers use our magnificent brains and research abilities. We find out what medicinal trees  grow right under our noses.....for instance I literally have a ton of willow growing  by my bog. I'm not much prone to headache ,(apparently I give them)and willow is great for that but since birthing 4 humongous babies...my bladder is a tad funky...so I just steep a few 4 inch branches in half a liter of water and drink during the day in the place of water. G also tried it because it is great for male prostate problems...he doesn't have problems but just to make sure that it stays that way...we dose him a few times a year. I mean who wants to be one of those old people who smells of Ben Gay and Pee? Right?
We all live in different environments so check out what is growing in your area by visiting your local witch doctor or if you aren't fortunate enough to have one of those...then some other more trad environmental government group...thingy...whatever they are called. Oooooo...witch doctor...that reminds me of a story! When I was around 7ish my cousin Gisele and I had a bunch of yucky warts on our hands so our moms decided to take us to see the local healer Adrienne . I'll warn you all right now I don't like ugly......ugly houses...ugly guys...ugly cars ...anyways I was scared to death of her and her mentally handicapped  son who I thought was Lurch...I swear the guy drooled and wanted to do bad things to me...besides I didn't like her. You see Adrienne was a sales rep for Avon and on T.V. the commercial went something like.....Ding Dong ....Avon Calling! and the housewife would open the door to reveal this sunny blond Avon sales rep...right? So one day someone knocks on our door and Adrienne announces that she is selling Avon. I was so bummed out and turned to my foster mom Madeleine and said," But I thought Avon ladies were suppose to be beautiful!"
Back to the story...so as we are sitting in her sitting room and I'm giving Lurch the stink eye...Adrienne takes off her wedding ring and asks Gisele, "In the name of Jesus do you have faith that your warts can be healed..in the name of the father, the son and the holy ghost?
  Cousin Gisele ...says,"Yes I do!" Adrienne then proceeds to make the sign of the cross with her gold wedding ring on all of the offending warts. Then it's my turn..."Laurianne do you have faith that I can heal your warts in the name of  the father , son and holy ghost?" Me..." Hell no!" So guess who's warts were gone in a few weeks and who had to paint hers with nail polish foreeeeever?
Oh yeah...medicinal trees...here are some that grow in my area and I will be using if need be.

Trees

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a shade-tolerant conifer of moist fertile sites, with the potential to live four hundred years or more to form an old-growth forest. As well as the previously-noted use of its foliage by indigenous people as an antiscorbutic, an astringent tonic brewed from the red inner bark, which contains up to 12% tannin (Mockle 1955), and therefore has strong astringent properties, was consumed to control diarrhea by the Ojibway, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Cherokee, and Potawatomi (Gilmore 1919, Wallis 1922, Smith 1933). An infusion of the foliage was steeped by the Abenaki and Algonquin in Québec, and taken internally for rheumatism (Rousseau 1947, Black 1980). The Seneca of New York and the Delaware of Ontario steamed rheumatic limbs with the hemlock infusion (Waugh 1916, Tantaquidgeon 1972).
White cedar, or arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), a conifer with scale-like foliage usually found on moist sites rich in calcium (Marie-Victorin 1935, Blouin 2001), was a prime source of medicine to native people. An infusion of the leaves or inner bark was consumed by Ojibway and Mi’kmaq people as cough medicine (Speck 1917, Densmore 1928, Smith 1932). It was also commonly steamed and the vapours inhaled in native sweat lodges to combat colds, headache, fever, and rheumatism (Smith 1923, Smith 1932, Rousseau 1945, Black 1980, Herrick 1995).
Today, cedar oil distilled from the foliage is a principal ingredient in many commercial and alternative medicines, in particular cold remedies. Its primary active ingredient is thujone.
Choke cherry (Prunus virginiana), a small deciduous tree of open areas such as roadsides, riparian zones, and fencerows, is the most widely distributed tree in North America. It was also the fifth most widely used drug plant on the continent; according to Moerman (1998), it had 132 medicinal uses. Indigenous people from coast to coast gathered the inner bark, boiled it, and drank the decoction to cure diarrhea (Holmes 1884, Speck 1917, Smith 1923, VanWart 1948, Herrick 1995). Choke cherry tea was also consumed for indigestion, a tonic during pregnancy, and a gargle for sore throat (Blouin 1993).
Until next time. Be powerful and take care of your own needs!~Hare Krsna, Kokum Lal