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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Spanish Moss

We have a lot of Spanish Moss in our area and often have to clean it out of our trees because it gets so heavy that it will break branches, especially in our very old oaks. Well you know me always looking for a way to use what I have instead of getting something else. So I started doing some research and I found out a lot of interesting things about Spanish moss. For one it was used in the old days as livestock feed especially in the winter. Apparently it does have some nutrition as well as fiber in it. Also, it can be used as bedding for livestock due to its incredible ability to absorb moisture. Then there is spanish moss tea for the garden. Simply soak spanish moss is water for a couple of weeks and then pour the tea on your garden, awesome organic fertilizer. Then the most awesome thing is that most of the saddle blankets for the Confederacy were made from....you guessed it, Spanish moss. Apparently inside all that gray there is a long black fiber kinda like a horsehair. These fibers can be woven into blankets. Wow, who'd a thunk it?! So many great things from this one plant growing in my trees. For now we will be using it to bed the livestock and see how that goes. If the horses colic, I will be sure to let you folks know.

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