I’ve been back home (my English home) for almost a week now and the six days spent in Slovakia with my family were AMAZING! The weather was good, the food was incredible, as usual, and it was lovely to see new cafés and restaurants opening where you could sit outside and enjoy the lovely food.
Apart from the traditional Slovak restaurants (traditional Slovak food is not vegetarian/vegan-friendly) many of the places offered a nice selection of vegetarian and vegan food. Everything I tried was so delicious… rice noodles with pak choy, vegan galletas, delicious falafels from a new Turkish kebab shop, raw cakes with coconut, mango, grapefruit, and pear sorbet (not all on one plate of course 😂). And then of course… mum’s cooking. Mum’s ratatouille and her mash potatoes (made especially for John) are incredible!
We all enjoyed our trip to our cottage in Hrochot’. It was lovely to let little Cherry off the lead and watch her explore our big garden. It must have been enormous for her! She took in her surroundings slowly but surely while keeping an eye on us, especially my mum.
This lovely little dog had no intentions of running away or hiding and getting up to mischief like we’re used to from young terriers her age. How refreshing that is lol! After she played with some teeny tiny sticks, gooseberries, walnuts and chased some ants, she happily fell asleep on my mum’s lap ❤️.
It was so nice to be in our garden, and I was telling John that when my Nan used to live there we used to spend our summer holidays there. At that stage, the whole garden was just a vegetable garden – no grass and no barbecue area to be seen. Every little piece of land was used to produce something… from potatoes to peas to lentils and beans, salads, strawberries, you name it.
I remember my Nan used to wake the children up early in the morning (at about 4 am 😱) to water the garden before it got too hot. We’d also pick up the black and yellow-striped “potato bug” before it did too much damage. Now you’ll find mainly grass, quite a few fruit trees, gooseberry, and red and black currant bushes… and not forgetting, a lot of herbs.
One of them caught my attention this time… Echinacea.
Echinacea originates in Northern America and was brought to Europe by the German pharmacology trader, Joseph Mayer, around the end of the 19th century. Echinacea got her name from the Greek word echinos which means hedgehog. This herb is one of the best known for building and maintaining immunity.
It’s also known to:
🌸 Protect against infections
🌸 Shorten and ease recovery time
🌸 Suppress bacteria and other viruses.
Echinacea also helps with the common cold as well as respiratory and other infections.
And what about our furry friends?
Echinacea benefits dogs who have weak immune systems and are susceptible to acute bacterial or viral infections. If a dog is exposed to an acute illness or has a sign of infection (for example kennel cough), or even if you feel your dog is coming down with something, it is suggested that you administer echinacea. The dosage depends on the needs and size of the dog but a conservative rule is to give 12-25 drops of the tincture 3 times a day.
If you want to give your dogs echinacea as a support to their immune system then small amounts of the tincture or herb can be given once every 3-4 days.
Even though Echinacea isn’t toxic, it’s not suitable for dogs with immune systems that are already overly active and functioning abnormally, such as those suffering from autoimmune diseases, leukaemia, or diabetes. The same applies to humans including those affected with HIV/AIDS and other autoimmune problems.
Have you tried echinacea and if yes, what did you use it for?
Let me know!