Earth Matters by Jacqueline Milner Wild Parsnip & Black Swallow Tail Butterflies – Cornwall Ontario – July 26, 2010

Cornwall ON – Last week we talked about the Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) plant, sometimes referred to as the Poison Parsnip plant because of the painful blistering that can take place on human skin when the sap of this plant comes in contact with the skin in the presence of sunlight. Curiously further research uncovered that the plant of the cultivated parsnip that we purchase in our grocery stores can have the same effect.
I hadn’t planned to talk about this further except by chance on a recent walk I noticed a most beautiful caterpillar perched on a Wild Parsnip plant happily dining on its leaves and flowers.  So this curious find begged a little research.  The words ‘caterpillar’ and ‘wild parsnip’ were googled to find that this was the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail.  This butterfly is sometimes referred to as the Parsnip butterfly. The eggs from this beautiful butterfly are routinely laid on plants from the carrot family; the parsnip is from this family of plants.

It seems very evident that each living thing has a purpose, many of which we do not know.  Although this plant can be harmful to us in certain circumstances it can also benefit us.  Not only can it serve as home and dinner to the beautiful Swallowtail Butterfly through parts of it’s life cycle it can also feed us with its tap root during the fall of it’s first year of growth.  Now before you go out and dig up some tap roots of this plant please do some research to insure you know how to properly identify this plant.  The late fall of the 1st year growth plant is what you want to look for. It grows a rosetta clump of leaves from the top of the root.  You will find these among the mature flowering plants which you do not want as the tap root of the flowering plant is too mature and woody to eat.
The wonderful discovery of this lovely caterpillar led to the discovery of a free food source and back to the heart felt words of Chief Seattle noted below.

“The rivers are our brothers.  They quench our thirst.  They carry our canoes and feed our children.  So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.  If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports.  The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh.  The wind also gives our children the spirit of life.  So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.  Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?  That the earth is our mother?  What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.  This we know:  the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.  All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.  Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

Your commentary is welcome and appreciated.  Feel free to comment here or to earthmatters@jmilner.com

40 Comments

  1. Good evening, i read your article on the poison parsnip and may have come in contact with it. We just moved into a new home and i was weeding…….can you forward the article to me so i can read it.
    I just dont know what it looks like. I have check many articles but they are not clear on what the rash looks like
    Thanks Jacqueline, much appreciated

    Bernice

  2. sorry i thought i was emailing the author and would like to read the article that appeared last week.
    thank you

  3. Hello Bernice, Yes I am the author of that article from the week before. This is the link for the last Earth Matters which shows photos of the wild parsnip.
    http://cornwallfreenews.com/2010/07/earth-matters-by-jacqueline-milner-wild-parsnip-cornwall-ontario-july-19-2010/
    If you still are unsure about what the plant looks like I would be happy to drop by for a visit (if you are in the Cornwall area) to show you what the plant looks like. You can e-mail me at earthrmatters@jmilner.com with a phone number so that we can set up an appointment.

  4. What a beautiful quote in your article this week. Where is it from?

  5. “The rivers are our brothers…” “The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life”. “That the earth is our mother?”” the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth” – I am so glad the chief believes we are one big, happy family! “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”(Gen.3:19).

    This is so typical of environmentalism – the worship and oneness with nature, I mean creation! In biblical theology such is called pantheism. Pantheism has been around since the garden of Eden. Remember the Greek god Pan – another name and form for Satan. But even the Apostle Paul in his day ran into such beliefs. Consider what the Apostle Paul declared as a mouth piece of God – Holy Spirit:

    Acts 14:15-17″ And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness”.

    Also Acts 17:27-31 “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead”.

    The command of the living God for all of us, especially those who worship the god of environmentalism – Pan is this “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent…””…that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God”.

  6. Pastor Tom all is well and good with Nature. Don’t forget that God created Pan too!

  7. God created Lucifer not Pan , but Pan (Satan) chose to sin, so we need not follow Pan in his sin and rebellion – do we? By the entrance of sin, all creation is cursed, and slated for judgment by fire.

  8. Really, Thomas, must you doubt everything?

    This is what you said:

    “The rivers are our brothers…” “The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life”. “That the earth is our mother?”” the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth” – I am so glad the chief believes we are one big, happy family! “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”(Gen.3:19).
    This is so typical of environmentalism – the worship and oneness with nature, I mean creation! In biblical theology such is called pantheism. Pantheism has been around since the garden of Eden. Remember the Greek god Pan – another name and form for Satan. But even the Apostle Paul in his day ran into such beliefs. Consider what the Apostle Paul declared as a mouth piece of God – Holy Spirit: [etc.]

    This is what the Bible, which you take so literally, says on this subject of environmentalism:

    God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Gen 1:31)

    O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.
    You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. (Ps 104)

    For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude. (1 Timothy 4)

    Yet if I go by your dictates, I’m not even allowed to appreciate the beauty of a sunrise, something so obviously created by God, right at the very beginning.

    You say that God created Lucifer, not Pan. Then who created Pan? I always thought God created EVERYTHING. But if God didn’t create Pan, than who did? Is Pan eternal, which no origin, the way we consider God, or did some other god create Pan? Or is Pan indeed another God?

    Really, Thomas, it’s a shame they never taught you any philosophy or logic at your bible college, rather than just how to quote and misquote the Bible. Shame on them, and shame on you, for letting yourself be brainwashed by them.

  9. “Yet if I go by your dictates, I’m not even allowed to appreciate the beauty of a sunrise, something so obviously created by God, right at the very beginning”.

    No, We are allowed, and even commanded to appreciate all things that God so richly has given to us to enjoy, but I am not to worship them, nor I am to prefer them over the Creator! If I do, then I become an idolater, even as we see in Romans 1:25 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

    Sin will cause us to worship ourselves, live for ourselves, and leave out the Living God altogether, who deserves all the praise and glory – read again Acts 14:15-17. It was sin and darkness (Satan’s darkness) that complied these ones in Acts 14 to worship the gods, even Paul and Barnabas. Our day is no different from theirs, for our sinful, fallen hearts are all the same.

    Sin has corrupted this first creation to the core. God did not create evil, nor is He the author of sin. God is all wise, powerful, and sovereign. He is absolutely holy! This we can learn from the Bible – special revelation, and we can not come to know the character of God from His creation fully. The entrance of sin into the universe, the fall of man, and all the consequences of sin (especially death, and hell) God in the end will be justified for allowing it in His universe. Only God can use wicked sinners, as we are, and bring something good out of it, and that all for His glory, honor, and praise.

    The prime example of this is the crucifixion of God’s Son – the Lord Jesus Christ. How can such a cruel and evil event, as the murder of God, bring about anything good? But the death of Jesus the Christ was all part of the eternal plan of God – Acts 2:23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”. From the substitutionary death of God for sinners, there is forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal life. Also, that we are not in hell right now is all because of the long suffering of God via the cross of Christ. God is going to save all His elect ones, and when the last elect is brought home, then final, and complete judgment will fall upon this earth. Not the flood like in Noah’s day, but eternal fire, even the wrath of God.

    Now is the day of salvation, now is the day to call upon the Lord for mercy and grace. Tomorrow may be to late!

  10. The raving nut-bar is back. His hit-list is endless… Catholics, Muslims, Environmentalists, Homosexuals, Free-thinkers of any persuasion, Readers of horoscopes, and on and on. I’m sure this jerk could find some passage in his stupid book that condemns banjo players to the eternal fires of hell. If there was ever a negative force in this community, the pastor is it.

  11. FYI tnpreacher: “the Greek god Pan–another name and form for Satan” was a (prudish) Victorian construct. Mythologically, long before the Victorians, Pan is god of flocks and pasture, the word “pan” deriving from the Greek verb “pa-ein” meaning “to pasture”….therefore closely identified with your line of work, Mr. Pastor!

  12. Pan deals with goats, not sheep. There is the “seed of the woman” – the sheep and the “seed of the serpent” – goats. See Gen. 3:15.

    I am an under-shepherd for God’s people who are called sheep in the Bible. John 10:25-27 “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”.

    Goats are always connected with the non – elect, with the reprobate that follow – Pan. Matthew 25:31-33 “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left”. The ones on the left side – the goats, their end will be the same as Satan’s – Matthew 25:46 “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal”. Revelation 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever”.

    God has provided salvation for the elect sheep, but not for the goats! Which one are you?

  13. Pastor Tom,

    the God that you speak of makes me feel dirty, and skeevy, and that is how I know you are not speaking of or for any God that I care to know. Your posts are full of hatred and ignorance, and promote racism and discourse, when the God I know teaches love, kindness, and forgiveness.

    I am quite sure, I did not address my question to you, as I was not interested in anyone’s opinion of the quote in Ms. Milner’s article, but in it’s origins, as it touched me, and made me want to know more. which is more sir, than I can say about any words I have read of yours here at the Free News or at the Freeholder.

    I willl make my own peace with my own God, and when the time comes, I am sure I will be welcomed into my fathers house with open arms and will live in the peace and joy that only he can bring, regardless of the poetry I have read. I am also sure, there is a place for charlatans and false prophets. Good luck with that!

  14. Well put bella-b. The pastor seems to take great delight in poisoning many discussions with his hateful bile. Thankfully, most “spiritual leaders” demonstrate more respect and class than he does.

  15. “the God that you speak of makes me feel dirty, and skeevy…” That is what is called guilt! When we learn about a Holy God who hates sin, and will judge sinners for the chosen life styles of sin, like our first parents we fear, run and hide. Fig leaf religion can never take away the stain and guilt of sin. “What can wash away my sins? what can make whole within? Nothing but the blood of Jesus”.

  16. You, Mr. Newton (you aren’t worthy of the title “pastor”), for the last few years, have shown nothing but contempt and disrespect for the beliefs and feelings of anyone who happen to not share your particular view of things. Your comments are usually insulting, hateful, and totally uncalled for. No other “religious leader” in this community is at the ready to shoot down the ideas or beliefs of others like you are. You clearly have a serious lack of sensitivity, maturity, and plain old decency. As I’ve said before, you are a negative force, and I’d bet that 99.9% of this community would rather have you grow up and learn to respect others, or just dry up and blow away like a bad weed.

  17. Sorry you feel that way Furtz, but if it weren’t for the fact that you hate God and His word, you would have nothing to say against me.

  18. In Greek mythology, Pan is the god of shepherds and flocks, Mr. Preacher. Ignorance is no excuse for your misrepresentations.

  19. If you honestly believe that, Tom, please get some outside help.

  20. Any picture that I have seen representing Pan, he is a goat with a musical instrument. For example http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Images/Pan.jpg. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia writes “He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat”. When Pan comes to seduce and deceive, he dresses up in a sheep’s clothing. The Lord Jesus says this – “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves”. Satan and his false teachers fit the bill. Also:

    2Co 11:13 -15″ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works”.

  21. “the God that you speak of makes me feel dirty, and skeevy…” That is what is called guilt!
    ~
    No Tom, it is not guilt, I think Bella-B just has good radar and can fish out the intolorance and hypocracy in others.

  22. 1. 2Co 11:13 -15″ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works”.
    ……..and this doesn’t worry you Tom? If I were you I would be worried, since your God can be a very vengeful one.

  23. Twist mythology as you will, Mr Preacher, it’s a fact in ancient Greek tradition that Pan is god of shepherds (aka sheep herders) and flocks. BTW a question for you as a pastor (aka shepherd) concerned for your flock and presumably for increasing your flock : why is hate, and quotations of hate and aggression, in your lexicon at all?

  24. bobgeneric:
    If you want to compare what I preach to the Holy Bible, then you are welcome to go to my church’s website. Just click on the blue tnpreacher555.

  25. With Pastor Tom being the “shepherd” of his little flock, I wonder if any of those “sheep” get nervous when he stands behind them?

  26. No willing member of this flock would have enough intelligence to be nervous.

  27. I am reminded of an old nursery rhyme, just for Antipasta and Furrtz: (not to say that they belong in the nursery, but…). It goes like this “sticks and stones may brake my bones, but names will never hurt me”.
    The Lord Jesus said it this way, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you”( Mat 5:11-12).

  28. This coming from a guy who calls everybody “sinners”!
    The poor me martyr thing just doesn’t wash.

  29. It is not the “poor me'”martyr thing, it is just has the Lord Jesus said in Joh 15:18 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you”. . Again I repeat: Sorry you feel that way Furtz, but if it weren’t for the fact that you hate God and His word, you would have nothing to say against me.

  30. X-rays are ripping through me. Arrgh. There will be nothing left but butterflys by midnight. It must be the rapture.

  31. Thank you Pastor Tom, I guess I fall into the “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely” crowd. You revile me, you persecute me and say all sorts of evil things about me falsely, therefore I’m rejoicing and looking forward to my great reward in Heaven. Tom you truly are a false prophet!

  32. Ok children…this has gone on for over a week….please grow up.

  33. The Flying Spaghetti Monster (the only true god) said in Pasta 13:43, “Party on Dude, for tomorrow there will be even more beer!”

  34. Hello bella-b,
    I apologize for not answering sooner. I have been out of town working. The quote is from http://www.kyphilom.com/www/seattle.html which contains a Ted Perry revision of an 1854 Chief Seattle speech. Chief Seattle was Chief of the Suquamish.

  35. Too many Paraffins have been known to cause cancer, they are in a lot of beauty products, hand lotion, lipgloss and stick, powders. Be careful of them.

  36. Outstanding post, I think people should larn a lot from this blog its really user genial .

  37. Hey preach, You stand corrected. God did not create Lucifer (Satan), Lucifer created himself by his choices, something to do with iniquity, Ezekiel 28:15 . He was cast out…..

    You preach your own disturbed understanding of what the bible means

  38. Smee – it is now September right? Old post? want to resurrect it?

    Just to feed your curiosity -Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

    The account for Lucifer – Eze 28:13 -15 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee”. Also, the Lord Jesus, as God, is credited in creating all things – Col 1:15 -17″ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist”.

    Lucifer was created without sin – holy “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee”. Lucifer lead a revolt against God because of his pride and desire to be God. God cast him out, and now he is called Satan. God created him holy, sinless, but God purposed and allowed Lucifer to revolt, and suffer the just consequences for his sin. The same can be applied to Adam and Eve, and to everyone of us – fallen in Adam, under just condemnation, deserving damnation and hell for our individual revolt and treason against God and His just authority.

    Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

  39. Dang it Smee! You got him copying and pasting bible quotes again!

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