With all of the new medications on the market, it is not uncommon for people who suffer from any number of diseases or disorders to take more than five different types of pills each day. If each of those five pills have two negative side effects each, the benefits provided by the medications may not outweigh the detrimental effects. This is the reason why many people turn to another option: herbal remedies. 

The use of herbs with healing properties is more than 5,000 years old, and many people still swear by certain herbal remedies. Prior to the advancement of modern science, herbs were one of the only ways people could seek relief from their pains and sicknesses. Sometimes, the use of herbal remedies was combined with specific prayers and spiritual ceremonies or rituals. 

Living up north seems to afford me with an endless amount of opportunities. One of them being experiencing all four seasons of the year, and yet another is appreciating the ground cover that each season brings. Unfortunately, part of the ground cover involves weeds in my yard and garden. But lately, I have discovered a newfound respect for one of the weeds known as the dandelion.

The dandelion is a puffy yellow weed that finds no problem in spreading itself over lawn and other areas, and manages to survive even in the driest, or wettest, of conditions. The name dandelion means lion's tooth, because of the jagged edges of the leaves, and how they resemble teeth.