The big Sida book is the first reference that combines and compares all known peer-review research with all traditional uses of Sida. This is an information-dense manual encompassing everything known about the genus Sida. I call it “the professional herbalist’s desk reference for Sida”. The small Sida book, The Users Guide..., gives you all the basics on growing and processing Sidas as medicinals. The book also lists the names (only) of all the pathogens/conditions Sidas treat. There is also a seperate long listing of benefits from taking Sida. Nearly everything in these books is based on peer-review research.
There are perhaps ten Sida species that are fully medicinal. Millions of people consume them as nutritious food every day all over the world (known in Haiti as “poor people food”); the leaves of my Sida acuta are at least 30% protein. People have been healing themselves with Sidas for thousands of years. Sidas are legendary rasayanas in Ayurvedic medicine. Sidas control or kill 27 pathogenic bacteria, including many resistant strains, including MRSA and Candida. Sidas have shown excellent effect against malaria and other parasites. Every time Sidas have been tested against cancer they have demonstrated significant benefits. There are 160 ways that Sidas can benefit you: they protect your liver, kidney & brain (and more), help to balance your fats/lipids, benefit your digestion, etc.. They are profoundly adaptogenic, tonic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Sidas are both blood cleansing and styptic, and Sida acuta has three known blood clot controllers. All listings compare peer-review research with traditional use. Although tropical perennials, many Sida species can grow in Zone 8 outdoors as annuals, and are fully medicinal once established. If you can grow tomatoes, you should be able to grow Sida.
Fifteen years ago my first edition of The Bidet was the first book on that topic, ever. It was the first book, and probably the first publication on the bidet ever in our Library of Congress. It became known in the bidet biz as “the bidet bible” for the completeness of its information and the available peer-review research. It also featured personal, scatological, and humorous anecdotes about the bidet, and how we relate to it. The ensuing 15 years has seen the technological side of the bidet benefit from the growth of the computer and microprocessors. What I call “toilet seat bidets” (TSB) have essentially become the dedicated personal robots of the bathroom. They not only make your defecation as pleasant as possible; they can now potentially provide a myriad of health checks at the same time.
The second half of this book is a critique and condemnation of our current method of processing our bodily wastes, particularly with TP. My argument is that bidets are a huge and critical part of a sustainable solution to our TP crisis; and we do have a slow, creeping TP crisis. The bidet part of this book was fun to write, the facts and details of our evolving and ensuing TP disaster were not. We are facing multiple ecologic disasters caused by our wanton and relentless use of TP, wipes, disposable diapers (young and old), and so on. It is a good story and we are ripe for a change.
Who I am
I have been a plant person most of my adult life. My wife and I started Bountiful Gardens Seeds in 1982, which is part of Ecology Action of the Midpeninsula, an organization that has been desperately trying to save the world’s soil for the last 45 years, while refining a farming method (biointensive) that actually creates soil while being very productive.
We started Bountiful Gardens because heirloom, open-pollinated seeds were hard to come by in the 1980s, and disappearing. At the time it was not certain that these heirloom seeds would continue to be available to the general public. We offered a considerable number of varieties that otherwise would not have been available. Back then we also had a “Healing Herbs Garden Club” that really educated me in medicinals of all sorts. Bountiful Gardens always carried a strong section of medicinal plant seed.
For years I selected many of the varieties we carried in our catalog, which was not unlike being an Indiana Jones of the plant world. All of this has given me good experience with discovering everything about a plant. It also helps to be married to a biologist who fills in any blanks. I retired as the third longest-tenured employee ever at Ecology Action after our founders.
I consider myself a personal herbalist. I do not have the intimate, extensive knowledge of hundreds of herbs that a professional herbalist would know; but I know very well the few plants that I need, seeking only my health, and the health of my family. Medicinal herbs and preventative medicine have been at the core of my family’s health for at least 45 years.
When I discover a new medicinal that is as good as Sida is, I am completely on board right away, and want to know everything about it. The next step is a thorough and intensive research into its known benefits. So for several years I intensely scoured the internet for peer-review research on Sida, and in particular studies on Sida acuta, the species that I use. The results have exceeded my wildest expectations.
Former Lives
Walked away from two degrees at Cal Berkeley. Spent time in the Haight-Ashbury. Spent some time on the margins of society - until I became a father. That changed everything. Both my son and step-daughter eventually graduated from Stanford University.
For better or worse, I am one of the people who brought personal computers into being. I am a “76er” – anyone involved before 1976 was a genuine pioneer. I worked for the People’s Computer Company of digital legend, as well as running database marketing for the very first Computer Faires. Once it stopped being a crusade and became industry I became a gardener of sorts, but having a computer background was very helpful when starting a seed company in the 1980s.
Around 1990 I created a poster, The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide (in its third printing), that has been a perennial favorite of master gardeners and garden stores – they are grateful to have all the essential questions beginners ask right there on the wall.
In 2004 I decided to put my enthusiasm for the French bidet into a book. This book turned out to be the first book on the topic, ever! I could not find anything in print. There was nothing in the Library of Congress at the time except a note by President Thomas Jefferson on the bidet as a result of his visit to Paris in the 1700s. What a treat to write the first book on anything in 2004! Despite this I discovered everything known at the time, and went beyond by adding information from other knowledge bases, resulting in a book whose information is still very complete and current today.
Unpublished authors in 2004 had few options for publication. I ended up physically making every book and selling them on Amazon on consignment. Create Space publishing did not exist. So I printed pages through a cheap home printer, punched the spiral binding and bound the book.
The Bidet immediately became the reference on the subject. It was also commonly known in the business as the “bidet bible”, because it included every thing known about the bidet, and more.
I soon grew tired of physically producing books for small margins and stopped publication. Nevertheless used copies (when available) are selling for $30. It is interesting how many thousand times it has been pirated on the web over those years! People really wanted this little book! My reference books are complete beyond anyone’s expectations. I hope to replicate this thoroughness with my latest book, my “Sida bible”.
