April 24, 2010
-
Love thy Weeds
As I mentioned in the last post, I am ever so grateful for our weeds. Perry Hill Farm is now drying and preparing various medicinal plants (a.k.a. weeds) and herbs for Three Sisters Herbals. We are very excited about working with them.
Some of my favorite weeds......
Chickweed
We eat chickweed in our salads, drink tea, make tinctures with it and use it in salves. My favorite herbalist has a great article on the uses of chickweed. Susun Weed.
Stinging Nettle
Ouch that stings......oh but you are a wonderful plant. We love to drink her tea and eat her. More info on nettle. Not only is she a delicious food, you can make twine from her stems. I have not done that yet, but I did make cordage from Dogbane stems. Check out this site for info on dogbane and it's cordage. http://www.primitiveways.com/hemp_dogbane.html
Mullein
According to some legends, Johnny Appleseed used mullein in his shoes when he wore out the soles.
I love making the "Wild Facial Lotion and Skin Softener " using mullein and wild lettuce from "The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide" by Linda Runyon. She also writes about making lamp wicks from the mullein leaves. For more medicinal info about the plant, click on Susun Weed's site.
I've bet you've seen this beauty in your lawn? It is a wonderful healer.
Dandelion
Dandelion flower petals
This morning I made dandelion pancakes, dandelion fritters and we're having chickweed/violet salad on the side.
I also started a batch of dandelion massage oil yesterday and dandelion vinegar today.
This is only a small sampling of the weeds we love.
Comments (5)
Loved this post, if only more people enjoyed the things that are already their for us!! The pancake dish is beautiful!
This is awesome Vickie! We have chickweed all over the place. What is your favorite dressing to put on it?
@popfarm - I use balsamic vinegar, olive oil (or toasted sesame oil), and some honey. I also like to mix the chickweed with lettuce and other greens we have growing in the lawn or cultivated.
Okay, I am totally taking notes. I even have dark amber bottles to use for tinctures and all that jazz this years.
So what's your absolute, hands down favorite 'weed' book on identifying them and preparing them? Because we have a ton of dandelions in the yard, and tons of mullein among other things... I also think we have had stinging nettle, but hubby says I'd know it since I've yanked out a bunch of stuff over the years (and it's the raspberries and hops that get me every. darned. time.).
@LannaM - Wow, I don't have just one book. I check several references including a lot online. I love everything that Susun Weed writes and she often does youtube videos of her cooking, making oils, tinctures, etc. The Herb Mentors online have a lot of good info. Wildman Steve Brill has a lot of excellent info online especially for identifying. When you are foraging or wild crafting for herbs, you should use several references. I really like Linda Runyon's books and she even makes 52 cards that can fit in your pocket with pictures to help identify the plants. So I have Susun Weed's books, Linda Runyon, Barrie Kavashe and another foraging book I'll need go get as I don't remember the name.
So I use the web and books. (the short answer to your question). Oh, and see if an herbalist is doing a weed walk. I've been on a couple of those and they are magnificent.
Comments are closed.