http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-healing-weeds-in-your-yard.html
The Healing Weeds in Your Yard
By the Care2 Staff, with thanks to Wise Woman Herbalist Susun Weed.
Many of the lawn-and-garden weeds that people kill with toxic herbicides actually contain health-giving properties and vital nutrients often missing from foods grown in depleted soil.
A weedy lawn is often a goldmine of healing and health! Find out what four of the most common weeds growing in your yard may offer you:
Chickweed: Rich in nutrients, chickweed makes a great addition to the salad bowl, nourishing to the lymph and glandular systems, and offering healing for those with cysts, fevers, and inflammations. A good neutralizer for those with over-acid systems, and beneficial for those with yeast overgrowth and fatty deposits.
Dandelion: All parts, from root to flower, are beneficial. Good for the liver, urinary tract, and female reproductive system, dandelion has cancer- and virus-fighting properties, and is a great beautifier. Dandelion is also beneficial for insomnia, arthritis, hypoglycemia and diabetes. Sap from a cut stem may be used to treat blemishes, corns, stings, warts and other skin problems.
Nettle: Yes, they can sting you but if you gather them carefully and tincture or cook them, nettles are a fabulous source of calcium–a must to prevent osteoporosis–and a great ally for regrowing thinning hair. They are a tonic for the kidneys and adrenals (if you’ve been stressed or fatigued, nettle is the ally for you) and for the respiratory system, offering healing for asthmatics and those with other bronchial and lung complaints.
Red Clover: Herbalist Susun Weed says red clover offers menopausal women many of the benefits of soy without any of the drawbacks. It is one ingredient of traditional spring tonics to purify and revitalize the entire system, high in calcium and compounds that are useful in treating bronchitis and other respiratory conditions.
CAUTION: Before you eat your weeds, be sure that you’ve picked them in an area free of animal waste, pollution from motor vehicles, and chemical herbicide or pesticide treatments.
Please consult a health professional before treating health conditions with herbs. We are not recommending that you discontinue conventional medical practices.
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37 comments
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Kabin
Konteyner
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Great info! As a Chinese herbalist, I certainly use dandelion and others in the same way in herbal formulas along with acupuncture. We don't use all the same herbs as in Western herbology, so it's always fascinating to learn more! Thanks!
http://acupuncture-n-herbs.com
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A great site for identifying weeds and herbs is http://www.altnature.com/, mentioned at the end of another article by Annie. Also Victoria Boutenko's book, Green for Life, has great nutritional info about selected "weeds" as well as lots of delicious dark leafy green/fruit smoothie recipes (http://www.rawfamily.com) For those of you in Oregon, Sergei Boutenko leads instructional wild edibles hikes.
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Thanks for all the shared info. One of my favorite "weeds" is Jewelweed. This usually grows abundantly anywhere that poison ivy grows abundantly. Where I live this means most places that aren't landscaped and "maintained." Before and after going anywhere I think I'll encounter poison ivy I just crush some Jewelweed on my hands, arms, legs, whatever is exposed and so far it has protected me beautifully. I am very allergic to poison ivy. Yes, nature is telling us something and it provides us with most of the answers we just have to not lose the knowledge.
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Try one of the field guides for edible wild plants. They usually have real-world photos.
BTW, in addition to treating my own breast lump with dandelion (below), we also treated our child's bladder reflux for 2 years with chickweed and nettles (alternated with Chinese herbs to avoid developing a tolerance) until he outgrew the problem. It saved him from drugs whose efficacy was iffy and potentially harmful as well. Gotta love them herbs.
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I would like to find a book that identifies these herbs with real pictures. The one I have has drawings and I can't tell one from another. Very good Indiana herbal medicine guide. Just bad drawings.
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Nettles with the sting in them are also used for Urticulation-a form of pain relief. Break of a sticker and sting yourself repeatedly-hands, arms wherever Arthritis pain is felt and they will make the pain go away for several hours. If you can stand the stings that is. I've tried it myself and appears to work, but I am not sure I'd want to do it very often-still if the arthritis gets bad enough you will do anything to get rid of the pain,and there are no side affects other than the sting itself.
Also purslane which I am now trying to grow, is supposed to have Omega threes in good quantity, and it way cheaper than eating Wild Salmon. And the juice is supposed to help your teeth.
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Don't forget plantain (the leafy plant, not the banana-type fruit). Broadleaf plantain grows wild all over my place, and every spring I harvest some and make a wonderful healing oil. Plantain oil is the ONLY thing I've found that relieves the itching and swelling caused by the biting gnats we have here. And the leaves are edible, wonderful stir-fried or raw in a salad.
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My wife and I live in the heart of a small city. For cost of gas, pollution from mowing, and a desire to return our acre to a natural state, we have decided to stop mowing our lawn. And all kinds of "weeds" have shown up that we never knew were there because they always got mowed. We would love to learn more about recognizing, preparing, and using these "common herbs".
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My favourite lawn weeds that I use a lot are Plantain (I make an oil from it that instantly heals stings, rashes, bites, etc) and Self Heal (I make an oil for adding to herbal oils and creams and also have made a flower essence from this wonderful little plant) which does exactly what is says it does. Green Blessings y'all! www.GrassdancerEssences.com - Healing Energy from Nature
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