There’s nothing I love more than a weedy yard. That’s right. I live in a rural area so there’s no one to glare at me as I stroll through the yard in the spring, when all the good stuff is sprouting.
I get a kick out of those ‘end of the world’ shows on the science channels. In one scenario, a man cut his hand, which subsequently became infected and he died. I was yelling at the TV, ‘put some pine sap on it for pete’s sake’! Oh yeah, and the character was a doctor.
After World II, when American agriculture was fully conquered by industry and supermarkets full of frozen food popped up across the land, foraging was forgotten and many plants became disregarded as ‘poisonous’. When you know what is edible or medicinal in your area, you will never look at the environment the same way. It becomes less abstract.
The links below come from one of my favorite sources, Eat The Weeds. No matter your geography, you are sure to find these common herbal and medicinal plants right out side your front door.
Bidens Alba: This one fascinates me the most. The names of this plant vary as widely as the lore.
Dwarf Plantain: It’s found all over the world. It was called English man’s foot, because it was said to grow where ever they set foot.
Peppergrass: I loved to just pick this and nibble it as a kid.
Pine: There are about 115 species of pine.
Now, you can take over from here. Happy hunting!
Oh I hear you! I love weeds too. In fact I don’t think there is any such thing as ‘weeds’, not in my back yard anyhow – everything grows there just as it wants too. I do get weird stares from my neighbours and on one side they put up a fence which is perfectly ok with me. I’ve got all kinds of medicinal plants just growing in my back yard, just because they can. and the plethora of wildlife they bring in is amazing – butterflies, moths, all kinds of insects and spiders, lizards, slow worms…I love it 🙂
I wanted to go on a “weed walk” this weekend, but it clashed with the local scion exchange for our rare fruits group and I was committed to helping with that. Maybe by next year I will be able to manifest a reality where they don’t clash.