Healing Wise

Violets, violets, violets (Viola)

Edible Flowers of May:

Here are a few of the many violets blooming in my yard and garden. There are lots more, each with its own distinctive flavor, out in the woods. All violets are edible. (African violets are not violets and are not edible.) A hundred years ago, it was all the rage for ladies to wear a violet, until violets became associated with women-who-love-women. Except for Eleanor Roosevelt, who loved women and maintained the custom, violet wearing fell out of fashion. But eating violets – or pansies or jump-ups, their cultivated sisters – is never out of fashion. Try some tonight.

Weed walk: Thistle

Weed walk: Thistle (Cirsium discolor)

This is the common field thistle, but a species identification is not really needed when it comes to thistles, which are easy to recognize by their spiny leaves and fancy flowers. All thistles are used in much the same way. Milk thistle seed is the one we all turn to for liver help, but the entire tribe of thistles is always ready to provide food and medicine. A pair of scissors is helpful in cutting the spines off the leaves before eating them. The roots are often sweet and tasty baked.

 

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Burdock stalk

Burdock stalk

Susun shows us Burdock leaf stalk and talks about how to cook it. She talks about the root and how it grows as well. Burdock is wonderful for the liver and skin.



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Herbed Burdock

Herbed Burdock

Preparation time: With precooked burdock, 15 minutes at the most.
Add another 45 minutes to soak and cook burdock. Serves 6-8.

4 cups/1 liter burdock root
3 tablespoons/45ml olive oil
3 tablespoons/45ml butter
4 oz/125ml fresh herbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs/30ml lemon juice
2 tablespoons/30ml tamari

Soak and parboil burdock root or stalk. If you use chilled, already cooked burdock, warm it. Heat oil and butter. Add burdock, then garlic and herbs. Stir and heat together for a minute, then add tamari and lemon juice. Serve hot.

 

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Burdock seed

Burdock seed (Arctium lappa)

Those stick-in-your-hair-and-on-your-dog-and-on-your-sweater-too burdock burrs hold a wealth of seeds revered for their medicinal powers. Many plants have seeds that are easier to harvest than their roots, but burdock is not one of them. Digging first year roots (not yet) is hard work, but getting at the seeds is stickery prickery work.

For details on exactly how to handle the seed heads and how to make Burdock Seed Scalp Tonic, please check out the burdock section in Healing Wise.

Hayfever

Hayfever

A caller on blogtalkradio asks what remedies she can use for Hayfever. Susun talks about tree pollen, and why people have reactions to plants. She suggests Osha tincture while having the allergic reaction and tells a story about how Osha worked for her Aunt.
This audio is just over 5:00 minutes long.

 

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Plantain Honey

Plantain Honey
Used to counter coughs and improve digestion.

* Harvest vibrant green plantain leaves at any time of their growth.
* Chop them finely and fill a jar with the fresh chopped leaves.
* Slowly pour honey over the leaves.
* Stir it a bit with a chop stick and add more honey.
* Let it sit overnight and add more honey until it is really full.
* Wipe the jar. Label.

You can begin to use it in a few weeks, but optimum strength is achieved in six weeks.

 

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Ground Ivy, Blood root and more

Ground Ivy, Blood root and more

Walking with Susun, we see ground Ivy, aka creeping Jenny, and blood root which is antibacterial and a gum strengthener. Cleavers, dandelion, and violets.

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Summer Milkweed Blossom Salad

Summer Milkweed Blossom Salad

All parts of the milkweed contain a mild poison. Just as the monarch caterpillar can eat some and survive, so can we. Just don’t overdo it, or you may experience gastrointestinal distress.

2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups fruit of the season
½ cup milkweed flowers
¼ cup roasted nuts

Prepare the fruit by removing pits or seeds and cutting into bite sized pieces. Strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and peaches are in my markets when the milkweed is blooming.

Put the cottage cheese into a serving bowl. Add prepared fruit and milkweed blossoms and stir gently to mix. Sprinkle nuts on top and serve.

 

 

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More Wild Plant Identification

More Wild Plant Identification

Susun goes on a weed walk in a vacant lot and shows us St Joans wort (hypericum perforatum), purple loose strife, cronewort aka mugwort (artemisia vulgaris), sumac, queen annes lace and more. She talks about some uses of these "weeds".

 

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Fairy Salad

Fairy Salad

16 Violet (Viola) flowers
8 Periwinkle (Vinca minor) blossoms
24 Creeping Jenny (Glechoma hederacea) tops
12 Purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpurea) tops
12 Dandelion blossoms
12 Forsythia blossoms
32 blossoms from garlic mustard or any other wild cress
8 springs of wild oregano or any other wild mint
8-16 tender cronewort tops

For best results, all ingredients in this salad must be wild. Growing wild in your garden does count as wild. You can substitute or leave out any ingredient except the cronewort tops and the violet blossoms.

Give thanks as you harvest each blossom, each leaf. Be aware of the gifts you are receiving. Open yourself to the realm of the fairies as you touch each plant. Invoke the fairies as you make your salad, as you drizzle tamari on it, as you add some wild chive vinegar or cronewort vinegar, and as you slosh on the olive oil. Give thanks. Invite the fairies to join you as you consciously eat the green (and yellow and blue and purple and silver) blessings that you have gathered for your meal. Give thanks.

And when you awaken, you will remember your beautiful dream of the fairies.

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Foxglove - in the Catskills

Foxglove - in the Catskills

Susun shows us more wild plants including foxglove, which makes digitalis, the heart medicine. It is not a plant she recommends using.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia

A caller on blogtalkradio asks about Rudbeckia aka black eyed Susan. Rudbeckia has similar effects of echinacea. Susun talks about how each plant looks and the roots and says to experiment with it.
This audio is just over 3:00 minutes long.

 

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Mullein Infusion

Mullein infusion for lung health

Susun shows a dried Mullein plant and talks about it's uses, including strengthening the lungs.

Eating Wild Plants

Eating Wild Plants

Susun talks about edible wild plants such as jewelweed and their nutritional benefits.