weeds – Kristen Baumlier

Yesterday I went on part of the Walking Tour of Historical, Useful and Tasty Weeds which was led by Leslie Williams, Herbalist and Herbal Educator. The tour started at SPACES gallery, and we walked around the block for the tour.

As we would walk, Williams would point out weeds, bushes, and trees that could be used as food, medicine, and for other uses. We did not get very far – because surprisingly almost every weed along the way was something that was edible or useful. Williams would share historical stories, and I learned a lot about some of the weeds that I see everywhere in Cleveland.

Some of the things that we found on the walk were:

Mugwort – which can be used to help with sleep. It is put in dream pillows, and you can also make a tea.

Lamb’s Quarter – a weed I see everywhere and is tasty. You can eat it like spinach.

Dock – which is a “bitters.” You can use the root and boil it to make a bitters which is good for the stomach

Wild Grapes – you can eat the leaves and cook with them. Also the fresh tendrils growing are good to eat and are a tasty snack when hiking.

Burdock – they are a good tonic and the seeds are good to eat. Many years ago these were considered a “secret ingredient” for salves that people made to feel like they could “fly.”

Garlic mustard – a known weed in the Midwest – you can eat the small leaves or the seeds.

Aster – you can eat the flowers. They are said to improve your vision, but Williams said she has not experienced this.

Primrose – you can make primrose oil from the root which is rich in Omega -3 vitamins and really good for you.

Japanese barberry bush –the root is a good substitute for goldenseal. It makes a slightly bitter yellow tea and is good for allergies. This bush was first planted ornamentally – and now is invasive and spreading.

Catnip – good for stomach cramps, also good to induce sleep.

Milkweed – the fibers were used to make parachute cords in WWII. Some say you can boil the milk weed and then eat – others say you can just eat.

Blackberries – you can eat the leaves, they are a good tea. Similar to raspberries they are good for the muscles. You can crush them, dry them, then the ferment a little like black tea.

During the walking tour, Williams urged us to always try a little bit of a plant – and see how you react. She advised to not eat a whole bunch of something until you know it is safe to eat.

I was surprised to learn that so many weeds are edible or useful. It makes me see weeds in a new light. I still plan to pull them out of my flower beds at my house, but maybe will consider to use them for something before putting them in the compost.

Want to learn more about weeds? Williams belongs to the American Herbalist Guild, and will be doing historical artisan work in the Cuyahoga National Valley Park near Cleveland this summer on herbal medicine, ethnobotany and native herbs for dying fabric. You also can look up on various wild food sites, which list different plants and their uses.

Links:

Leslie Williams Website

Forager Harvest Site

SPACES Walking Tour Information

Do you spend part of spring or summer trying to get rid of weeds? If so, the book Weeds –In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants by Richard Mabey might give you a new perspective on these plants that we consider to be invasive and essentially “in our way.” Since the development of agriculture, weeds have been seen as a problem. The concept of a weed was developed by man, and the classic saying “a weed is just a plant in the wrong place still applies.

Weeds have served as food, fuel, medicine, dyes and have functioned as a building material for a variety of insects, birds and humans. I was surprised to learn that weeds are largely a consequence of human activity. We have delivered weeds to other areas in a ships’ ballast, in the storage areas of trains, in packaging materials, in wool and brewing merchants’ raw goods, in the soil of our plants that we import or export.

The book is a biological and cultural history of weeds and covers the role of weeds in literature, art, folklore, and medicine. The book highlights the usefulness of weeds. Weeds stabilize soil, provide shelter for plants, control water loss, and can help repair landscapes affected by landslides, flood, fire, development and weaponry.

After I go hiking and I return home surprised to see the back of my pant leg is covered with burrs, I am reminded by how ingenuous weeds are. They have evolved to have hooks, burrs, spines, rib hairs and even a glue-like substance in order to traffic their seeds to other places. Often the seeds of weeds can wait a long time, as much as 40 years, in order to grow.

Many times when we try to get rid of weeds, we improve the health of the weed. Using a hoe often does not get rid of weeds with deeper roots, and chemical weed killers often can affect those who develop a resistance. Due to our actions, weeds have evolved to mimic the size, shape, height and coloring of plants favored by us to grow for food. Weeds sometime seem supernatural. They can grow fast, morph into new shapes, travel through ingenious methods, change color to adapt, and also endure rough conditions.

Over the centuries, we have tried every conceivable method of getting rid of undesirable plants. In Medieval times, farmers tried curses and negative names: calling weeds names such as hellweed, devil’s claws, devil’s fingers, devil’s daisy, devil’s tether.

In his book, Mabey promotes our acceptance weeds and writes that, “at a time of great environmental change and uncertainty, weeds may soon be all we’ve got left.” He recommends that we learn to tolerate them, and even celebrate them.

When the snow melts, and the weeds start to pop up around my yard – I’m not sure I’m ready to celebrate them yet – but I do see them a little differently.

Image Source:
Anecdotal Evidence

Links:

Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants

Interview on NPR – ‘Weeds’: In Defense Of Botany’s Cockroach