Spring Weeds for Health - Look before you weed!

It's my most favorite time of year! The earth is thawing, and that wonderful earthy smell of plant life popping up combines with the emerging greenness. What will come up first - the daffodils, crocus, violets, nettles or dandelion? They look so appealing after a dull winter! Can you imagine how good they would look if we didn't have produce sections in grocery stores? These "spring tonics" and "pot herbs" were an important part of health and well being in the pioneer and pre-refrigeration days. In fact they have the potential to still enhance our health!

Most of these so-called weeds, (the plants we love to hate), were brought over by the Europeans, mainly for their medicinal qualities. For example, burdock, the biennial that develops the nasty hook-filled seed heads in the fall, is one of my favorite alternatives, or cleansing herbs. This is especially useful for skin ailments used both internally and externally. Traditional use is for excema, boils, ulcer sores and scaly skin. The leaves, root and fruits (commonly known as the seed heads) can all be used. As a food source, the Japanese sell the root as gobo root in their markets. I like the the root stir fried, or grated into a salad, but not steamed.

Nettles, the stinging kind, are my favorite steamed herb. The hairs which cause the stinging, come off when steamed, boiled, or dried. Nettle tea tastes like its minerals would enrich and empower, more than Popeye's spinach! They taste a lot like spinach to me and are a good substitute. This is our most popular herb tea among the Nature's Acres crew. Sometimes we blend it with peppermint leaves. My husband uses nettles for his allergies in the spring and fall. They contain histamines which help the body create its own anti-histamines. Nettles are more easily found around old farmsteads than in towns and cities, so this spring, visit your friends in the country. Bring your pruning shears (remember, nettles sting), and look around the barn!

Dandelion is a plant cursed by many lawn lovers, but our European ancestors brought it over because of its beneficial effects on the liver, and its effectiveness as a diuretic and mild laxative. The leaves are used as a diuretic and the root as a liver ally. Most diuretics draw minerals from the body as they act, but dandelion adds vitamins A, C, D, and iron, calcium and potassium-a nourishing food as well as a medicinal herb. An early sign of spring, the first young leaves are great in a salad, but become bitter as the season warms up. (By the way, bitters are not a bad thing-they act as a digestive aid.)

The lovable and welcome violet is a native in the northern U.S. The color acts as a living meditation for me, as the harbinger of spring. Violet flowers are anti-inflammatory, a good expectorant or cough remedy, mildly laxative, and a traditional remedy for cancers and tough skin conditions. This property is similar to burdock and is blended into a cream by Nature's Acres, called SWEET VIOLET MOISTURE CREAM - an effective and delightfully scented cream for sensitive, but difficult skin. Violets are also delightful as a cake decoration for a special occasion. My husband and I were fortunate to have 400 of these beautiful violets on our wedding cake.

It is also characteristic of these wild, sometimes weedy plants to change the tidy, well manicured look of our gardens. As my own horticultural background has grown to incorporate the powerful healing dandelions, plantain, and burdock into my herbal garden, I always come back to collect these gifts from nature to add to my medicine chest.

This spring, as you look over your own yard, or wander the newly arrived green of the country side, look for these old friends of lore, right beneath your feet.

• 6 tablespoons honey
• 4 tablespoons tamari
• 4 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• Chopped carrot, burdock root and green onion

Marinate and add sesame seeds

Pick violets, brush with egg whites, and dip in sugar.They will dry and be preserved like this to decorate cakes for special occasions. Violets have the sentiment of "faithfulness."

Jane Hawley Stevens has been studying and working with herbs for more than 20 years. She still grows all the herbs for her products, Nature's Acres, on her certified organic farm.

Recommended Reading:
Healing Wise, Susan Weed
New Wholistic Herbal, David Hoffman
The Book of Herbal Wisdom, Matthew Wood