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Archive for the ‘plant identification’ Category

WILDCRAFTING #5: MEDICINAL AND NUTRITIOUS LAMBS QUARTERS AND CHICKWEED

Posted in community, nature, plant identification, sustainability, tagged , , , on March 30, 2011| 8 Comments »

Just a lovely plant in my neighborhood I am trying to ID
This is just a lovely little bush in my neighborhood I am trying to ID. So, it’s a  Psoralea pinnata, called the Grape Kool-aid plant because that is what it smells like.  Cool.
Sorry this is about 2 weeks behind schedule folks. The Japanese tsunami and nuclear meltdown really got me thinking about a disaster kit. We are 19.5 miles from Diablo Canyon Nuclear power plant, on the wrong side of the San Andres fault, full moon, planets lining up, fish kills in Redondo Beach all added up to get the dang kit done. It was an intense two weeks but the kit is done. Thanks for your patience. Just one more thing.  There is going  to be a universal water prayer for Japan conducted by Masaru Emoto on March 31 at 12 noon. I hope all reading this will be able to join in. Thank you.

Lamb’s-Quarters
(Chenopodium album)

Pronunciation: ken-o-PODE-ee-um AL-bum

Chenopo’dium: from the Greek chen, “goose,” and pous, “foot,” or podion, “a little foot,” referring to the shape of the leaves in some species (ref. genus Chenopodium)

Lambs quarters - Very common looking weed

This European relative of spinach and beets, which grows throughout the North America, bears large quantities of edible, spinach-flavored leaves you can collect from mid-spring to late fall. It’s one of the best sources of beta-carotene, calcium, potassium, and iron in the world; also a great source of trace minerals, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, and fiber. Wildman has an excellent piece on lambs quarter, also called goosefoot and pig weed. There is a look-a-like that will make you sick.  The tell-tale difference is the look-a-like smells like resin. So no worries just pinch the leaves if it stinks let it be.  I have found all the plants we are talking about here in my own yard or neighborhood. They are common. I have found, ID’ed and eaten everything I am posting here.  I am not going to tell you anything I haven’t tried myself. So, Here is Lambs Quarters which I just found and ID’ed this last winter.

One of the tastiest greens out there–It is in your yard – Find It – ID It.

Young lambs quarters Ewe to you.

Nutrients: Lambs quarters  has Phosphorus, iron, calcium, vitamins A, B2, Niacin, and C

Medicinal uses

Native Americans ate the leaves to treat stomachaches and prevent scurvy. Cold tea used for diarrhea. Leaf poultice used for burns and swellings. Fold remedy for vitiligo, a skin disorder.

This YouTube has some more interesting facts about Lambs Quarters. Ever heard of quinoa? You will be surprised what he has to say about lambs quarters and quinoa.

Chickweed

(Stellaria media)

Chickweed - Delicious and medicinal

Most are succulent and have white flowers, and all with practically the same edible and medicinal values. They all exhibit a very interesting trait, (they sleep) termed the ‘Sleep of Plants,’ every night the leaves fold over the tender buds and the new shoots. I suggest you only gather this little darling when the white flowers are present. The look-a-like is the scarlet pimpernel.   They grow very close to each other. You can’t tell them apart except for the flowers.

Side note: scarlet pimpernel

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/pimper33.html

Chickweed look-a-like Scarlet Pimpernel

is known as the weather vane plant. When a low pressure is approaching the flower will close up to protect its pollen. Low pressure means there is a change of weather on the way. Dandelions flowers will do the same thing. But if there is a puff-ball on the dandelion the plant releases the puff from the stem before it rains to insures reseeding. Watch those puff balls. High pressure means clear skies. I digress. Back to Chickweed.

Gather fresh edible plant between May and July, as soon as flowers appear, it can be used fresh or be dried for later herb use.
Properties
Chickweeds are Medicinal and edible, they are very nutritious, high in vitamins and minerals, can be added to salads or cooked as a pot herb, tasting somewhat like spinach. The major plant constituents in Chickweed are Ascorbic-acid, Beta-carotene, Calcium, Coumarins, Genistein, Gamma-linolenic-acid, Flavonoids, Hentriacontanol, Magnesium, Niacin, Oleic-acid, Potassium, Riboflavin, Rutin, Selenium, Triterpenoid saponins, Thiamin, and Zinc.
The whole plant is used in alternative medicine as an astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary.
It is also used to relieve constipation, an infusion of the dried herb is used in coughs and hoarseness, and is beneficial in the treatment of kidney complaints. as an astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, refrigerant, vulnerary.
A decoction of the whole plant is taken internally as a post-partum depurative, emmenagogue, galactogogue and circulatory tonic.

New research indicates it’s use as an effective antihistamine. The decoction is also used externally to treat rheumatic pains, wounds and ulcers. It can be applied as a medicinal poultice and will relieve any kind of roseola and is effective wherever there are fragile superficial veins or itching skin conditions.

bum

Chickweed up close and personal

Chickweed-Down and Dirty

This little guy is good for just about everything that ails you.  Find it in your garden or neighborhood. It is everywhere and finding it is kind of a thrill.  It shows you have been paying attention and are learning something. Walking takes on a whole new meaning when you are out there trying to ID plants. I just learned about wood sorrel the other day and now I popping it in my mouth every chance I get.

As usual I have overstepped my bounds here and gone way over the limit. But I have half of next weeks wildcrafting blog already done. It will be on wood sorrel, Pine needles and spring tonic if I have room.

Please pass the prayer for Japan around, thank you and see you next week.
WILDCRAFTING: The CAT’S MEOW A REAL HERO part 4

Wildcrafting: #3 Dandelions, Curly Dock, Jewelweed & Making flower essences.

WILDCRAFTING: MUGWORT, (bonus plant Wormwood), YARROW AND RED CLOVER. And a little conversation with God and St. Francis on Lawns.

Wildcrafting

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WILDCRAFTING #4 : The CAT’S MEOW A REAL HERO

Posted in community, diy, nature, plant identification, sustainability, sustainable lifestyle, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 2, 2010| 14 Comments »

This is a Cattail

A Cattail is regarded as one of the Fantastic 4.  One of 4 plants that could save your life. Know what the other three are? Here are the parts of the Cattail that we are going to be talking about starting with the roots and rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground stems. They turn into the shoots, stalks, seed heads with Male and Female parts and are all edible. There can be little corms at the base of the rhizome which are just young shoots. These are particularly tasty and can be eaten raw or cooked after the outer peel is removed.

From the rhizomes you get flour, starch, and sugar syrup. Edible anytime of the year, needs to be cooked or roasted and tough outer layer  removed to get to the soft, inner core.

A simple way to eat cattail rhizome in the field is to bury it for about five minutes in a bed of hot coals and then chew the sticky starch out of the outer rhizome and the strings that run through the center.

Next, the young stalks can be eaten raw or cooked after the outer leaf blades are peeled off like a leek. Here is where the rule of thumb saying came from. To get to the soft inner core you push on the stalk with your thumb and it separates the core from the stalk. Very nutritious. Taste like asparagus. Tends to be a little dry when cooked.  Butter or olive oil will fix that right up. The shoots provide beta carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin C.

Everybody knows what a cattail looks like.  There is hardly a marsh, wetlands, or body of water, brackish or fresh, that does not play host to this hotdog-on-a-stick-looking plant.

If you only know Cattails from leafing through House Beautiful showing Cattail arrangements to grace a mantle or come eye to eye with them

confounding an ancient looking urn juggernauted on an endcap at Bed, Bath and Beyond

♪ Da DA ♪
♪ Da DA ♪

then I am going to tell you things about this plant you never knew and it may just blow your mind.

First, the bleeding obvious

Cattails, Typha latifolia, is a grass from the Gramineae family chiefly herbaceous but some woody plants including  bamboo; reeds, tules, bulrushes, sugar cane and cereals like wheat, oat, barley, rice, & rye. Difference here is that every part of the cattail, not just the seeds heads,  is usable.  Plant boasts eight food products, three medicinals, and at least 12 other functional uses.

Cattails are a 4 season plant which means you don’t have to wait for the right time of year to harvest it. It is always ready with something that is useful. So, lets start with spring Cattails and work through all the seasons. Easiest way to find Cattails is to go where you see last years stalks standing.  If you are starting from scratch then remember the look-a-like rule?   Cattails have 2

Look-A-Likes, oh my

One is an Iris which is poison and the other is the Calamus which is not. Let’s talk Iris first. Spring is the only time of year when there can be some confusion and for a very short period. Everything is green in spring and about the same size starting out. Iris and members of the Iris family only reach about 2 feet in height. Cattail’s get up to 8 feet and will tower over the Iris in very short order.  Just to be safe know your look-a-likes.

Iris
Iris

Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) and Yellow Flag (Iris pseudoacorus) and other members of the iris family all possess the cattail-like leaves. All members of the Iris family are poisonous.  Upon close inspection however, there is a very obvious difference. If you follow the  leaves which are flat and smooth with no ribbing to the flat fan arrangement at the base of the plant you have an iris. Cattails leaves have a midrib which form around a stalk and  they do not fan out. Iris’ are not edible but the roots are used as a fixative in dyeing materials.

The other look-alike which is not poisonous, but whose leaves look more like cattail than iris is the Sweet Flag or Calamus. (Acorus calumus).

Sweet Flag-Spring Cattail look-a-like.

Sweet Flag- Cattail look-a-like.

The leaves on a Sweet Flag are wavy and have parallel venation with a midrib. It has a seed pod growing out of the side of the stock.  Cattail seed pods are ALWAYS at the top of the stem. Sometimes the margins on the Sweet Flag are red. Cattail leaf margins are never red or wavy. The legendary Japanese sword Kusanagi got its name from the Calamus.  In some east Indian and Chinese cultures the roots of the Sweet Flag have many medicinal uses. Our American Indians used it quite extensively. So, if you find a Calamus make a note you may want to go back later.  If you are in doubt if the plant is a Cattail or a Calamus just bruise the leaf.  If it  has the sweet, spicy aroma it is a Sweet Flag. Cattails, if anything, smells like grass.

Second, a little less obvious

So, now you have a positive Cattail ID. It’s Spring. Now what? Make sure the water where the Cattails are growing is safe. No runoff, factories around, dumping, or contaminants in the water. Cattails are a super filtering systems. They will take up the pollutants, heavy metals, chemicals, and clean up the water.  However, all those chemicals and pollutants are now concentrated in the plant. If you eat from a plant in a polluted area you will be getting all the contaminates that plant took out of the water. So make sure your Cattails have a good clean water source.

In the spring the first thing you can harvest is the new shoots sometime called Cossack asparagus. You harvest it by running  your hands down the stalk to the base and pull. It pops off the rhizome and doesn’t hurt the plant at all. Peel all the outer leaves off until you get to the core

Peeled Cattail shoot
Peeled Cattail shoot

Cut the top tough part off. That is just immature leaf formation and the leaves are actually the only part you don’t eat. Leaves are used to make mats, shoes, hats, baskets very sturdy stuff if you know how to do it.  And if you burn the leaves and make an ash and apply it to cuts it will stop the bleeding. There is a mucilaginous gel between the leaf layers. Save this gel if you can.  It is used as a thickener in soups or spread it all over your body. It is an antiseptic.

A little later in the season but before the summer solstice the stalks will start to bulge out in spots. This is the seed head forming in the stalk. It’s edible.

Peel the covering away. The green flower heads can be steamed and eaten like corn-on-the-cob. Dip in butter. There is a core just like corn don’t eat that.

a steamed cattails

a steamed cattails

By mid-summer the yellow pollen will be falling from the spike atop the flower heads, and can be shaken into a paper bag to use in thickening soups or even mixed with flour for making bread or cattail pancakes.


The “fluff” of the mature flower heads was once used to stuff life jackets, and is still perfect as an emergency insulation. If you are lost and without sufficient clothing, you can fill your jacket with it. Use it to make a warm mattress as well with very tight weaved material so the fluff does not escape. Stuff it in your shoes to keep your feet warm. Keep the fluff contained.

Cattail flower head fluff is also very flammable. Break open a mature flower head (available almost any time of the year) and make a pile of it. Then strike a match to it, or even a good spark, and it will burst into flame. The tight heads are often dry inside even after a heavy rain, making this a great survival tinder.

Cattail Down
Cattail Down

There you have it. The Cats out of the bag now.  A real lifesaver in more ways than one.  My Hero.

Part 1 Wildcrafting: A Beginner’s Guild

Part 2 Wildcrafting: Mugwort, Wormwood, Yarrow, and Red Clover

Part 3 Wildcrafting Dandelions, Curly dock, Jewelweed & Making flower essences

Part 4: Wildcrafting: The CAT’S MEOW A  REAL LIFESAVER

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Wildcrafting: #3 Dandelions, Curly Dock, Jewelweed & Making flower essences.

Posted in community, nature, plant identification, sustainability, tagged , , , , , , on August 20, 2010| 5 Comments »

Find it – Dandelion – Id it

http://www.kathypickles.co.uk/gallery/index.htm

Taraxacum officinale

Know it

The name dandelion is a corruption of the French dent de lion meaning lions tooth which refers to the shape of the leaves. Dandelions are  little power houses.  You can use all parts, flowers, leaves, roots even the seed heads, which automatically prompts you to make a wish.  Also, ever notice that there are no dandelion puffs right before a rain? They all drop off so they are ready for a good drenching when the rain arrives.  This gets them a head start on reseeding themselves.  Leaves taste best when they are young. Like some older people I know they get bitter as they get older.  So leave them alone. However, in the fall after a hard frost the bitterness is dispersed and you can enjoy them once again. I wish this worked the same way on people.

The white stuff in the leaves and stems is natural latex.  In a pinch it will re-stick that stamp you pulled off and saved because it didn’t get cancelled by the Post Office.  It works.

One ounce of the fresh leaf  contains large amounts of  Vit A, calcium, sodium, potassium, and trace elements. The root of the plant is the part most often used for healing purposes. It is a blood cleanser. Good for cleansing the liver, kidney and gall bladder.  Collected in either the spring or fall, fresh dandelion roots can be peeled parboiled and sautéed to be served as a tasty vegetable.

Many European herbalist regard dandelion as one of the best herbs for building the blood and curing anemic conditions. I grab a leaf and pop it in my mouth when I am watering it.  It’s all good.

Because of the dandelion and its yellow flower that we see so often I am adding a feature so we can preserve the flowers for later. The new feature making Flower essences. It is very easy  to do,  packs a wallop medicinally and can be used with any flowers.  So, here is more about the dandelion and a feature on how to make flower essence.

dandelion

http://www.learningherbs.com/dandelion_coffee.html

That Learning Herbs  site above  is a very interesting site on wildcrafting.  It also offered a wildcrafting game for kids ages 4-adult that I had to have. It arrived yesterday. It is very clever. I particularly like the cooperation aspect of the game  (Nothing like monopoly, which I always hated). The idea is to  get to the huckleberry patch, pick 2 pails of huckleberries and then back to grandma’s before dark.  You have trouble along the way, scraped knees, bee sting, etc and the plants with pictures explaining which ones to use for the trouble.   What is really cool is you can share the plants you have collected, help players that are falling behind by picking berries for them or giving them your turn.  You win when everyone arrives safely back to grandma’s house.  It can be played in conjunction with an online webpage that enhances the story and details on the other plants on the board. I learned some stuff I didn’t know and that is always fun.  This is not a Milton Bradley production. This s a Family operation and it is very unique. Guess what the grand kids are getting for Christmas?

Flower Essences

You just have to try this. I have bought Bach’s flower essences before, Major (my puppy dog) and I are partial to Rescue Remedy. Couple drops under the tongue calms everything down, but they are  expensive, $11.95 for .25 ounce. I didn’t have a lot of dandelions so I used what I had, red clover, yarrow, honeysuckle violets and  borage.  Instructions said do flowers separately. As you can see I don’t always follow the directions. I put everything into one bowl.

Bowl of Flowers for essence

I am going to give you a quick rundown of what I did and then you check out the link below for more details.

Flower essence recipe: http://www.thedance.com/herbs/flhow.htm

  • Collect just the flower parts. Try not to touch the flowers. It’s an energy thing I think
  • Arrange them face up in a bowl of spring or filtered water
  • Put them in the sun for about 4 hours. Keep bugs out. Again, you don’t want any bug energy in this.
  • Remove flowers by straining into a clean bowl.
  • Put equal parts of brandy and the flower water into a dark glass container and cap it. Mix the contents by hitting the container sharply with the ball of your hand  30 times. ( I don’t have any idea why you do this 30 times. I did it because it sounded like there might be a curse attached if I didn’t.  I did it 30 times) Also, I didn’t have any brandy so I used Cherry Herring. After I did that I went to find out if it would still work with a liqueur. Silly me.  I learned that the difference between the  brandy which is  60 proof and Cherry Herring which is about 40-45 proof, oh and the taste, might be the reason for using the higher proofed brandy.  All I know is I sure like the taste of Cherry Herring better than Brandy but next time I will do Brandy. I think any distilled alcohol will do.
  • In essence you are done.  You have just made a tincture.  This is the mother. There are several other steps you do to extend the tincture but I ran out of Cherry Herring so I couldn’t do the next step.  Oh darn. I need to buy more Cherry Herring. There are many herbal remedies that call for tinctures. There is a lot of power in those little flowers and the power of the sun pulls it out and deposits it in the water. You now have the power. It’s Magic.  Go for it.

Find it – Curly Dock – Wild Yellow Dock – ID it

Know it

Curly dock in the fall

Curly dock is easy to spot in the late summer or early fall. It’s tall red seed stock is a head turner in open fields. Related to Buckwheat and rhubarb. The seeds are a great deep yellow dye source.  You use the root at this stage.  Dock root has a reputation among herbalists as an effective tonic and cleanser for the whole system.  They use it to  strengthen the circulatory system, the blood, liver, kidneys, and bladder. Dock has been identified  as a laxative. A tea made from the root of the plant is famous in Chinese medicine as a treatment for chronic constipation.  Good to know if you are on Vicodin. You don’t boil dock like other roots, you steep it. Place a teaspoon of chopped up dock in a cup and pour boiling water over it to the very top.   Cover it and let it steep for 30 minutes. Drain, reheat and drink.

Top pic is Curly dock in the fall.  The pic bottom left is curly dock in the middle of summer.  It’s a perennial so you could use the root at this point. Don’t eat the leaves now too bitter. Pic bottom right is Spring dock. Eat the leaves now. Nice lemony taste.

Curly dock mid summer

Curly dock in the spring

Here is more information on what to do with dock.  http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/cook/RUMEX_CRISPUS.htm

 Find it – Jewelweed – ID it

Know it

Jewel weed Impatiens species

This is a good one to find especially when you are out wildcrafting and come in contact with Poison Ivy/Oak. I just recently found this plant for the first time while I was collecting spring water.  There was poison oak everywhere and  right next to the poison oak was this little flower that looked like a baby orchid. I picked it and took it home to id it  and it was jewelweed.  The indians say that a cure is within arms reach.  I can attest to the power of this little plant.  Cassie gets poison oak really bad. We have tried a lot of things to relieve the itching. Jewelweed  is one of the best topical applications we found that really helped. Here is a video that gives a good closeup of the plant.

and here is a more detailed explanation of Jewelweed.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Jewelweed.html

Wow, I am over my limit again. There is just so much to talk about.  More wildcrafting next week.

Wildcrafting part 1 Getting Started

Wildcrafting part 2 Mugwort, Wormwood, Yarrow and Red Clover And a conversation with God and St. Francis.

Wildcrafting part 4: The CAT’S MEOW A LIFESAVING PLANT

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WILDCRAFTING #2: MUGWORT, (bonus plant Wormwood), YARROW AND RED CLOVER. And a little conversation with God and St. Francis on Lawns.

Posted in community, diy, health & beauty, nature, organic, organic gardening, plant identification, tagged , , , , on August 17, 2010| 6 Comments »

Find it-MUGWORT-ID it

Mugwort-Artemisia vulgaris

Know it

http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mugwor61.html

I have to tell you Mugwort and Wormwood are very close. They are related and they are both good herbs to wildcraft. So here is a pic and description of Wormwood. Two for the price of one.

Find it-WORMWOOD-ID it

Wormwood-Artemisia absinthium

Know it

http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html

The leaves on the wormwood are more deeply lobed and more of a silvery color than the mugwort. Wormwood is a great find and has quite a history. It is one of those biblical herbs as is fennel and yarrow.

Here’s the bible references

http://www.herbsociety-stu.org/bible_herbs.htm

Find it-Yarrow-ID it

Yarrow-Achillea millefolium

Know it

http://www.altnature.com/gallery/yarrow.htm

Yarrow comes in pink, white and yellow.  A reader was nice enough to point out that the white yarrow and not the yellow as I had originally posted, is the native.  Good to be able to set the record straight.  Thanks Judith.

Native yarrow is very prolific and reseeds itself almost desperately which is good because there is so much you can do with it. I just learned you can take one leaf, chop it up and put it on your compost pile to speed up decomposition. Works so well with other herbs too.

Find it-Red Clover-ID it

Red Clover-Trifolium pratense

Know it

http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-red-clover.html

You can find red clover everywhere. Red is really pink and there is a white clover but the medicinal properties are different. It also reseeds itself and is, as is with all clovers, great for the soil. All the herbs I have mentioned here that are so beneficial and part of the wildcrafting art are regarded as weeds by the makers and producers of lawns. Ortho and Scotts have weed killers to protect the precious over pampered, waste of space we call lawns from the likes of Mother Nature.

How to use:

Dose may vary from person to person, but general guidelines are as follows:

  • Dried herb (used for tea): 1 – 2 tsp dried flowers or flowering tops steeped in 8 oz. hot water for 1/2 hour; drink 2 – 3 cups daily
  • Powdered herb (available in capsules): 40 – 160 mg per day, or 28 – 85 mg of red clover isoflavones
  • Tincture (1:5, 30% alcohol): 60 – 100 drops (3 – 5 mL) three times per day; may add to hot water as a tea
  • Fluid Extract (1:1): 1 mL three times per day; may add to hot water as a tea
  • Standardized red clover isoflavone extracts: directions on product labels should be carefully followed
  • Topical treatment (such as for psoriasis or eczema): an infusion, liquid extract, or ointment containing 10 – 15% flowerheads; apply as needed unless irritation develops. Do not apply to an open wound without a doctor’s supervision.

 

As you might guess I am not a fan of lawns. I am sorry. They are nice to look at when they are all green and manicured. As a kid I hand mowed about a quarter of an acre of lawn every week which I actually enjoyed doing.  I don’t like lawns because I think today they are a colossal waste of time, money, water and effort.  Josh, #2 son, sent this to me about a year ago knowing how I feel about lawns. This is right on and what we call garden humor. Enjoy.

GOD AND ST. FRANCIS DISCUSSING LAWNS

GOD: Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It’s the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers “weeds” and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It’s temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren’t going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It’s a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough. I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have they scheduled for us tonight?”

ST. CATHERINE: “Dumb and Dumber”, Lord. It’s a really stupid movie about…..

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

See you next week. Will be doing dandelions and two others.

Happy Crafting.

Wildcrafting part 1   Starter Guide

Wildcrafting part 2 Mugwort (bonus plant Wormwood) Yarrow, chickweed, and red clover

Wildcrafting part 3 dandelions and making flower essences

Wildcrafting part 4 The Cat’s Meow-A Real Lifesaver

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Wildcrafting #1 Starter guide

Posted in community, health & beauty, nature, plant identification, sustainability, sustainable lifestyle, tagged , , , , , , , on August 8, 2010| 3 Comments »

Wildcrafting #1: Starter guide

Introduction

Wildcrafting is the ancient art of taking care of yourself by taking care of Mother Nature.  A tried and true method of not only survival and sustainability, but also a way of promoting abundance, diversity and showing gratitude to dear old MOM who is always looking to shower us with blessings. It is a way of collecting  seeds, nuts, plants, roots, flowers from the wild. Before there was processed food and drive thru, before refrigerators or farms or agri business, before the neanderthal or the missing link there was wildcrafting.   Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it ( Cole Porter lyrics ) Let’s do it… Let’s wildcraft.

For starters understand the principal. Mother Nature provides us with everything we need to survive. There is quite an etiquette that goes with wildcrafting.  A whole bunch of rules that are spelled out for people who have lost all touch and connection with their roots. What once was obvious natural behavior practiced by indigenous people whose life depended on knowing the rules has become a lost art.  Here are the rules. http://home.klis.com/~chebogue/p.conWild.html Read them and understand them before you head out into the wild blue yonder.

For now just apply good common sense.

  • Positive ID of the plant a must.
  • Stay away from roadside plants that are contaminated with pollutants, polluted water and industrial areas.
  • Leave a place better than you found it best if there is no trace of your ever being there.
  • Always leave something so the next generation can produce and multiply.
  • Always thank Mother Nature and the plant for their gift.
  • Only take what you need.

When you have graduated to the next step you will need to check with local authorities and see what plants require a picking permit. Some herbs like the fiddle fern and Echinacea are protected. Some areas are protected. Check to make sure. You don’t want to be picking protected plants in restricted areas.   In the mean time, Trust me. Mom has a lot of goodies up her sleeve and there usually is an abundance of what you need and can use within arms reach.  So let’s get started in our own backyard and neighborhood.

Clean pickings is important. No pesticides, herbicides, snail, or rat poison, or roundup around. If you don’t know, leave it alone.  Getting a positive ID is critical. Know your plants. Mother Nature has a wonderful way of mimicking herself.  This is especially true in the mushroom department. So we are not going to do mushrooms here. You need an expert in this area. One mushroom with an ever so slight variation hardly visible to the human eye can be the deadly mimic to the edible variety.

An entire group of Maidu Indians died from collecting mushrooms from their usual foraging spot. The mushrooms had been contaminated with a wild spore that they had no way of knowing had settled on the mushrooms.  This put me off of  hunting mushrooms on my own.

Wild carrots, fennel and  poisonous hemlock have exactly the same flower arrangement the only difference is hemlock has a spotted hollow stem. We are going to start you off wildcrafting in familiar surroundings. This will teach you how to look for plants, see plants, and learn about their secret life.

Here is a picture of my front yard.

5’x10′ garden

It is 5‘x10’ and has over 100 wild herbs. spices, domestic and foreign. Can you find the yarrow, spearmint, ginger, horseradish, mustard, burdock, motherwort, vervain, ephedrine, fennel, wild radish, red clover, wooly mullein, scarlet pimpernel, dandelion, mugwort, violets, sage, comfrey, jasamine, rose hips, lavender, rosemary, honeysuckle, aloe, millet, onions, nasturtiums, plantain, borage, thyme, yellow sulfur plant, knot weed, curly dock, geraniums, apple, lemon, apricots, guava, cherry, bamboo, cattail and I still have not found a good use for crab grass but it’s there. I can promise you this wildcrafting can become an obsession.

I will do three plants per blog. Lets start with the common scarlet pimpernel. This is a little darling. So many uses. Find it.

ID it.

Know it.

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/pimper33.html

Next. Salsify.

When I first saw this in the wild I thought I had found a new source of gold. This huge over sized dandelion looking seed pod shimmered like spun gold in the sunlight.  The wildflower book describes the color as brown but I am telling you it is gold. It grows wild. Brought some seeds home and it grew. The root looks like a carrot and taste like  an oyster.  Leaves are eatable. Taste best if harvested before it flowers.  Find it.

ID it.

Know it

Here is how you pronounce it and more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlUVTPokwh4

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artsalsify.html

And lastly

Plantain (not the banana) Another one of those hidden treasures with secret powers.  There is broad leaf and English plantain. Picture is English variety. The parallel venation is a dead give away. The Indians chewed a leaf (saliva is the secret ingredient) mixed it with sap from the pine tree applied to splinters, etc. foreign objects needing to be removed, and within 24 hours the object was drawn out. Find it.

ID it

Know it

http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/placom43.html

(Note: I endorse these links because I like them. They are not advertisements, and I get no kickbacks. That’s nice huh?)

More next week

Part 2 Wildcrafting: Mugwort, Wormwood, Yarrow, and Red Clover

Part 3 Wildcrafting Dandelions, Curly dock, Jewelweed & Making flower essences

Part 4: Wildcrafting: The CAT’S MEOW A LIFESAVING PLANT

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BAMBOO: The Mother of all Grassroots

Posted in community, diy, green building, local businesses, money, plant identification, politics, shelter, site updates, sustainability, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

One for the Money

One for the Money

To most people Bamboo is a nuisance at best, a scourge at its worst. Horror stories of running bamboo taking over yards or neighborhoods is a long-standing urban myth. Unlike the Kudzu, http://www.herbreference.com/kudzu.html

Now this could be a nightmare

Now,this could be a nightmare

that has taken over entire southern states bamboo enjoys limited exposure as a ‘Lucky’ plant grown in an 8oz container, or the main food source for the cute and cuddly panda in zoos, or safely observed from afar in bonsai exhibits at garden shows.

In China and Japan bamboo is a mainstay. Japan says its country is held together by bamboo and china builds bridges with it. Bamboo shoots are a food source, a feedstock, and of course timber bamboo has the tensile strength of steel, hence bridges and houses that last hundreds of years. I would not be surprised if author David Blume,  “Alcohol Can Be a Gas” could not brew up a batch of alcohol fuel from this sweet grass.    http://www.permaculture.com/

The running bamboo gallops in zones 4-10, hence the term running as opposed to clumping.  And if we were not so intent on killing or confining it, that running factor alone is a real asset.

How it gets up and goes

How it gets up and goes

Like crab grass it sends underground shoots in all directions and comes up with a new shoot the first chance it gets. This new shoot is a new plant that will send out more runners with more shoots to make more plants and on and on and on.

Crab grass is not a food source at least not to humans, nor can you build houses, flooring,

Pretty smooth stuff

Pretty smooth stuff

and tiles, make paper, clothes, musical instruments like flutes and reeds, window shades or bridges with it. You can’t reroute rivers or keep a denuded mountainside intact.  So, I can see the reasoning behind discouraging crab grass from running wild but, I do not understand why one would discourage, no, try to obliterate and eradicate a plant with the potential to reverse the current downward economics and raising CO2 trends. Growing bamboo for timber has all the earmarks of an industry that lends itself very nicely to the triple bottom line philosophy.  A win-win-win business philosophy that puts corporate greed in its place by practicing in unison the 3 P’s, planet, people, profit, thus the triple bottom line. “Building a Green Economy, by Kevin Danaber.” http://tinyurl.com/yauw8he

As a renewable, sustainable, pure green, job creating, out-and-out cash crop, bamboo is unbeatable.  It is a gift from Good Old Mother Nature like gold, sliver, diamonds, oil, air and water. The big plus side of Bamboo is that you don’t have to wait a million and half years to harvest this bounty.  Unlike Mom’s buried treasures that require deveining Her arteries, beheading Her mountaintops

or denuding Her ancient mantle for the treasured nonrenewables, bamboo is right there in your face, ready, willing and able to grow and multiply.  It screams, “Here I am. Come and get me.” Not using Bamboo as a natural resource is about as stupid as not using Hemp with all its natural renewable resources. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.  http://www.hemp.org/

Lets look at some hard cold facts about Bamboo as a Big green, sustainable, life producing manufacturing plant.  This plant can create wealth right here and right now. “Bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants in the world. Their growth rate (up to 60 centimeters (24 in.)/day) is due to a unique rhizome-dependent system, but is highly dependent on local soil and climate conditions.  Timber bamboo grows in zones 4-10.  Here is a zone map http://tinyurl.com/yep5hf3.  San Luis Obispo is Zone 9.

They are of economic and high cultural significance in East Asia and South East Asia where they are used extensively in gardens, as a building material, and as a food source.” We know it works and is sustainable.

Why not?

Grows .00002 mph

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo

Compare This: Timber bamboo takes 5-7 years to grow to the point it can be harvested.

With a 10-30% annual increase in biomass versus 2-5% for trees, bamboo creates greater yields of raw material for use. One clump can produce 200 poles in the five years it takes one tree to reach maturity.

In Costa Rica, 1000 homes are built every year with all of the building material coming from the same 150-acre plantation.

Bamboo homes can withstand 173 mph hurricane winds and 7.3 earthquakes.

Not to shabby

Not to shabby

Bamboo grows anywhere, from the equator to the Himalayas. There is Bamboo as a ground cover that you can mow once a year, or some timber Bamboo that grows to 100 feet in the first year.  It eats carbon dioxide. http://tinyurl.com/yemx3w8

One hundred and fifty acres of timber bamboo can produce 1250 board feet of timber in one year’s time compared to using native species, which takes  30-50 years to produce the same amount.  We get most of our Bamboo products from China and Japan. China and Japan get most of their lumber from our old forest. That does not seem like a fair trade. Bamboo grows anywhere. All you need is some dirt and sunshine.

As a commercial enterprise, the processing and impact on the environment in terms of chemicals, waste, toxic byproduct used is minimal compared to processing lumber for paper or pulp,  if it is done right.

Fun to watch

Fun to watch

For backyard gardens I grow bamboo in pots for fun and profit. I grow Black bamboo for the sheer beauty and grace. Green and yellow bamboo again for its beauty and it makes great all natural, no BHA, straws because there is at least 12” between nodes.  I also use the variegated variety for stakes in the garden or make fencing and criss crossing traps to keep critters out of the garden.  I keep cutting it and it keeps growing.

I am lucky.  I live in a town that is looking for a growth industry that is user and planet friendly.  We have the land, the climate, and the will to live a sustainable lifestyle.  There are two independent lumber yards that might be interested in a grow-your-own-economy that bamboo could provide.  Bamboo is amazing.  Working with Bamboo is working with  Mother Nature at the Grassroots.  Here are a few sites to get  you started http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph39.htm .  There is a lot of information here.    http://www.bamboos.com/timber%20bamboo.html Also, locally we have Bamboo Batu.  This is a  local business with more facts and bamboo products.  Check it out.  http://www.bambu-batu.com/24-0-factoids.html. We get no kickbacks from any of these sites.  We are doing it for the love.

The Big Picture

The Big Picture

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An easy one

Posted in plant identification, tagged , , , , on February 18, 2009| 5 Comments »

This was blooming beside the road. I HAD to stop and capture the orangelisiousness.

California Poppy! (Ooops, did I give it away?)

Can you tell me what it is?

C’mon, this is totally a gimme!

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