Wild Yarrow. This is all over my property. A very useful plant for medicinal purposes. It is rumored to help with all manner of upper respiratory issues, digestive issues, and menstruation issues. It is also a good coagulant and if made in a poultice. I'd advise using this mixed with St Johns Wort and Plantain for fast healing and to help stop bleeding quickly. Esoterically, it is revered as a protective herb as well as amorous dealings.
Red Clover. Equally abundant and has culinary and medicinal qualities. Culinary the flowers are a light airy flavor when picked at the right time (bottom flower is at the peak of flavor). I've eaten this in salads with vinegrette (makes a good blend with young plantain leaves, daylily greens, young violet leaves, wild lettuce, purslane, lambsquarters and wild garlic/chives), made teas, and munched them raw by themselves. Each early summer I gather a lot of clusters to dry and use as medicinal herbal teas and use some to make tinctures. It's medicinal properties are many like any good wild herb, but especially noted for diuretic properties. It is also good for respiratory ills and an expectorant. One reason I use a lot of this herb is that it relieves the symptoms of menopause, and helps the system re-balance itself. Esoterically, clover is supposed to bring luck and prosperity.
Daylilies. These are also in great patches on my property. These are one of my favorite forages. They have great flavor, and you can eat almost every part of the plant. I especially like to nibble the flowers when they are just getting ready to open. The nectar at the base is a nice sweet delight in the morning. The young greens are great in salads and when the leaves are older, I pull them like a grass stem and eat the white bits. I haven't eaten the roots, but my friends say they can be boiled and eaten like potatoes (really small ones), but are best harvested (like most roots) in the fall and early spring.
Wild Chicory. The leaves are edible before the flowers, but are pretty bitter. What makes this plant valuable though, is that the roots are a good coffee substitute. This plant also makes good food for my rabbits and chickens. Esoterically, chicory is used to remove obstacles, invisibility, favors and frugality.
Burdock. Young leaves are edible, but also bitter. I have used the root for its antibiotic and rumored anti-cancer properties. A good medicinal herb to have around. Esoterically Burdock is aligned with water and has protective and healing properties.
Mature Curly Dock. Young leaves and shoots edible, my favorites are the peeled shoots. Due to oxalate content, however, they . The seeds are also edible and can be dried and ground as flour after the husks have turned dark red. It is a lot of work, but the flavor is reasonable and nutrition is very high. Yellow (Curly) dock root is reportedly good for the liver, and can be combined with burdock and dandelion to treat liver heat. It is also a detoxifying herb and can be used to treat eczema, acne, fungal infections and reportedly good for psoriasis. Being a bitter, though, it can cause headaches as a side effect if you are sensitive to it. It also contains oxalates, so if you have kidney stones or gout, avoid internal usage. Dock leaves can also be used externally in a poultice and is especially helpful to treat stinging nettle, bug bites, rashes, etc. In esoteric use, it is used to sever ties to the past and clear boundaries.
Wild Black Raspberries They will turn black as they ripen. There are many uses for this plant not just the berries which are the icing on the cake. The leaves are used in many ancient as well as modern remedies. The leaves can be used fresh or dried and used as a gargle for sore throat, canker sores, or used as a wash for wounds. It's also good for cramps, and uterine issues. The fruits are useful in jams, jellies, pies, and muffins. Our favorite uses though are eating the berries, and making blackberry cordials. We take the fruit and fill a quart tub or jar, cover it with vodka and let it sit for about a week. Strain out the fruit pulp and either drink or you can mix in some honey to sweeten. Esoterically can be linked to feminine mother or hearth energies.
Wild Grapes, the young leaves are edible and the grapes in late fall. Wild grapes are much more bitter than the domestic kind and there isn't a lot of fruit on them. They taste better, though, if you let them sit on the vine through one frost. This makes them much sweeter. The leaves are good in salads and make good wraps of rice and spiced beef (cook hamburger in freshly cooked brown rice or wild rice with curry and paprika seasoning, then wrap the mix in grape leaves and lightly fry).
Wood Sorrel is always good. Love the tart flavor! I eat this in salads for a tangy zing, and I munch on these raw all the time. I especially like the seed pods. Medicinally it is reputed to be good against worms, upper respiratory congestion, and a good source of vitamin C. This plant also contains oxalates, so go light on consumption. Not surprisingly, this herb is aligned with healing energies.
This little Mulberry tree will hopefully grow up to be a wonderful fruit producing tree if I can keep the deer off it. This is one of Bandit's trees, planted in his memory and with some of his ashes. I love mulberries and these trees were the result of harvesting many berries, eating most, drying some and planting them. I love fresh mulberries off the tree! There are many things you can do with them, same as most berries, wines, syrups, jams, jellies, or as I like them best, plain. Mulberries are a very strong affiliation with lightning and protection.
Here is another Mulberry next to some Creeping Charlie and in the upper left hand side there is a violet plant.
