Have you noticed what flower the bee prefers? Now a bee should be
an expert about flowers and which ones are the most important, after all
she makes her living from knowing flowers. The honeybee could tell
us that the misunderstood dandelion is a very valuable herb. In a
world of sick people, we are killing the plants that could help us heal.
It is even written in the dandelion’s Latin name: Taraxacum officinale.
Officinale is an old word that means a medicinal herb sold officially in
an apothecary shop or at the market place. There was a time, before
we forgot, when the dandelion was greatly appreciated and sought after.
Every part of this beautiful plant can be harvested for food and medicine.
The fresh green leaves can be used in cooking; they are jam packed with
Vitamins A and C and contain valuable potassium and minerals. The
blossoms can be fried or made into a tea. Dandelion-root tea can
help wash out toxins in the human system while strengthening the liver.
Dandelion-Ade
Dandelion-Ade is very refreshing, iced, on a hot spring day after a
good workout under the sun. If you or any of the children get too
much sun on your face or arms cold dandelion tea is very cool and healing
when splashed onto the skin. Send out the children to gather as many
unsprayed, bright, new Dandelion faces (blooms), that they can gather in
their skirts or baskets. Meanwhile, get a large big pot of water
boiling and have a large bowl ready. Pick and wash through the
dandelion faces for grass, straw or any stray bugs. Place the
Dandelion faces into the bowl and stand back as you pour the boiling water
over them. Cover, let sit 15 minutes. Remove cover and let
dandelion faces remain infused while you let mixture cool. Strain
the brew into a pitcher. Add ice, honey or sugar and lemon to taste.
Wild Violet Jelly
Collect a basket of wild violet flowers. Place flowers in a large
ceramic bowl and pour 2 cups of boiling water over them, let this infusion
steep all night. The next day strain into a saucepan, this is the
fun part: watching the color of the water turn from a dark blue into a
light purple color. Put this pan of liquid to boil with one package
of fruit pectin, stirring constantly until all the pectin is dissolved.
Boil for one minute, add 4 cups of sugar, stirring until the sugar is
dissolved, boil for one more minute, pour into hot sterilized jelly jars
and process in a hot-water bath for 15 minutes.
Jewelweed
This plant is a jewel of a weed. The Native Americans knew of its
uses and thus were not afraid of poison ivy. Jewelweed has juice in
its stem, much like the gel of the aloe vera plant which is useful for
burns. Jewelweed gel can be spread on the skin that has been exposed
to poison ivy before or after the blisters start to form, to neutralize
poison ivy's oily sap. The jewel can also be used to lessen the
sting of nettle and insect bites and to aid in the cure of rashes, warts
and eczema. It is related to the annual impatiens flower that we buy
from the green houses in flats to take home and brighten up the shady
corners of our yards in the summer.
Indeed this precious weed carries the Latin name of Impatiens. It
comes in two varieties, one with a yellow flower (Impatiens paddida) and
one with orange flowers (Impatiens capensis). The common name of
jewel weed did not come from the fact that it is a jewel, as I would cause
you to believe, but because it has a way of holding water on its leaves so
that the droplets stand up and look very much like diamonds, reflecting
and sparkling back to the sun. Jewelweed is very attractive to
hummingbirds and butterflies. Carpenter, bumble and orchard bees are its
prime pollinators and it is a native plant of the Americas. Other
common names for this valuable specimen are touch-me-not and snap-weed, as
the ripe seedpods are spring-loaded and pop open at the slightest touch
with a definite snapping sound.
If you find that you have rubbed up against poison ivy or you feel the
familiar itch start to tingle on your skin, look around, jewelweed will
most likely be near as it often grows right alongside poison ivy. Thriving
in creek beds, beside streams and in any cool, moist, shady place or in
the un-mown ditch behind your house, growing in colonies to about waist
height. Break open the stem and rub its substance on the affected
skin.
If you have already broken out in blisters, gather
plenty of jewelweed and keep applying the juice of its stems every time
you feel the urge to scratch.
A tea brewed from the stems and poured into ice cube trays is handy to
have around for emergencies, like when a friend of mine developed a poison
ivy rash after the jewel weed had all died back last fall. Jewel
weed does all this magic without the unpleasant side effects of medicines
such as steroids or cortisone that are commonly prescribed for poison ivy
rashes. After all, it is whole and unadulterated, just naturally
wonderful.
