Spring Foraging

We had the opportunity to forage some local plants recently. While many things are not quite ready to pick, below are some of the items we harvested on our latest walk:

Wild Rose Petals - 

Wild rose petals are delightful in herbal tea blends. If you are careful to just pick the petals, it will still produce rose hips for fall foraging. There are several varieties of wild rose out there, many of which have very fragrant petals you can harvest in the spring and produce rose hips you can harvest in the fall.

Plantain - 

We have both narrow and broad leaf plantain in our area. I was able to find some very large narrow leaf on the hill where there is no foot or car traffic, so I opted to pick there. Plantain is a great plant for wound healing and a simple poultice can be made by chewing the leaves (saliva breaks down the cell walls to release the healing constituents) (1). You can also make a poultice from the dried leaves by adding warm water and creating a paste. We like to add dried plantain to our herbal infusions for digestive support.

Yarrow (leaves) -

The yarrow is blooming at the bottom of the hill but is not yet in bloom on the hill. Nevertheless, I picked some of the yarrow leaves to dry for herbal tinctures and infusions. Yarrow has a rather strong flavor, but we have found it to be very effective in healing teas. We usually combine it with other healing herbs during bouts of illness.

Like plantain, yarrow has both wound healing and digestive support properties. It is also said to be anti-inflammatory.

Cleavers - 

These grow in numerous places around, but we found a good patch close to the house. There wasn't much to harvest and dry, but cleavers is said to be a good anti-inflammatory, immune system boost, liver detox, and UTI help. These are also edible, though the velcro-like nature of the leaves (from which it gets its name) makes them a bit challenging to chew and swallow. Some people like to wrap cleaver in miner's lettuce, which often grows nearby, to make swallowing easier.

Oxeye Daisy -

 The daisies are just beginning to bloom here. That means that we will have more to harvest in a week or two. Battered, fried daisies will be on the menu soon! Both the leaves and flowers of this plant are edible. However, some sites claim that the flower should be consumed in moderation as it can cause indigestion.

We have dried these for tea as well. It is said that oxeye daisy tea can help with coughs and will help to dry out mucus. (2) 


NOTE: This article is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. Do your own research and be sure to consult a medical professional if you have a medical concern.


(1) https://naturalingredient.org/?p=1826

(2) https://www.wildnesswithinliving.com/blog/2016/2/14/oxeye-daisy

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