We rotate chores in our family, one of them is weeding the yard. However, weeding our yard means that family members have to know which plants to leave alone – there are many times I find myself telling my kids to “just pull the grass
out of the garden and leave everything else!”
This year besides cultivating our regular vegetable garden (tomatoes, all kinds of squash, eggplant, peppers, onions, melons, etc.) we’re also taking care of some beautiful “weeds.”
I’ve been trying to get plantain to grow in my yard for years - and the kids have accidentally weeded this plant on more than one occasion. They all finally know exactly what it looks like in all stages of development, and they let it grow. Plantain is one of our favorite herbs to use for bites and stings of all sorts – just chew a bit of it up and put it right on the sting. It pulls the poison out so quickly!
Another plant that I never have to cultivate is purslane. This wonderful plant is exceptionally high in alpha linolenic acid, which is an omega 3 fatty acid that is essential for human nutrition. We like to munch on it while removing the grass from the garden, and we also pick it to put on our salads. It can
be added to the morning green drink to get a lot of nutrition in quickly.
Mallow (Malva neglecta) is another wonderful “weed” in our garden. This beautiful plant has long deep roots, and I like to let it grow a bit to allow the
roots to really develop. The roots are high in lime, calcium, oxygen, and pectin. It is very soothing to inflamed respiratory, alimentary, intestinal, and genitourinary areas (School of Natural Healing, page 356). We usually have to dig deep with a shovel to extract its long roots from the ground. Mallow root can be dried and powdered for later use, or can be boiled until soft, blended, dehydrated, and powdered to make a strong powdered extract.
We allow our dandelions to grow freely, and this year took some of the fluff to share with a friend who needed some growing in her yard. We have welcomed the comfrey spilling over its pot to the rest of the garden and loved the beauty of yarrow, wood betony,
valerian, and calendula.
It is important to know what is growing around us so that we can use these wonderful plants to help ourselves and others. Pick up a field guide or download a picture app to help you identify what herbs are growing around you. Make sure you have Dr. Christopher’s School of Natural Healing book on hand to teach you how to use the herbs you pick. Choose just one or two herbs to learn about this year and then add more as the years go on. Your life may depend on your ability to use your weeds!
