I love the european summer. After the long winter it is refreshing to see the natures’ bounty coming out. In Bangladeshit is always warm and colorful. thus, people living there don’t always realize how lucky they are. i know summer months are definitely very exhausting with all the heat rising to even 45 degrees.
In Holland summer time comes with flowers and weeds. what we don’t know is that most are edible. During the second world war, there was a history of long winter where nearly 25000 people died of hunger. Since then, they published lists of edible weeds. So that during any kind of natural or human made disasters people are not deprived of the basic need of food.
I took a course from the lost skills academy to get more knowledge about such plants and how to forage and store them very recently.
I would mention 10 of the most important weeds that could be added to regular diet. But than i would like to alert people about a few things.
● Be cautious to not over harvest or
● Do not harvest from a place that might be polluted.
●Especially not road sides or near any polluted area.
●Also be careful about poisonous lookalikes.
I learnt from the trainer of my course to forage in the morning.
My first love is yarrow with the beautiful white flowers with a smell that reminds you of forest. making a tea to get boosted after a tiring day, healing wound or sking and hair care, yarrow is a sokution tyo all our regular days problems. keeping aside it’s ability to reduce fever or UTI.
Red clover is known as womens’ herb. it is so pleasing to look at. it has properties to reduce the symptoms of menopause and grows the bone density. It has other properties as well.
Self heal is the most important one for me. i love it cause this helped me quit my depression medication. It has many other health benefits. Helps reducing blood pressure and cholesterol.
Comfrey or knitbone has properties to reduce pain and heal the bone health. Even though it is prohibited to know internally. Before applying anywhere it is important to ensure that the skin is not broken as the toxic ingredient in comfrey could be absorbed by broken skin.
Dandelion is a lovely flower of which every part is edible.
wild chicory or chicorei intybus cannot be ignored because of its’ lovely blue flower. The roots have been long used as coffee replacement. But the whole plant is actually edible.
stinging nettle: i know many people would be angry on me when i mention how good stinging nettle is. Off course it stings you. otherwise it won’t survive. It after all is a cure for both in and out. Apart from being a highly nutritious edible plant, It is good for skin and hair.
All Mints: every plant of mint family that includes peppermint, lemon balm, chocolate mint and dead nettle to creeping ivy, I love to add them in tea to suppress the smell of other herbs which have less good smell but great health benefits.
Round leek: are so delicious in salad.
Tansy is not edible, but i can not ignore the power of Tansy. it removes all the nasty flies from my home.
Along with them, there are evening primrose, dove nettles, and thistles around. Also, not forget cattails known as nature’s walmart, all part is edible, including that sausage looking seedhead. Hiding great gels in between the leaves, which are natural anesthetice and could be used for many purposes, most importantly toothache or mouthsores.