It was on April 2nd that Mary Miller shared, "Mullein is out if you want to make some tea which is good for respiratory ailments...Wash and boil- Fresh. You can dry, but fresh is so much better!" Mary included a photograph which caused me to pause. This Mullein is the same wicked weed that I had been struggling to eliminate from my yard due to its prolific nature, insanely difficult to remove tap root and let's face it, less than rewarding yellow flower cluster at the tippy top of a very tall plant. I'm not one to turn my back on volunteers especially when they are native plants, and it has been observed by casual passersby that I have an, "English garden"; but this Mullein had been on my hit list for some time. Queen Anne's Lace / wild carrot is so much easier to love; but it seems that I am in need of an attitude adjustment. I do love a nice cup of tea.
I grew up with a father who didn't allow his five children to play or walk on the grass because, "It hurt the sidewalks feelings." I spent countless hours of my youth following him around the yard picking up after his manicuring even blades of green grass and shaping shrubs. I come by my distaste for golf course lawns honestly. My mom was the true gardener in the family and she is the person who instilled in me the value of growing food and flowers. Cutting Chive, picking green beans and pulling beets somehow seldom felt like a chore. It is my mom who passed down my Grandma Anna's small but beautifully scented yellow irises that I have grown for thirty years. Mom is also the reason that I pot red Geraniums every spring as she still does to honor her father.
Mom taught me to love growing things; but my gardening style is much less formal and much more welcoming of what she would label weeds and vermin. While others spread weed and feed lawn food, I spread white clover and native seeds that I gleaned from fields and ditches. Wayne has learned that when I have him stop the car, we are either gathering seeds or checking out a nice rock. I view my gardening efforts as much as a benefit to my family as I do as a benefit to wildlife and the environment. After all neighbors, birds and bees have to eat too!
I often wonder about a generation that finds that mono-crop called "the lawn" so pleasing as to spend gobs of money and time eliminating most of what is of real value to humans and wildlife. But then I think about my Grandma Anna and how she used to harvest Dandelion leaves in the spring to boil and clean out her system. My Grandfather Maurice even experimented with Dandelion wine. Anna used to pick wild strawberries from her yard to make pies, she picked wild crab apples to make jelly and always kept a patch of wild raspberries along the edge of the woods. I learned not so long ago that Juniper berries are used to make gin. A long time ago I found out that rose hips are full of vitamin c but not very palatable right off of the bush, and last spring, I ate my first plate of Fiddleheads. I suppose what I am "driving" at is that there is little need to go to the grocery store to buy tea, pies and greens when it could already be growing in your yard. Hurray for the English garden! -Norma Manning
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| Mullein tea is good for respiratory ailments - by Marry Miller |
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| Dandelion greens and roots from my yard are harvested for "cleansing". |
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| Wild Raspberries have the most amazing smelling flowers and thickets provide wildlife shelter |
Nice, Norma. And again I learned something new today thanks to this article.
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