The woods on a sunny May morning are truly a wonderful place to be.
Nettles and cleavers are starting to flower. This marks the end of nettle picking season, at least until the seeds are ready to harvest in a few months. Once nettles begin to flower, they produce gritty particles in the leaves called csytoliths which may irritate the kidneys and urinary tract. There are still some without flowers however, so have that last nettle juice while you can!
Also we have an abundance of Herb Robert on the edge of the woods. Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum, is a wild geranium that has a history of traditional use to staunch bleeding, both internally and externally. Though it is little used today, it helps to heal green wounds and ulcers due to its astringent and vulnerary properties, which also make it beneficial for diarrhoea. A fresh juice is applied externally and a tea or tincture taken for internal use.
There’s also still plenty of Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata, also known by his more roguish name, Jack-By-The-Hedge. As the former name implies, the leaves taste both garlicky and mustardy and make a lovely addition to a spring salad. It can also be used to make a warming body rub or poultice for rheumatism or gout, to help treat sore throats and to strengthen the digestion.
Enjoy some woodland wandering and wondering, ’tis medicine for the soul.
Nice bunch of photos!
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herb robert has taken over my garden, too… and i love it, it’s gorgeous! it is such a shame that it seems to have gone out of use in WHM, it’s even hard to find much by way of literature about it.
i used it the other day when my daughter had a close encounter with nettles… she rubbed it onto the blistery and very itchy rash and the itch was gone within minutes.
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Thanks for sharing that Johanna. I always see Herb Robert growing with nettles so it’s worth remembering! x
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Hi Lucinda,
my husband has just had a nasty bout of gout (!) in is foot and I’m interested in your suggestion to use Jack in the Hedge as a rub – any suggestions to the most effective way to make and apply it please?
PS – the good news is that he’s given up eating meat for a while and packed in smoking…….every cloud and all that
🙂 xx
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Hi Jodi, you can make a poultice by simply mashing the leaves with a little hot water and applying to the area. You could also do a heat infused oil.
If he drinks heavily try and convince him to cut down on alcohol too as it’s really acid forming and get him drinking lots of diuretic teas like strong infusions of nettle as well as lots of water. Maybe try some dandelion leaf tincture too and add apple cider vinegar to food or hot water as well. Celery seeds are meant to be really good, though I don’t have much experience with them personally, and finally cherries, or cherry concentrate, and strawberries are thought to help neutralise the uric acid. Good luck! xx
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Thank you Lucinda. Will certainly try the poultice. Fortunately he hardly drinks alcohol so he can discount that one. Got the cherry and apple cider vinegar on the go already. Many thanks xx
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