By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
Let’s talk about spring! Some of you may think “Oh no…. it’s time to cut grass again!” or “Good grief, I better get the lawn service here, look at all these dandelions already!” Spring is most definitely a very busy time of year. We are regaining our energy and motivation, cleaning, clearing, enjoying fresh air …… all without it being blistering hot or freezing cold and before the mosquitos come for us!
There is a certain comfort that comes along with spring. New life emerges. The trees bring their life force energy up from their roots and into their branches spewing it out into the air we breathe. We see blossoms of all shades and colors and vibrant greens. Ahhhhh….. so pretty. So loving. Did you know that every plant puts off a healing vibration and that is why spring feels so good? We can feel it but don’t know why it all feels so good. It is a natural transference of life force. Every living thing has it. We get the same freeing, uplifting feeling on a nature walk or a hike. Those branching trees give us a “virtual” hug. An embrace that is like no other of peace, security, serenity and splendor.
Besides all of those great benefits of calming down our vagas nerve(which is what all that life energy does for us) we spy all those little plants coming up in our lawn. A lot of people would like to have ONLY soft manageable grass in their lawns and many use herbicides to control aka kill anything that is not the desired grass. But did you know that those plants we are killing are true medicinals for our health!!! And some are the vital host plant for many butterflies, and definitely vital nectar plants for bees and butterflies. Host plant means the butterflies will lay eggs on that plant and when the egg hatches the tiny caterpillar will begin to feed on that leaf of said plant. These plants we can find in our grass include and are not solely inclusive of violets, dandelions, ribbed plantain, broadleaf plantain, white clover, red clover, false purple nettle, lambs quarter, chickweed, cleaver, chicory, yellow dock, burdock and sometimes others.
Dandelions are one “weed” that we all can recognize. Have you made friends with the dandelion or do you consider it your worst yard enemy? Did you know that you can make a fantastic jelly with the young flower heads of dandelion? I have never had dandelion wine, but I have heard it is very good as well. The leaves can be included into a salad or cut up and put into a soup, or blended into a smoothie. They are a little bitter, but the newest leaves are not as bitter as the full grown leaves. And anything bitter actually helps our digestive system. Herbalists have suggested to eat something bitter before your actual meal as it helps trigger the bile response in our liver and gall bladder, thus gets your digestive system ready ahead of time for that big meal which eliminates feeling so bloated and too sluggish after a meal.
The flowers and the leaves are quite good for us and full of irreplaceable vitamins and minerals. The stems have a latex which is the white substance that oozes out and is quite sticky. It even has health benefits which is worth researching and learning more about. Now the part that excites me the most is the root of the dandelion!! You see if you harvest the whole plant and make use of the flower, stem and leaves, the root is the crown jewel for our health. Dandelion roots are a natural diuretic. If you clean them, slice them up, dry them out in your dehydrator or oven, they can even be roasted in the oven for a coffee like flavor. But once dehydrated they can be stored easily and be available all summer, fall and winter. These roots also detox the liver. Now this is super important because if your liver is detoxed and cleaned out then your entire immune system will work at its most efficient capacity!!!
As a matter of fact you can go to the health food section of a notable grocery store and find in the tea section….. “dandelion root tea”. Many cancer patients have learned that if you drink dandelion root tea you are flushing out and cleaning your liver and that allows your liver to not be so stressed and busy with other mundane issues to deal with, like free radicals and other bacteria or viruses attacking your body(which happens daily) but allows your liver to strengthen your immune system to solely focus on ridding your body of the cancer. And it is much easier to rid your body of cancer if it is in any soft tissue. So, that is a brief synopsis of dandelions and why not to kill them in your yard just out of ignorance. They are very willing to kill off what ails you and to give you life. Make friends with the dandelions and other “weeds” in your yard. Next week, I will elaborate on benefits of other weeds. As always feel free to send in your notions and comments to [email protected]. I will include them in the next available column as per their arrival relative to the publication deadline of Tuesday by 12 p.m. of the same week. If you wish to be anonymous let me know. Kindness is contagious~*