By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
Remember that silly ol’ sarcasm you would say to your friend if they tripped really good on something? And after you caught your breath from laughing you would get the words out kinda like they were hyphenated…… “En—haha—joy—haha— your—- trip? hahaha—–See ya next fall!” still laughing. Of course, you were concerned if they were okay or not. But that concern was second fiddle to getting a good laugh in first. Afterall, you needed a good laugh, and laughter in itself is good medicine! IT’S been PROVEN! Anyway….. Can you believe it is NEXT FALL….. ALREADY!?!? Good Grief where has the time gone?
Fall is actually my favorite time of year. Lots of colors bursting from the trees and shrubs and vines and even weeds!! The smell of dead leaves soon will wisp on the breezes so cool and refreshing. Humidity is lower and we can enjoy less attacks from insects. Ahhhhh fall…..autumn…..welcome.
It’s a great time to collect seeds, plant bulbs for spring, plant milkweed seeds for the butterflies, for canning foods, for harvesting the last of crops, till the garden up and make pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies or bread while contemplating hunkering down for winter, deciding what projects indoor you want to accomplish.
But WAIT…. There’s more! You know that invasive-like weed that has a bright yellow plume; stands proud and tall and bold….called goldenrod? You see it along roads, covering fields, on edges of parking lots and ponds etc. It grows nearly everywhere, and you can’t tell what it is until it starts to open up its flowers. It was actually a very important plant at one time. DID YOU KNOW THAT??? I didn’t. I just learned this…..THIS year. Check this out: it is medicinal, nicknamed “liberty tea”, and you can use the flowers or the leaves. Let’s explore and perhaps you will want to go to your neighbors’ horse field and cut some!
The nickname, Liberty tea, came after the Boston Tea Party. The settlers realized they had no tea left to drink. Tea was pretty important back then. There was no soda pop invented yet, juice was hard to come by, buttermilk I believe was mostly for cooking or making cheese, so there was basically just water or wine(because it kept whereas juice did not) and tea(which they had just thrown out to prove a point). So, they made friends with natives, who steeped goldenrod and then made friends with goldenrod. They thought it appropriate to call it “liberty tea”. Fascinating.
What does goldenrod do for us? And STILL I just can’t believe it. This weed has been a nuisance everywhere for as long as I can remember. As a matter of fact I remember being in southern West Virginia for a conference at Snowshoe Resort and visiting a historical settlement nearby called Slaty Fork. There a local man pointed to a cow field which had been overgrown with goldenrod and exclaimed, “And that field there, is practically useless now. It’s been overtaken by that invasive goldenrod which is good for nothing. If there were a use for that I’d be rich. I’ve got it everywhere.” Wow, if only I knew then what I know now. I could have helped the fella out! He could have been bottling Liberty Tea by now.
The antioxidant levels and benefits, according to my research, outweigh, and “out way” GREEN TEA or vitamin C! WHAT??? Seriously, I think I am going to try this liberty tea. You can use the flowers or the leaves or both together. I know where I can find some of this goldenrod. All this time I thought it was named “goldenrod” because of its color when it flowers. But I am beginning to think it might be because it is as golden of a plant as you can get! It is GOLDEN! I wish I would have known this during covid. Wow, what a way to boost your immune system; naturally, free, and simply in a cup of tea! (no pills or shots)
It has been shown to be cancer-fighting, diuretic, helpful for UTI and other bladder issues, anti-aging, weight control, and heart health/circulation. Used in medicinal salves for circulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and expectorant because it contains a variety of flavonoids and saponins. It clearly is a very important plant. I will continue my research about it and learn as much as I can. You should do the same if you have any of these forementioned health situations. What do we have to lose?? Suffering. Yes…. we stand to lose further suffering.
I would imagine you could do up a pot of tea and place in a foot soak to clear any hints of bacteria or fungus among us….or even add to your bath water and the anti-cancer/anti-aging goodness would soak right up into our dermis layers! This is golden! Worth more than gold. I’m sharpening my shears now and heading out to hunt not the goose that laid the golden egg, but the plant with the golden plume! Next time you see me I will look much younger! What’s in YOUR teapot?
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~*