Clover!!

Tonight I would like to talk a little about clover. I'm pretty sure everyone has seen clover at some point. There are 2 different kinds of clover that I want to go over, white and red. Red clover is actually a pinkish color and I don't know why they call it red when it really isn't red at all. Probably for the same reason they call red onions red when they are actually purple.

White clover forms dense patches in lawns and can root at nodes on the creeping stems, the leaves are oval shaped with white crescent marks near where the leave attaches to the stem. sometimes the crescent marks are not seen, especially in the young leaves. the leaves can be almost an inch long, are dark green, have no stalks and come in sets of 3. The flowers are white and ball shaped, occasionally you'll find a light pink. They stand up just above the leaves. They grow from May to September.

Red clover can grow to be as high as 16 inches, it has little hairs on the stems. It has 3 leaves which are oval shaped and have white "V" shaped markings in the center. In some varieties the leaves also have hairs on the underside and in others, the entire leaf has the hairs. The flowers are purple to pink and are egg shaped.

Both white and red clovers are yummy, I especially like the red, if you pull the red pieces off the flower head and eat them, you find they have a sweet nectar inside.  The white clover blossoms are sweet but not quite as sweet as the red. The blossoms of both can be dried and used to make teas, fresh blossoms of both can be eaten as is, fried like fritters, put in salads and stews. An old old cookbook I have in my collection has several recipes for clover honey and a few for clover jelly, red or white flowers are okay in either case so there are many things you can use clovers for in the kitchen. The leaves are also edible, raw or cooked, salads, stews, the usual haha. Some people have digestive issues with clover so just watch for that if you do eat them. You can also grind the dried flowers up to make a flour for muffins, cakes etc.  but it would take an awful lot of them hahaha. If you decide to harvest the leaves for culinary use, it's best to get them before the plant flowers.  If you dry the leaves you can mix them into cakes etc for a slight vanilla flavor.

Both white and red clovers have medicinal values, but they do very different things.

White clover helps fight rheumatism, purifies the blood, works well for coughs, colds, fevers, gout and even as an eyewash.

Red clover helps with some of the symptoms of menopause like night sweats and hot flashes because it contains isoflavones which is a compound similar to estrogen.  Some research has been done on the red clover isoflavones and it's ability to protect against heart disease, it increases HDL cholesterol in pre and postmenopausal women, one study found that red clover made arteries stronger and more flexible which can help prevent heart disease. Red clover also has blood thinning abilities that keep blood clots from forming.

The estrogen like compounds in red clover also help reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis. Slows bones loss and boosts bone mineral density in pre and perimenopausal women.  There are also many studies and researchers everywhere showing that red clover can stop cancer cells from growing or even kills cancer cells (in test tubes, no human studies have been conclusive on the killing part)

The research shows that it can help prevent some forms of cancer like prostate and endometrial but having said that, the estrogen like effects may make some cancers grow just like estrogen does. Breast cancer patients should not take red clover because of that fact.

Red clover is also know for treating skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, rashes and other inflammatory skin conditions.

It is also used as a cough suppressant for children short term.

Burdock

What exactly is burdock? This is very cool plant to be honest. First off it was the inspiration behind Velcro, seriously! How? Because the heads of the plant have tiny little hooks on them that easily attach themselves to animal fur and clothing, even feathers, birds have been known to get caught in a patch of these and die because they can't get out. I'm sure you've heard of "burrs",  well, burdock is why any plant head that sticks to your clothes are called burs or burrs (regional dialect dictates the extra "r").  Also, it is a HUGE plant. The leaves can get to be as big as 2 feet.  They are heart shaped at the bottom of the plant and become more egg shaped closer to the top. The leaf stalks are hollow and the leaves themselves are fuzzy on the underside.  The whole plant itself sometimes grows as much as 3 to 6 feet tall.

                                         (Thank you to prepare-and-protect.net  for this picture)


What can  you do about these plants that cause so much trouble? You could get rid of them or poison them or better yet, eat them and even better than that, make medicine with them.  Yes, you can eat them and make medicine with them.  A lot of people would ask "What parts of burdock can be eaten?"  Well, the root is the most often used part for food, it can be sauteed, boiled or I eat them raw. They are a little woody when you eat them raw but they taste good! I've heard of some people boiling the burrs themselves and eating them but I'm just not that brave. The first year leaves can be eaten but they tend to be pretty bitter, something like dandelion. The leaf stems of the first and second year plant can also be eaten. Burdock has a whole host of things that are good for you in it, things like plant carbohydrates, protein and fiber. It also has vitamins like folate, niacin, riboflavin, vitamins A,C, E and K. On top of that, it has electrolytes like potassium and a small amount of sodium. If all of that isn't enough to convince you that it's good for you, it has minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, phosphorus and selenium. It's a powerhouse of goodies!

Burdock has been used for centuries as a medicine, it is a diuretic (helps you pee) and a diaphoretic (makes you sweat, especially helpful if you have a fever) it helps restore your body back to a healthy state in general. Burdock works as a pain reliever, antiseptic, and an overall tonic.
When you boil the root, save the water that you boiled it in to drink as a tea. Burdock leaf is really helpful for burns, there is a great article here about the use of burdock for 2nd and 3rd degree burns. For more minor burns you can use burdock leaves as a pain relieving, protective bandage. You can also chop it and add some chopped plantain leaves, apply this to the burn then use another burdock leaf to hold the mix on (think poultice).

Burdock root is also amazing for the liver, it cleans the blood and detoxifies. The cool thing is that not only is it good for our liver and blood but also for our dogs. You can give your dog a nice big drink of burdock tea or you can dry the root and grind it to a powder to sprinkle on their food. Another good way to give it to your dog is to make a tincture (100% vegetable glycerin is the best way to make a burdock tincture, especially when giving it to your dog.)

Burdock root is one of the safest herbs you can use for both yourself and your dog so get some today and start cleaning your blood, liver and healing your burns. (Not to mention eating it!)

Lilacs

It's early May, Mother's Day is right around the corner and that always brings my mind to lilacs. My mother loves lilacs so every year I try to find some recipe somewhere that I can make for her using those wonderfully fragrant, beautiful blooms. Sadly, I have never had success. One year I tried to make lilac perfume but in the end it came out smelling like burned popcorn, eww! Not exactly the scent I was going for. Through much research I have discovered that it's near impossible to get a true, natural lilac scent. It can be synthesized by chemical/perfuming companies but to use the flowers at home to get the scent...not so much. One point of interest here, I have recently discovered that an essential oil producer has discovered how to make an essential oil but it is such a difficult process requiring so many flowers that it is ridiculously expensive and only a few people in the world can afford to buy it. The good news is that I refuse to give up, I will continue trying different methods of extracting the scent.

So now we know that at this point in time I have no suggestions for using those amazingly scented flowers for anything that we want to put the scent in. BUT! There is hope. The flowers are completely edible. I was doing a little online research and found an article (http://www.henriettes-herb.com/blog/lilac-flowers.html) that said the flowers are bitter and sour and don't taste very good. While within that same article (I believe in the comments section) someone said they pull the flowers out of the green parts and suck on the end where there is a sweet drop of nectar. Well, I don't like to take anyone's word for something so I went and picked a blossom head and gave it a try, first I pulled the flower out of the green part and sucked on the end (like you would do with a honeysuckle flower) and sure enough, there it was, just a tiny hint of sweet, it was actually very good.  well, since the flower was now in my mouth I chewed it up and noted that yes, it had a bitter taste to it but it wasn't all that bad. The worst thing about eating them is that because lilacs are astringent I had a slight dryness on my tongue that lasted a little while, I didn't time it but it was more than a couple of minutes. It wasn't horrible and definitely would not deter me from eating more of them but I just noted that the dryness was there. I ate several more and even shared a couple with my dog who begged for more and found it to be completely acceptable. I would absolutely put them in a salad. I don't think that I would eat them as the only ingredient in the salad but throwing a handful onto the top would be great. Maybe I'll have to try that for lunch. If I were to compare the bitterness to dandelion greens I would have to say that dandelion greens are substantially more bitter and much less pleasant to eat than lilacs.

I suppose now is a good time to talk about the technical part of lilacs. The botanical name is syringa vulgaris and it is part of the olive family. It grows as a shrub that can get to be as tall as 30 ft but most of them usually like to stay in the 10 ft. range. The leaves are really very simple growing between 2 and 5 inches long and between 1 and 3 inches wide.  They are opposite each other on the branch and have a leathery feel to them. Leaves are shaped sort of like hearts but elongated and don't generally have the dip at the top end opposite of the point.  The flowers are mostly 4 petal individual flowers grouped in bunches on stems. Occasionally you will find a single flower with 5 petals and folk lore suggests these 5 petal flowers are good luck.  The flowers come in a variety of colors like pink, white, purple and I have heard of, but never seen in person, yellow. They have an unmistakable scent that makes you want to close your eyes and take a deep breath, breathing in as much of the smell as you can. In my opinion, lilacs are easily the most beautiful and best smelling shrubs there are.

So what can you do with these wonderful, beautiful flowers since we already know that preserving the scent is very difficult at best? Well, we already talked about the fact that they are edible so there's that.  Lilacs are also astringent, I mentioned that earlier after tasting them. How can that astringency be used? Lilac tea makes a very nice facial toner. I have to mention at this point that there is not a whole lot of medicinal value to the flowers, most of the medicinal properties are in the leaves. If you make a lilac leaf tea it has been known to help with skin problems like burns, rashes, cuts and scrapes. Similar to lavender. Drinking the tea can help get rid of intestinal parasites, it acts as a febrifuge which is a fancy term for bringing down a fever. The effects on fever are not reliable though, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't so please make sure you have other options available. One more thing it does is it is an anti-periodic, another fancy word but this one means it stops certain symptoms from recurring.

So to sum up, lilacs smell wonderful, are simply gorgeous, a tea from the flowers can be a nice facial toner and a tea from the leaves can help heal skin wounds, get rid of parasites and help certain symptoms from coming back.

There are a few things you can do in the kitchen with lilacs. Making candied flowers to decorate candies or cakes (really nice looking on petit fours) is one. You can eat them raw in salads like we talked about. Garnishing a side dish would also be a good use for them. (I'm thinking a beautiful garnish to green bean casserole, put a ring of the french fried onions around the outside edge of the casserole then just inside that, a ring of lilac flowers or even an entire flower head in the center of the dish resting on top of the green beans after the cooking/baking part is done).  I personally dry the flowers and add them to other dried, aromatic flowers in a dish.  (potpourri)

Lilacs are often used in aromatherapy instances to help ease tension, they are very calming and relaxing. They can even help with some memory issues that are caused by tension or stress.

Thank you for reading and I hope that you have learned a little something.