Foraging Medicine in Springtime
Springtime is rich with healing and potent medicinal herbs that most people would consider weeds! Look around outside and you’ll find abundant plant medicine growing right under your nose. When we connect with wild plants, we connect with a deep, ancient part of ourselves.
Plants provide safe, natural healing for mind, body and spirit. Foraging, processing and consuming your own plant medicine offers a sense of self-sufficiency, abundance, and vibrance!
When foraging, keep these best practices in mind:
Pick away from roads.
I like to stay about 100 feet from any road. The dust and fumes from cars can remain on the plants—you don’t want to ingest that stuff. Consider where you do pick: is the area clean, safe and free from pesticides, weed killer, animal urine and feces?
Don’t pick more than you need.
And never harvest an endangered species. A good rule of thumb: Pick just a quarter or a third of what you see. Knowing about the plant comes in handy here. For example, nettles’ regrowth is rapid and widespread, so you can feel confident about a more generous harvest.
Pick only the flowers and leaves that look vibrant and alive.
And give thanks to the plant. When your heart and motives are in the right place, you set the vibration high and make the medicine even more potent. It’s full circle—you can feel and taste it and so can the plants.
Medicinal Herbs in Springtime
This is just an overview! Each of these plants are fascinating and complex. And this list is only a taste of what spring has to offer. At the end of this article, I suggest resources for further research. I highly recommend it!
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Parts used: Leaves, flowers, roots - the whole dang plant!
The true announcer of spring, this golden orb grows generously and persistently! Once you know about this "weed’s" medicine, you'll want a lawn full of them! Coming out of the sluggish winter blues, dandelions provide the first fresh, nutrient-dense greens.
Try this:
Cook with the leaves and flowers (check out all these recipes!)
Simply eat the young leaves to aid digestion.
Infuse the flowers in oil to relieve pain and maintain skin health and support healthy lymphatic tissues.
Violet (Viola odorata)
Parts used: Flowers and leaves
Violets are known for their cooling qualities (including cooling your mood!). Use them for relieving dry coughs, headaches, fever, inflamed and dry skin. Violet flowers and leaves are sweet, nutritious and add lovely color to a variety of preparations.
Try this:
Infuse them in vinegar and pour over fruit or salad, or use in cocktails or oxymels.
Infuse in oil for a nourishing massage oil and use daily to maintain healthy lymphatic flow.
Plantain (Plantago major)
Parts used: Leaves
A first aid ally to have on hand, plantain is antimicrobial, helping prevent infection in wounds. A cooling herb, plantain relieves fever, burns, pain, swelling, rash, sting and bites.
Try this:
Make a poultice by chewing up leaves and applying to a sting or bite.
Infuse in oil to use as a healing herbal oil or salve.
Prepare in herbal tea to soothe dry cough and/or acid reflux.
Nettles (Urtica dioica)
Parts used: Young leaves, roots and seeds.
Abundantly high in nutrients, this plant provides DEEP nourishment. Also known as stinging nettle, the plants are covered in tiny hairs that are like prickers, when touched it will "sting", causing a mild but uncomfortable rash. When cooked or dried, it eliminates their stinging hairs.
Try this:
Use it as you would spinach or kale
Eat the seeds fresh or dried, sprinkled on food or used in tincture.
Dry the roots and prepare as a tea, tincture or capsule
Raspberry Leaf (Rubus idaeus)
Parts used: Leaves (and of course, the berries!)
Raspberry leaf is known as a woman's herb for its ability to strengthen the uterus, relieve menstrual cramps, prepare the womb for birth and assist in healing after birth.
Try this:
Use the fresh or dried leaves as a tea or tincture
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Parts used: Flowers, leaves (although the leaves are not as potent.)
Red clover is rich in nutrients and supports our entire body: our immune system, lymphatic function, and skin. It restores health following respiratory infection and is an excellent support during menopause.
Try this:
Prepare as a tea infusion.
Eat by adding the flower tops to blender drinks, salads, soups.
A few reference books on herbal medicine that I love:
Medicinal Herbs, A Beginners Guide, Rosemary Gladstar
Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health, Rosemary Gladstar
Wild Edibles, Rosalee de la Foret & Emily Han
Herbal Healing for Women, Rosemary Gladstar
By foraging and consuming wild herbs, we connect with all those who have come before us. I’m excited for you to start your own springtime journey in plant medicine with the help of the list above.
Happy harvesting! 🌱❤️