I have a weed outside which, I am shamed to admit, I do not know by name--or at least think I don't until it blooms. I saw the same on Rte 81 Northern Va Weds eve, in bloom, and recognized it as sow thistle. My weeds have quite large leaves, and no obvious spines, such that I did not consider a thistle. Acc to info above, sonchus asper (which mine is not--or maybe it is) thrives on mineral-rich soil (check), clay or loam (check: mine is silt loam)--and perfect soil = large plants in my world. Useful for all sorts of ailments both internal and external--think I'll give it a try. Husband and I will fight over the Everclear--he buys it for his raspberry liqueur; now I shall want some for my own ethanolic experiments.
Are you going to tincture it fresh? Kinda interesting that the article shows activity against E. coli was picked up using methanol extraction.
I don't know if I've seen this one at weedom although it's supposed to have spread here.
Thistles have a good deal of usefulness. We have a lot of the bull thistles here, which some foragers use for food. It's a crazy spikey, biennial weed which has many edible parts if you're brave enough to mess with it. Some of the thistle rosettes stay visible in the winter, so I might be featuring them during that time.
I'm paying attention to this kind of stuff, so that all who need the weeds will always have enough weeds. https://sustainableherbsprogram.org/ This has gotten me to be a lot more conservative about what I actually collect or buy. I'm trying to make sure someone gets use out of whatever weeds I obtain. The long term goal is to help people get the most out of their weeds for whatever purpose they have, and do the right extraction for the right purpose. So I like seeing articles like the one you had, that tells me which kind of extract killed which microorganism.
I allow thistles to grow in my veg. garden--pull them up when young, in the paths, for sake of bare feet (almost aways my own), but leave them in the beds until they have some height (which = root depth, to work as "miners".) Just today 'strimmed' paths, last done July 13. Thistles in beds (pulled up Friday) had some serious root growth. I had wondered for some decades about thistles and artichokes: where does the difference lie? The size of the flower base being sufficiently large to make gathering worthwhile? I often think about gatherers 10,000 years ago, trying to accumulate enough tiny berries et alia to provide food.
Greetings, Weedom
Came on just now to offer you a link of info I found quite interesting re field sow thistle.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236131615_Validation_of_medicinal_values_of_traditionally_used_Sonchus_asper_Prickly_Sow_Thistle_Leaves_for_the_treatment_of_skin_ailments
I have a weed outside which, I am shamed to admit, I do not know by name--or at least think I don't until it blooms. I saw the same on Rte 81 Northern Va Weds eve, in bloom, and recognized it as sow thistle. My weeds have quite large leaves, and no obvious spines, such that I did not consider a thistle. Acc to info above, sonchus asper (which mine is not--or maybe it is) thrives on mineral-rich soil (check), clay or loam (check: mine is silt loam)--and perfect soil = large plants in my world. Useful for all sorts of ailments both internal and external--think I'll give it a try. Husband and I will fight over the Everclear--he buys it for his raspberry liqueur; now I shall want some for my own ethanolic experiments.
Are you going to tincture it fresh? Kinda interesting that the article shows activity against E. coli was picked up using methanol extraction.
I don't know if I've seen this one at weedom although it's supposed to have spread here.
Thistles have a good deal of usefulness. We have a lot of the bull thistles here, which some foragers use for food. It's a crazy spikey, biennial weed which has many edible parts if you're brave enough to mess with it. Some of the thistle rosettes stay visible in the winter, so I might be featuring them during that time.
Haven't thought anything about really using it--just musing, and sent musings to you.
I'm paying attention to this kind of stuff, so that all who need the weeds will always have enough weeds. https://sustainableherbsprogram.org/ This has gotten me to be a lot more conservative about what I actually collect or buy. I'm trying to make sure someone gets use out of whatever weeds I obtain. The long term goal is to help people get the most out of their weeds for whatever purpose they have, and do the right extraction for the right purpose. So I like seeing articles like the one you had, that tells me which kind of extract killed which microorganism.
I allow thistles to grow in my veg. garden--pull them up when young, in the paths, for sake of bare feet (almost aways my own), but leave them in the beds until they have some height (which = root depth, to work as "miners".) Just today 'strimmed' paths, last done July 13. Thistles in beds (pulled up Friday) had some serious root growth. I had wondered for some decades about thistles and artichokes: where does the difference lie? The size of the flower base being sufficiently large to make gathering worthwhile? I often think about gatherers 10,000 years ago, trying to accumulate enough tiny berries et alia to provide food.
Why thank you! Pleased to have been of use.