Delia Stone

May 19, 1998

I don't exactly remember how herbs caught my interest. I believe it was an article I read about how the aspirin we buy today is composed of petroleum and tar by-products. Originally it was made by extracting the active constituent, silicin, from the bark of various trees such as white willow and popcorn trees. Today's synthetic aspirin has acquired a few side effects in the processing, not found in its natural form, such as stomach irritation. I was intrigued by this information and wanted to learn more. Consequently, I took up the study of plants as medicine and discovered that weeds are anything but worthless.

I began to look closer at 'weeds', and my fascination grew. I read everything I could get my hands on. I soon realized that I had been overlooking an incredible pharmacy growing right in my own front yard.

I remember watching my grandmother one day as she set about the task of weeding her flower garden. "Darned weeds" Granny mumbled to herself. I watched her standing there with her hands planted firmly on her hips, scowling at a defiant dandelion. This was personal for grandma. She had been battling this single strong willed dandelion for months. She got on her knees and attacked it with her spade, struggling for every minute piece of its endless tap root. "Gotta get these buzzards up by the roots" she huffed, "or they'll pop right back up in no time." Watching Grandma that day, I chuckled to myself. I once would have seen only a pesky weed there also, but now I saw so much more. Grandma was mangling a miracle plant and didn't even realize it.

Dandelion has a long list of medicinal virtues; It produces a starch during the winter and a sugar during the summer that is helpful to diabetics; it's natures own pregnancy test (urinate on the leaf and watch for red blisters). In addition it makes a wonderful salad, jam and a very tasty wine to boot. That is only the beginning of what this dandy weed has to offer. Yes, there was much more to that little dandelion than Gran saw, but alas it was only a weed to her. "Got it!" she cried triumphantly, "Let's see it come back up this time," she said, as if daring the dandelion. It was clear to see that Granny felt confident that she had won the war at last.

After years of studying plants I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a weed. The word weed draws up negative connotations. It implies 'worthless'. Every living plant has a unique gift to share, and should not be dismissed as useless simply because it grows wild. A myriad of medicine is there in your yard, your flower garden and growing in the roadside ditches; Plants for respiratory infections such as plantain and mullein, immune system boosters such as Echinacea as red clover and pain relievers such as yarrow and wormwood are just a few of the treasures free to all of us. However, they go mostly unnoticed by people every day. If they are noticed, they are likely to find themselves in a battle for their lives with some blue haired little woman, like my grandmother, who wants an immaculate flower garden.

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