"Medicianal Herbs On Our Farm" Personal Page by RoscoeGregg

This common herb is found in open ground and roadsides. It is considered toxic by most scholars.

Native Americans and early Europeans used the leaves and berries to treat topical ailments like hemoroids. Modern science has extacted chemical compounds that aid in the treatment of HIV?AIDS.

The berries lok good and I have often had to take them away from young visitors to the farm and on hiking trips. They are toxic and will give you the stomach disorder of all time. In large quanitity they are deadly. I recommend that you do NOT injest any part of this plant.

It is useful as a dye, Many of the letters written in the American civil War were written with Poke Berry ink.

Queen Anne

This is one of the most common wild flowers on our farm. It is scattered on the road sides all across America from June through early fall. The large white composite flowers are suspended on stalks from 1 to 2.5 feet tall. They line almost every country road swaying in the breeze.

Also known as Wild Carrot. Meriwether Lewis misnamed this plant as Bear Grass because he thought he observed bears browsing this plant.

The roots are edible when VERY young. This plant resembles Wild Hemlock so I do not recommend that you eat it, Hippocrates used the seeds as a form of birth control. Some modern research has shown some effect on embryo implantation.

It is also known as the Trinity Plant. On close observation there is a dark center that when fully developed splits into 3 parts. To some this represents the Father, The Son and Holy Spirit. The white flower spreads around these like the angels of heaven.

Berries On A Cedar

While not an herb this is one of my favorite plants on the farm so I will include it.

This tough and beautiful tree is found all over the plains. They will grow in some of the most inhospitable places in the west of the U.S.

The Pawnee and Osage attributed spiritual qualities to this plant. The smoke from burning cedar branches is used today in cleansing ceremonies. It has a very characteristic smell when burned. It is a touch stone smell for me when burning in a campfire.

We use the berries as part of our mixture for curing meats. The wood is deep red in color and is excellent for building chests to store wool as it repels moths.

It is also a tremendous wildlife habitat. Many native birds rely on the berries for winter feed and the dense foliage make it great for nesting song birds. The last two winters we have seen flocks of Cedar Waxwings consisting of hundreds of individuals working these trees over for the berries.

This Showy Bloom Arrives With Spring

This showy spring flowering plant was called Pleurisy Root by pioneers. It's traditional uses have included treating skin wounds and irritations. There are some internal uses but these require that it be prepared properly. It can be toxic if used carelessly.

The wild rose grows all across the U.S. It is considered a weed by many ranchers and farmers. My own ancestors used it as a kind of wild fence for cattle on a homestead in Tennessee.

It is a welcome cheerful blooming plant that inhabits the waysides in this part of Kansas. It produces loads of rose hips and the unopened buds dry very well for ornamental.

We use the rose hips for jellies and in herbal teas. They are very high in vitamin C

White umbels of this plant erupt over the fields in the spring and persist into summer. It is easy to identify from it's eucalyptus like smell when crushed.

It is a good poultice for cuts ant scratches. It is also useful for clearing your sinuses when congested.

A super useful wild plant

this spindly wild flower blankets the open spaces here. It's slight appearance does not belie it's wide use as a medicinal herb.

The main way we use it on the farm is as a poultice for wounds and a pain relief for stings. It is also an ingredient we use in teas.