Last night was our teleseminar on wild plants for health and beauty. If you joined us for the teleseminar on wild plants for health and beauty, you’ll enjoy the images we’ve posted below. Angela mentions them in our conversation. Click here to access the call recording if you missed it. If you’d like to contact Angelina or learn more about what she does, you can visit her website, www.she-zencuisine.com and follow her fan pages on Tonics and Tinctures and has made available if you’d like to learn more about what she does.
There were a few questions that we didn’t get the time to answer on the call. Here are the questions with the answers Angelina provided in writing.
Since wild plants contain more nutrition ounce per ounce, isn’t safe to think that they will also have a deeper and more profound cleansing effect on us?
Yes, I believe that to be true, but they are also very nourishing on a deep level. If you are a beginner at a healthier lifestyle, it is best to consume wild plants in small amounts. XO
Do you recommend wild plants and herbs for the beginner to raw foods, if so what ratio would be good to start with for a newbie to “Raw Living”
Do it slowly. Start by adding a small bunch of say malva, purslane, dandelions, or cats Ear to a regular salad. You can gradually add more as you go further into the raw food lifestyle. XO
You mentioned 2 plants I’m not familiar with, “CatsEar” and “Coo Koo Weed”. Do you know the botanical name for these plants, and do they grow regionally or throughout the entire USA? A couple other wild plants we use in California are Miner’s Lettuce, Purslane and Fir tips (the new growth on Fir trees make an excellent pickled condiment).
CooKoo weed is also known asts Ear is known as Hypochoersis radicata. I believe they do, but I am not entirely certain. I love miner’s lettuce and purslane, I use them in salads all the time, but haven’t tried the fir tips. Thanks for the yummy tip! XO
I Live in the South East … we do have plenty KUDZU, it is listed as a medicinal plant … what part of the plant and how would you use it ( if you would use it)?
In Chinese medicine , KUDZU is used to treat eye and neck pain and I have used it for that. It is usually the root that has all the medicinal value. The root is powdered by herbalists. I haven’t ever tried eating KUDZU.
XO
We’re starting to learn more about wild edibles and herbal remedies. I had a question about different species of plants. For instance, there are a several varieties of Evening Primrose. Can all varieties be used medicinally? The same applies to Mullein. There is the main variety which can be found, but there is also another variety which has pinkish-purple flowers. Does it have the same medicinal uses? Thank you!
Evening primrose was used by Native Americans as a food source and as medicine. All species can be eaten and used medicinally. You can use the flowers and the leaves in salads and some people have boiled the leaves for a potato like dish. XO
I would love to know how Angelina makes her coconut yogurt, and what form of MSM she uses for her masks? Does she take MSM internally???
My coconut recipe is online in the recipe database on the raw divas site. I use powdered high grade MSM. Yes, I take it internally, have for many years. XO
My daughter is 14 and has some acne on her face. Is there some herbal medicinal plants that she can use to help clear up her face? What do you think of wild oil of oregano?
Oil of oregano is fabulous! I have a friend who had terrible acne and I told her to mix together equal parts of cucumber, honey, baking soda, and water. Get a creamy consistency and apply to the face. Leave on for 20 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water. She needs more essential fatty acids in her diet and probiotics. XO
Angela! I am right there with you sista! …with going biodynamic on the soil and also growing a lot of wild edibles (did you know tomatos like to grow next to nettles, and strawberry plants love nettle tea?) Here is my question: Do you have any “fat” or “carb” sources from your wild garden? What are your favorites? Thanks! :-))
I did know that about the tomatoes but not the strawberries. Thanks! That makes so much sense. :-)) Malva is high in protein, fiber, carbs, but has not fat. Malva has the most nutrients of any plant known to man. It is by far my favorite. The fat content in Purple and milk thistle seeds is lovely, it is a bit like eating pine nuts. XO
Where can a person go to learn about mushroom recognition? I want to learn the differences between the medicinal mushrooms and the hallucinogenic/toxic ones to stay away from in the wild.
I would definitely FIND A GUIDE!!! We have a fabulous book on mushrooms published in London called Collins Mushroom Miscellany by Patrick Harding. Mushroom gathering can be very rewarding, but also deadly if you don’t know mushrooms. XO
Angela also promised to share some of the resources she recommends for learning more about wild and edible plants. Here’s the list she forwarded my way:
Resources for Learning More about Edible & Medicinal Plants in the Wild
- Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America by Merritt Lyndon Fernald and Alfred Charles Kinsey (Dover, 1996)The Dictionary of Useful Plants by Nelson Coon (Rodale Press, 1978)Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants by Bradford Angier and David Foster (Stackpole Books, 2008)A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) by Lee Allen Peterson and Roger Tory Peterson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999)
Feasting Free on Wild Edibles by Bradford Angier (Stackpole Books, 2002)
The History and Folklore of North American Wildflowers by Timothy Coffey (Houghton Mifflin, 1993)
The Forager”s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer (Forager’s Harvest Press, 2006)
Stalking The Wild Asparagus (special edition) by Euell Gibbons (Alan C. Hood & Co, 2005)
