War On Weeds!
When I first started gardening, weeds were a big focus for me. It was WAR because weeds are a gift from the devil, right? Well apparently that's wrong! Who knew? The advertising world has definitely convinced us that there is no place in this world for weeds, but did you know that weeds are actually often edible and even medicinal? Wait, what?? Let me repeat myself - a lot of weeds are edible and even medicinal! These plants, that so often pop up in our gardens and the cracks in our driveways, are highly nutritious and yet our only understanding of them seems to be that they must be poisoned with weed killer without a second thought!
The 30-second article:
• Weeds are highly nutritious and medicinal!
• We have lost our common knowledge of these plants
• The chemicals in weed killers are highly linked to cancer and many other diseases!
• Therefore it makes sense to use the weeds for the food and medicine that they are, rather than kill them with cancer-causing products like Round Up!
Many of these common weeds are much higher in nutrients than store-bought greens. All you have to do is learn how to prepare and cook these plants to get rid of any bitterness so you can enjoy the benefits of their amazing nutrition content!
About a week ago I listened to this podcast episode which is an interview with Annie Raser-Rowland (one of the co-authors of the book mentioned above). She spoke about weeds, their origins and much more. I really reccomend having a listen!
THE IMPORTANT BIT:
RoundUp.com.au conveniently omits all the medicinal information about a lot of common Australian weeds and just tells you which of their products is best suited to getting rid of them. Meanwhile, Monstanto has been at the front of a world war against the company for quite some time in the last few years. Not only has Round Up had over 300 lawsuits filed against them for causing cancer in farmers that had been using the weed killer Monstanto have also been under fire for their creation of GMO seeds and the patents that go with them. This is because Monsanto have been suing farmers because the GMO seeds end up on these farmer's land via wind and cross-pollination (both of which no human has any control over!) and because of the patents behind these seeds it is illegal for the farmers to have the seeds or any plants with the genmakeupke up of Monstantos seeds on their property unless they pay Monstanto a fee. How ugly is that?!
Glysophate, which is the main chemical in Round Up and weed killers, is banned in over 25 countries around the world. This is summed up really well from this website - "Most of the glyphosate restrictions or bans throughout the world were introduced following the 2015 IARC report on glyphosate. The IARC report concluded that glyphosate is a “probable human carcinogen.”According to the report, the cancers most associated with glyphosate exposure were found to be non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other hematopoietic cancers. The report further concluded that glyphosate exposure caused DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells, as well as genotoxic, hormonal and enzymatic effects in mammals. Other glyphosate studies have linked the chemical to a number of health issues, including, but not limited to ADHD, Alzheimer’s Disease, Autism, Birth Defects, various forms of cancer, Celiac Disease, Colitis, Heart Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome, Kidney Disease, Liver Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease."
This is a link to a free online copy of the best book written on Monsanto - "Monstanto, an investigation into the world's most controversial company".
So whilst we don't want weeds to take over native and protected parklands, forests etc if they pop up in our gardens we should think twice before pulling them out (because by now, you know not to poison them!). If you really need to get rid of weeds please use hand pulling, flame weeders or boiling water which are much better ways to get rid of plants that you don't want whilst keeping our earth and bodies healthy. But I suggest having a go at eating or using weeds because the best thing about them is they are free food and medicine, and you rarely get either of these things for free!
Love,
Liza
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The 30-second article:
• Weeds are highly nutritious and medicinal!
• We have lost our common knowledge of these plants
• The chemicals in weed killers are highly linked to cancer and many other diseases!
• Therefore it makes sense to use the weeds for the food and medicine that they are, rather than kill them with cancer-causing products like Round Up!
If these points interest you, read on!
So who decided a weed was a weed? It seems anything that grows that we didn't put there is considered a weed (outside native plants) which is a fair enough label, especially if we are trying to get other important things to grow instead. But we never consider that there might be value in a weed before we spread poison all over it and I think there is a real danger in not fully understanding these plants.
Some common weeds that we poison or at the least, often get rid of without a second thought are:
Blackberries - an excellent alternative medicine for dysentery, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and cystitis (and are yummy in jam!)
Dandelions - have been found to heal cancer, are good for the liver, are very high in vitamins and minerals and are a good local alternative to coffee!
Milk thistle - leaves and shoots can be eaten as a cooked vegetable and their juice is used in herbal medicine for curing ulcers.
Dock - Dock is a highly edible plant. It's leaves are a great source of vitamin A, protein, iron, and potassium.
Onion weed - is good in salads, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels, acts as a digestive system tonic and helps to protect from colds and flu.
There are heaps of edible weeds our there and way too many for me to name here!
This website has some great photos of the most common edible weeds in Melbourne/Victoria. You can look up the ones you recognise and learn how to eat or use them. Alternatively, I highly recommend buying their book if you are interested in getting into weed foraging.
Some common weeds that we poison or at the least, often get rid of without a second thought are:
Blackberries - an excellent alternative medicine for dysentery, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and cystitis (and are yummy in jam!)
Dandelions - have been found to heal cancer, are good for the liver, are very high in vitamins and minerals and are a good local alternative to coffee!
Milk thistle - leaves and shoots can be eaten as a cooked vegetable and their juice is used in herbal medicine for curing ulcers.
Dock - Dock is a highly edible plant. It's leaves are a great source of vitamin A, protein, iron, and potassium.
Onion weed - is good in salads, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels, acts as a digestive system tonic and helps to protect from colds and flu.
There are heaps of edible weeds our there and way too many for me to name here!
This website has some great photos of the most common edible weeds in Melbourne/Victoria. You can look up the ones you recognise and learn how to eat or use them. Alternatively, I highly recommend buying their book if you are interested in getting into weed foraging.
Many of these common weeds are much higher in nutrients than store-bought greens. All you have to do is learn how to prepare and cook these plants to get rid of any bitterness so you can enjoy the benefits of their amazing nutrition content!
About a week ago I listened to this podcast episode which is an interview with Annie Raser-Rowland (one of the co-authors of the book mentioned above). She spoke about weeds, their origins and much more. I really reccomend having a listen!
THE IMPORTANT BIT:
Round Up - the cancer-causing weed killer created by the controversial company Monsanto has been popularised by a series of advertisements, all with essentially the same story...
(Round Up use dandelions frequently in their advertisements)
The ironic thing about this ad is that they are using a cancer causing chemical to kill one of the world's most potent cancer healing plants. Now that's ironic!
RoundUp.com.au conveniently omits all the medicinal information about a lot of common Australian weeds and just tells you which of their products is best suited to getting rid of them. Meanwhile, Monstanto has been at the front of a world war against the company for quite some time in the last few years. Not only has Round Up had over 300 lawsuits filed against them for causing cancer in farmers that had been using the weed killer Monstanto have also been under fire for their creation of GMO seeds and the patents that go with them. This is because Monsanto have been suing farmers because the GMO seeds end up on these farmer's land via wind and cross-pollination (both of which no human has any control over!) and because of the patents behind these seeds it is illegal for the farmers to have the seeds or any plants with the genmakeupke up of Monstantos seeds on their property unless they pay Monstanto a fee. How ugly is that?!
Glysophate, which is the main chemical in Round Up and weed killers, is banned in over 25 countries around the world. This is summed up really well from this website - "Most of the glyphosate restrictions or bans throughout the world were introduced following the 2015 IARC report on glyphosate. The IARC report concluded that glyphosate is a “probable human carcinogen.”According to the report, the cancers most associated with glyphosate exposure were found to be non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other hematopoietic cancers. The report further concluded that glyphosate exposure caused DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells, as well as genotoxic, hormonal and enzymatic effects in mammals. Other glyphosate studies have linked the chemical to a number of health issues, including, but not limited to ADHD, Alzheimer’s Disease, Autism, Birth Defects, various forms of cancer, Celiac Disease, Colitis, Heart Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome, Kidney Disease, Liver Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease."
This is a link to a free online copy of the best book written on Monsanto - "Monstanto, an investigation into the world's most controversial company".
So whilst we don't want weeds to take over native and protected parklands, forests etc if they pop up in our gardens we should think twice before pulling them out (because by now, you know not to poison them!). If you really need to get rid of weeds please use hand pulling, flame weeders or boiling water which are much better ways to get rid of plants that you don't want whilst keeping our earth and bodies healthy. But I suggest having a go at eating or using weeds because the best thing about them is they are free food and medicine, and you rarely get either of these things for free!
Love,
Liza
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