Introduction

We're all pretty familiar with the herbs and spices we buy at the grocery store. But we're not always aware that throughout the history of humankind, many of those herbs have been dual use. Of course they make food taste good, but some of them can also be used medicinally.

Mind you, the point of this blog is NOT to tell you, dear reader, that you do not need to see a doctor. If you are ill...see your physician. However, what this CAN tell you is what you can try at home for simple relief that should not clash with what your doctor is telling you. If in doubt, ASK your physician before using any of this information in a medicinal fashion!

The picture used here is a picture of normal every day cooking herbs that have been hung up to dry: the age old fashion of storing them when you have grown or harvested them yourself. You may be more familiar with the cloves, garlic, and so on that you find in little jars in your grocery store. And that is fine, they can be used fresh or dried. It's just that fresh herbs are more potent than the dried variety in most cases.

WHY are we talking about common herbs from the grocery store, you might ask? Well, they grow wild 'someplace'. There are also many, however, that you will never find in natural form in a grocery store. Wintergreen is very rare, for instance, and you'll almost never find mulberry there.

The point of this blog is to share information about the different wild plants and herbs found in the woods. They might be local to your area, or to mine, and occasionally even to both. The information given is intended to be comprehensive in regards to how that plant might be used both as food and medicinally, ideally the history behind it's use, and how to identify that plant where possible. -- Yes, this information is out there in book form and a lot of other places. But it's not always possible to sit down with that book, read it from cover to cover and actually 'get it'. Then there is the fact that not any given source is going to be 100% comprehensive. This one doesn't intend to necessarily 'fix' any of that, but it may purport to give information that one of its readers had not already learned.


With this information comes a very serious warning. There are many plants out there that can be extremely dangerous to your health if you do not know EXACTLY what you are picking and eating. IF IN DOUBT, DO NOT EAT. I chose to run with a picture citing mushrooms only because the Morel is probably the most commonly misidentified of all the edible plant-life out there. It is far from alone in being a very seriously poisonous plant relative of another that looks very similar.

And again, because it cannot be reiterated often enough: This information is NOT intended to replace your doctor in any way shape or form. If you are genuinely in need of medical care, PLEASE SEEK IT OUT!