We have a plant in our garden that is almost seven feet tall that has many medicinal properties; the Mullein plant. I don’t recall ever seeing one growing in the western parts of the state but this thing is prolific in our new parts.
It seems to like to grow in freshly disturbed, mostly dirt areas including the space we prepared for our garden. At first we pulled most of them out but then I learned of it’s many uses.
I noticed a couple of the feathery leafed weeds happily sitting in the dirt as we cleared the garden for the vegetables this year and I decided to leave them there. And here it is, happy as ever because of the extra water and fertilizer it normally wouldn’t receive in the wild.
It’s taller than my husband with a shorter one next to it.
The taller ones are apparently second year plants and the stalk, once dead for the year, can be cut off and used to start fires by spinning it in your hands to create friction. My husband and I tried and ended up with no fire and a lot of blisters but we can use the plant to treat our wounds.
The leaves are soft and coated with fuzz and are supposed to be an excellent expectorant or butt wipe.
It has a million other uses and the leaves make for a good tea which I made the other day. It wasn’t half bad.
I gathered a bunch of the flowers which are soaking in olive oil for use as a salve.
Look up the Mullein plant and see for yourselves what you can do with one. If nothing else, their height makes the garden look pretty impressive.
Stories From Off The Grid. 