Cleavers & wild radish
Mulch love and appreciation to everyone who came out to Soul Flower Farm for that glorious time with cleaver, wild radish, and many more friends. Deep gratitude to Maya Blow for receiving us with such grace and hospitality. We admire the wisdom and love manifested in the stories your land tells. Maya’s affirmation that “‘weeds’ are the hardworking immigrants of the plant community” resonates so deeply with the core inquiry of our group’s practice of learning from the land how to welcome and integrate newcomers.
The goats, sheep, rabbits, and chickens at Soul Flower all took “transforming invasives” to the next level, chowing down on what we harvested/cleared out, taking in the subtle doses of medicine these plant relatives carry, and popping out first class future fertilizer for the foods and medicines Maya and others are growing there. This was the first time our practice group got to collaborate with other species to complete the cycle of returning ‘weeds’ back into balance - we hope to see more animal participation soon.
Our gathering was full of cultural offerings as well - Guangping led us in a meditation before weeding, Seh-reum led us in a reverent song, and BB demonstrated a cleaver outfit catwalk fashion show with many on the drums. Our closing circle featured many stories of ways people work with cleavers and radish, all while we sipped cleaver juice, ate steamed radish greens (and Maya’s beans!!!), and massaged our lymphs with detoxifying cleaver.
Together we learned/re-membered that:
Cleavers
🌀Galium Aparium (or “cheese cling”) in Greek are native to Europe, North Africa and Asia, and have a long tradition of being used to filter milk for cheesemaking
🌀Related to coffee, and give a similar energetic boost! Seeds can be roasted and served like coffee. Don’t over do it! A story was shared of a nervous system overload after drinking too much.
🌀The greens pressed fresh as a juice and frozen into ice cubes to enjoy all year.
🌀The roots can be used to make a red dye
🌀The mashed greens (post juicing) can be used to support lymph drainage massages
🌀Dried greens are an excellent consistency for bedstraw, which was an ancient European practice.
🌀They often appear first after fire, bringing life to areas with poor drainage, high nitrogen and phosphorous
🌀Some secret names that came through the group for cleavers: “nature’s velcro”, “fleeting adornment”
Wild Radish
🌀Native to Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, every part of this ancestor to radish is edible - seeds prepared like mustard, pickled pods, stems and roots eaten like kohlrabi
🌀Loaded with Vitamin C, they can relieve colds and flu
🌀Protects liver, kidney, heart and digestive health
🌀Often appears where the soil has been compacted, slowly opening up soil pore so that other plants can have an easier time spreading their roots
🌀Some secret names of wild radish: “prickle tongue”, “hideout”
