Terra Artemisia

INTRODUCTION
Springtime is always late in my Zone 4 garden, so careful planning is required to get the best out of the growing season. I have let my garden grow out to see what plants we have growing here, and with my newfound knowledge of botany, and a trusty Plant ID app (I use PictureThis), I’ve been identifying young plants and watching as they bloom to see their identities confirmed.

While the obvious first contender was dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), I was surprised to find plants I had already loved freely growing. Green sprawls of young musk mallow (Malva moschata), a greater burdock (Arctium lappa) plant, and slowly emerging daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare). A new herb to me was ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), growing prolifically on the shady side of my house. As a part of the mint family (Lamiaceae), it’s quite fragrant (pleasant, in my opinion). It can be used to relieve respiratory, urinary, and other general wellness woes, a common folk herb forgotten with time that I have yet to work with. I started with making a ground ivy flower essence, my impression being that this is a witchy herb: it grows well in the shade, is beautiful but overlooked, powerful and expansive in its growth habits. I predict it would be handy for shadow work, work relating to springtime energy (renewal, new goals), and grounding. My next step is to harvest some for tincturing and oil extraction.

MY NUMBER ONE PLANT ALLY
Most exciting to me were the confident stalks of mugwort propping up at the top of the driveway. This was a joy to me as I had purchased some seeds to grow carefully, in homage to the Mugwort plant spirit and the goddess Artemis, who’s mythological stories greatly influences my work. Now I didn’t even have to grow them outside in pots and risk the stress of introducing a potentially invasive plant where it wasn’t before. The mugwort seeds I purchased will be grown exclusively indoors and harvested when the leaves and stalks are still young and tender, to be used as a cooking herb. Since it’s already growing in abundance on my property, eagerly coming back after being cut back, I see no reason to introduce more and have shifted to focus to maintaining the plants I have to prevent propagation. I have been enjoying using fresh mugwort in teas and soups and even tried my hand at making some mugwort tteok (a delicious Korean rice cake, similar to mochi). Unfortunately, I was not thorough enough with my rinsing process and I encountered a dirty bite, but it tasted quite delicious! Washing well between the leaves after a good few rinses should do the trick next time.


Mugwort has a pesticide in its roots to ensure its survival: symbolic of resilience and being yourself and taking space proudly (add to mugwort post)

“For you cannot have a relationship with the plants without entering fully into a relationship with Gaia, the living earth”
-Rosemary Gladstar

HOW I IDENTIFY NEW PLANTS

My plant ID process is fourfold:
1. Use a plant ID app to snap a picture (this is not 100% accurate, so never rely on it entirely!)
2. Use field guides and botany resources to confirm traits based on plant family (mint family plants have square stems, mugwort has dark green leaves, the bottom side a lighter silvery green, purple-ish streaked stalks, etc)
3. Physically check for discrepancies, using caution if look-alikes may have toxic properties. Some plants that are fine to eat have look-alikes that can cause skin reactions, illness, or death.
4. Double check: is this an endangered species? If it is, I leave the plant alone, taking a picture or two instead and taking time to be with the plant.

A TALE OF THE WRONG CHICKWEED
In a foraging webinar my school held, I learned about early spring plants to forage and eat. Some of the featured plants were dandelion, chickweed, and stinging nettle. Excited to see what was available to eat in my yard, I set out with my plant ID app, and quickly confirmed the presence of what I suspected was chickweed. I identified it with my PictureThis app and all was well. I harvested it and got ready to head back inside. As I looked at it, I noticed it was hairier than it should be.. that didn’t seem right. I looked up the Latin name of chickweed, which was Stellaria media, and realized I was holding Cerastium fontanum, mouse-eared chickweed. This is also technically edible, but very fibrous and hairy compared to the oft-eaten Stellaria chickweed, so not worth it at all. While I’m glad I didn’t pick up a toxic plant, and I didn’t consume something unpleasant, it made me realize that I have to be more careful of lookalikes in the future.

I’ve been hyping myself up to go on more walks to find more local plants, especially as spring develops slowly. I’m curious about eating stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), but I’ll admit the itch-inducing stingers they wear in self-defense put me off, even though they are deactivated when heated. I’ll report back glowingly once I overcome that fear. I’ve found some Saskatoon berry trees (Amelanchier alnifolia) that I’d like to check for berries in late June, hoping to make some good muffins and waffles! Saskatoon berries are edible and mildly sweet, allegedly with a flavour reminiscent of almonds, so I hope I get a chance to try them out in some jam and baked goods. Are there any local favourites you make sure to harvest yearly? I wholeheartedly suggest looking at the plants you encounter as you go about your daily life, you never know what you may find!