Plants talking to us....

One of the main ways live plants communicate with us is through our body and senses, experientially. There are clues to a plants tangents in visuals, scent, taste, and feel. Where is it growing, is it far from human civilisation, or close to your doorstep? Does it smell earthy, sweet? Does it taste bitter? Do you want to spit it out? Whats its sap feel like?

People have been exploring the uses of plants for eons.These are the gathered observations that have collectively been handed down to us to form the basis of our foods and medicine. But there had to be an experimenter somewhere along the line. If you want to contribute to this lineage, or experientially test it out, spend some time just hanging out with plants, especially if youre drawn to a particular one. If youre not sure about it, it smells unpleasant or potent, observe it, does it share similarities to others you know, check it out or ask someone else to. There will be exceptions to any rule. Go slow with this stuff, learn how your body intuits by testing it against knowledgeable folks in flesh or writings. Plants are not all safe to ingest in quantity, but they usually give indications of this to warn us off. We have access to knowledge of many generations, and traditions, to double check our gut feelings. An exception to this is fungi, where what looks like an edible in one country, may not be in another.

Medicine, and Id include food in that, plants are living alongside us, or we can grow reatively simply (unless like me you live close to the coast, the soils sandy and theres tropical storms) but to look at it another way we can look to whats growing around us easily in reach for our medicines.

As an example I have a species of Oxalis, which Id fobbed off because its not the species thats generally used and grows like crazy. However shes planted for her delicate flowers and as a herb of good luck/ abundace in the hearth. Planted? Man my hearth is abundant! Folks actually dry the leaves for luck. Id love to be able to eat the oxalis, but I already started digging her up with the plan to leave a patch.

Oxalates are found in some quantity in most plants and taste almost painfully sour, as in Oxalis species. Its just that the levels are so low in most fruits and vegetables, usually less than 0.00001gram, so as to go unnoticed. For a lethal dose youd have to persisit despite spewing and pooing to get there. Its more likely to happen to cows with limited pastures. Poor ol bovines! So sometimes in your salads ok, but not at a high regular dose. My instincts to reduce her numbers made sense, and im sticking with that.

Most wild herbs are lower in oxalates than oxalis and pose no greater threat than spinach or silverbeet, which would have had their wild days along with the rest of us.

Oxalis and I are in communication. We need a mediator, but we're in discussion. As much as I pull her out she appears still, so I dont know where our relationship can go from here. Except theres been tangental learning in the process. I now know if I had white flowering Oxalis who spreads via rootsystems not bulbs, her leaves could be used internally to help relieve fever and externally to relieve inflammation. Sounds cooling. I may not remember that, but probably will because its based on me on my hands and knees with a kitchen spoon digging up bulbs that drop mini ones back into the soil each I lift em out. Its going to be one of those relationships you have to but clear boundaries around, like a brick wall *sigh*.....

Resources:
Susun Weed. 'Healingwise'.
Stephen Harrod Buhner. 'The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intellect of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature'.
Gai Stern. ' Australian Weeds: A Source of Food and Medicine'.
Juliette De Baracli Levy. ' Common Herbs for Natural Health'.