Uses for Cattails

No wonder the Indians loved this plant...the uses are endless...scroll down to "other uses" and click to see all the things you can make with it.

Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia L. )

Description - The stalk grows 4 to 8 feet tall. It  grows near water in thick stands. Leaves are large spear-shaped. Stalks are topped with hotdog-shaped, dark brown flowers. Young flowers start growing May through July.

Time of Year: fall to spring (is the best time) but can be used all year
 

Location:  All of North America

Click Here for map  If it does not grow in your area do a search to see what kind does

Nutrient Content

Potassium, phosphorus

USES 

Flowers, Leaves, oil, Pollen, Roots,Seed and Stems

Editable uses

• Roots cooked are like potatoes 

• Roots can also be boiled down to make a sweet syrup

• Dry the roots and grind them into powder(high protien) mix with flours

• Young shoots are like aspagus

• Young flower spike cooked or  made into a soup taste and it has a corn taste

• Heart of the stalk tastes like a cucumber great in salads and soups

Medical Uses

• A small drop of a starchy or honey-like liquid, is found between young leaves can be used as an antiseptic for small wounds (it is a coagulant), toothaches, because it does have a mild numbing effect

• Root can be pounded and used as a poultice for burns and sores

• Young flowers can be eaten or in tea for diarrhea.

• Fluff from the flowers can be used to treat burns and sores and to prevent chafing in babies

• The ashes from the cattail leaves are styptic and can be used to stop bleeding

• Boil roots in water and use it as a wash for sunburn

• The pollen of the female ones can be used to heal wounds. When you see one yellow like this it is the female and that is pollen. .

Other Uses 

**First Here are a a bunch of  useful things you can make with Cattail. 

Click Here

It can cal be used in the following 

• Cattail fluff can be used in life jackets (just like milkweeds can be used to)

• It can also be used in mattresses

• Indians used in in their shoes to keep their feet warm and dry

• And yes another paper making plant

• Another good source of bio mass

• the plup of the plant is what rayon is made of 

• Leaves and stems can be used in weaving.

Uses for Burdock

Little known fact the idea for Velcro came from the

 flower of the burdock plant...but pet owners 

are fully aware of its ability to stick to things.

Burdock (Arctium lappa L)

Description - Greater Burdock is a tall plant that can grow up to 9 feet It has large leaves.
The flowers are purple and grouped in clusters. The flowers appear in mid-summer, from July to September. The fleshy tap-roots can grow up to 3 feet.


Time of Year: Starts growing in spring but you can harvest the roots if needed at any time. 
 

Location: Upper North America but other kinds do grow in the rest of the states

Click Here for map  If it does not grow in your area do a search to see what kind does

Nutrient Content

Iron, manganese, vitamins B1, B6, B12, and E, and zinc.

 

USES 

You can eat the Leaves, roots, seeds and stem, raw or cooked

Editable uses

• The root can be used as a coffee substitute. cut it up, bake it till its brown, grind it then boil.

•  Leaves and stems taste like asparagus, some say spinach.
  

• Young roots can be eaten raw, but older ones need to be cooked. 

• The roots can be dried for later use. 

• Burdock root can be converted into diabetic friendly sugar by boiling it Click here to see how other plants are processed it is the same for burdock.

• The seeds can be sprouted and used like bean-sprouts 

Medical Uses

• Burdock is one of the foremost detoxifying herbs in both Chinese and Western herbal medicine It help to purify the blood

• Recent research has shown that seed extracts lower blood sugar levels (The seed is harvested in the summer and dried for later use)

• It is used to treat conditions caused by toxins

• Roots in a tea form are great for throat infection throat and stomach issues also helps with water retention.

• The leaves are poulticed and put on boil, rashes and burns and is said to heal them fast

• The root is thought to be particularly good at helping to eliminate heavy metals from the body

• It is used in the treatment of eczema, acne, impetigo, ringworm, and bites with a compress or paste

•  The paste made from the poulticed works wonders on psoriasis, acne and dry skin. or you can use a wash as well

Other Uses 

• Makes a yellow dye

• For what ever reason there are claims that the juice of the plant helps fight baldness

• Leaves are great for mold with hypertufa (all kinds of recipes cool stuff! here is a PDF with some different recipes Click Here ) But here are 2 videos on how to cast the leaf Click Here and click here 

• Yes you can make paper with the burdock plant

Uses for Japanese Knotweed

 Yet another weed in my yard that I actually did not kill.
And do eat. 

Japanese Knotweed  (Polygonum cuspidatum)

Description - Japanese Knotweed looks like bamboo. it has visible nodes(dark ring around stalk) every 8″ or so. When it comes up in the spring it is usually part of a larger grove of Knotweed sending up many shoots of varying heights each about an inch in diameter, when summer approaches the maximum height will be somewhere around 6′-8′.   Japanese Knotweed has a wide leaf, the length is about twice the width. Japanese Knotweed is an invasive weed in many parts of the United States.,

Time of Year  early spring to fall

Location Most of North America 
Click here to see Map   If it does not grow in your area do a search to see what type does.

Nutrient Content

Vitamin A and C also provides potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese. And Resveratrol

Uses

Edible uses

• Young shoots in spring are yummy. They can be used as an asparagus substitute. 

•  They are a great as a  substitute in pies, fruit soups, jams etc (old ladys in my area uses them all the time when I was a kid they would pay us a quarter to cut them and bring them to them)

•  Older stems and shoot tips are cooked in the same way.

•  They taste like a mild version of rhubar

•  Seed - raw or cook. 
• The seed can also be ground into a powder and used as a flavouring and thickener in soups etc, or can be mixed with cereals when making bread, cakes etc. 

• The root is sometimes eaten, great winter edible 
•  

Medical uses

• Large quantities can make a mild laxative

•  A paste made with dried roots can be used in the treatment if burns, boils cuts and abscesses 

• Make a great rash treatment

•  1/2 teaspoon of the tincture makes a great antioxidant and fluid retention

• There are studies saying that the root tincture helps with Lyme Disease 

• Uses tincture as a mouth wash for gingivitis

• Is known to help with coughs and bronchitis 

• Resveratrol (a chemical found in knotweed)may delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease or slow its progression

Other Uses 

• A yellow dye is obtained from the root

•  The plant is potentially a good source of biomass. 

• Knotweed contains a natural pesticide so grind it up and put it around you house or garden

• Plants can be grown to form a ground cover that will exclude all other grow

BEE HIVES!! people are now making them from knotweed! Which bees do pollinate.
 Not so much for the honey but to help solitary spices . But yes you can get honey.
 I am going to try this, this year will do a post on it. Click here to learn about solitary bees at wiki. 
some make honey some make wax. When picking out the pieces to use to make the hive

make sure they are not to wide.Choose piece a pencil can fit in...no small and not much bigger. 

And the craftier in me loves this use. little containers from the stalk