Pick-me-up herbs against spring tiredness
The first herbs and flowers poke their heads out of the ground and give us valuable ingredients.
The first lush greenery of the year impresses with its rich vitamin C, strengthens us and supports us in our spring diet. It can be described as a kind of spring cleanse for inside and out. They purify and cleanse and are also a kind of beauty treatment.
But not only that, these herbs are excellent for protecting us from springtime fatigue, hence the term "pick-me-up herbs". Many people feel this way: as soon as hibernation is over, spring fatigue is already waiting in the wings. With a kind of "cure", which you can make in the form of smoothies, soups (e.g. nine-herb soup) or spreads, you can support your metabolism and make yourself fit and lively for spring, so to speak. A handful of herbs every day is enough to give you a boost in the burgeoning springtime.
But which herbs are we actually talking about here?
Karin Theresa Mikota describes a few well-known wild herbs in more detail here, but the list could be continued almost endlessly.
Thrives best in alluvial or deciduous forests that are rich in humus.
Parts used: Leaves and flowers
Properties: cleansing, diuretic, reddening, lowers blood pressure, antiseptic
Use: Gastrointestinal catarrh, skin rashes, bronchitis
Stinging nettle can be found wherever people live - along fences, rubble pits and ditches.
Parts used: the upper first leaves
Properties: skin-irritating, blood-forming, metabolism-stimulating, diarrhoea-inhibiting, blood pressure-lowering, expectorant, diuretic and tonic, blood-purifying, cholesterol-lowering
Grows everywhere in and around streams, rivers or lakes, even under the snow.
Parts used: whole herb
Properties: stimulating, antibacterial, blood-purifying, expectorant, diuretic
You can find it everywhere in meadows or next to fields.
Parts used: Flower heads (edible)
Properties: diuretic, expectorant, blood-purifying, haemostatic, diuretic, antispasmodic, analgesic
Grows almost everywhere as a 'weed' in the garden
Parts used: In spring the leaves for eating
Properties: Vitamin C and carotene, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, cleansing
Use: Gout, rheumatism, arthrosis, sciatica, varicose veins, for constipation, toothache and coughs
Better known in Germany as groundsel, it can be found everywhere in meadows, field margins, hedges, bushes and forest edges.
Parts used: whole herb
Properties: expectorant and stone-dissolving, healing, uric acid-dissolving, effective on the lungs, stomachic, appetising, digestive
It thrives best in well-drained, humus-rich and nutrient-rich soil.
Parts used: Leaves and shoots
Properties: antiseptic, slightly diuretic and expectorant, blood-purifying, disinfectant, detoxifying, anti-inflammatory, digestive stimulant
Occurs everywhere on meadows, especially on over-fertilised ones.
Parts used: Flowers and leaves
Properties: bile-forming, promotes bile flow, stimulates the kidneys, stimulates the metabolism, anti-rheumatic
Found in damp meadows, ditches, bushes and woodland clearings.
Parts used: Leaves
Properties: appetising, diuretic, blood-purifying, liver-strengthening
They can be found almost everywhere, especially on the edges of fields and meadows.
Parts used: leaves for eating in spring
Properties: anti-inflammatory, stimulating, antiseptic, antispasmodic, diuretic, anti-bloating, digestive, menstrual regulator
In large masses in sparse forests and near streams
Parts used: Leaves (as soon as it flowers, the plant becomes slightly poisonous!!)
Properties: blood purifying
Grows less abundantly in meadows, gardens and forest edges
Parts used: the flowering herb - more for garnishing
Properties: decongestant, antibacterial, soothing, blood-purifying, stimulates circulation, emollient, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, expectorant, analgesic, diaphoretic, laxative
Grows on roadsides, forest edges, in meadows, fields and gardens - up to 1,700 metres. A jack-of-all-trades herb, known since the Neolithic Age and is therefore a so-called "primeval plant".
Parts used: the whole above-ground herb
Properties: blood-purifying, anti-inflammatory, digestive
In damp meadows, along roadsides, on banks and in sparse woodland, in parks
Parts used: the whole herb
Properties: blood-purifying, invigorating, liver-strengthening, nerve-strengthening, antispasmodic, purifying, digestive, metabolism-stimulating, diuretic
Pick-me-up smoothie
Recipe
You need:
- 3 - 4 handfuls of wild herbs
- 0.25 litre fruit juice
- 0.25 l milk (yoghurt or plant milk is also possible)
- 1 orange
- 1 apple
- 1 pear
- Possibly ½ broccoli
- 1 courgette
- 1 cucumber
Preparation:
Squeeze the oranges so that only the juice remains. Wash the herbs and pat them dry. Then chop the herbs with a knife and puree all the ingredients in a blender. Use whatever fruit and vegetables you have at home or are already growing in the greenhouse or garden - depending on the season. Keep a few flowers to decorate the jars.
If you also go for a walk in nature every day, you will see that you will get through this spring tiredness well.
You can find lots of great recipes on her nature blog at:
>> A contribution from Karin Theresa Mikota
Karin Theresa Mikota is a trained chef and works under the name "Naturspirit" as a blogger, author, nature educator, ritual leader and craftswoman in our region. She organises workshops, seminars and nature tours on topics such as sustainability, spirituality, ancient crafts and nature conservation.
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