--- title: Pick-me-up herbs url: "https://www.muehlviertel.at/en/food-drink/highenjoyment/herbs/pick-me-up-herbs.html" image: "https://www.muehlviertel.at/fileadmin/user_upload/muehlviertel/bilder/Logos/Logo_Muehlviertel_Website_neu.png" date: 2025-04-24 modified: 2025-04-24 --- # Pick-me-up herbs 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. [ Wild garlic ](#ttgNCECollapse380287) ----------------------------------------- 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 ](#ttgNCECollapse380288) --------------------------------------------- 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 [ Watercress or bitter bittercress ](#ttgNCECollapse380289) -------------------------------------------------------------- Grows everywhere in and around streams, rivers or lakes, even under the snow. **Parts used:** whole herb **Properties:** stimulating, antibacterial, blood-purifying, expectorant, diuretic [ Daisies ](#ttgNCECollapse380290) ------------------------------------- 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 [ Goutweed ](#ttgNCECollapse380291) -------------------------------------- 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 [ Ground ivy ](#ttgNCECollapse380292) ---------------------------------------- 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 [ Garlic rocket ](#ttgNCECollapse380293) ------------------------------------------- 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 [ Dandelion ](#ttgNCECollapse380294) --------------------------------------- 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 [ Sorrel ](#ttgNCECollapse380295) ------------------------------------ Found in damp meadows, ditches, bushes and woodland clearings. **Parts used:** Leaves **Properties:** appetising, diuretic, blood-purifying, liver-strengthening [ Yarrow ](#ttgNCECollapse380296) ------------------------------------ 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 [ Lesser celandine ](#ttgNCECollapse380297) ---------------------------------------------- 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 [ Violets ](#ttgNCECollapse380298) ------------------------------------- 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 [ Chickweed ](#ttgNCECollapse380299) --------------------------------------- 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 [ Meadowfoam ](#ttgNCECollapse380300) ---------------------------------------- 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 © Open copyright © Foto: Naturspirit/Karin Mikota: Ein Korb voller Wildkräuter Close copyright ![Ein Korb voller Wildkräuter](https://www.muehlviertel.at/fileadmin/_processed_/f/1/csm_Korb1_f1ddef4ba1.jpg "Foto: Naturspirit/Karin Mikota: Ein Korb voller Wildkräuter") © Open copyright © Foto: Naturspirit/Karin Mikota: Muntermacher Smoothie für den Frühling Close copyright ![Muntermacher Smoothie für den Frühling von oben fotografiert.](https://www.muehlviertel.at/fileadmin/_processed_/7/a/csm_IMG_20210404_182402_4753101fe8.jpg "Foto: Naturspirit/Karin Mikota: Muntermacher Smoothie für den Frühling") **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: [**www.naturspirit.at**](http://www.naturspirit.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.