Every springtime like clock work, I weed out my Bishop’s weed, if you look at the top of the second picture, there is a small patch of the weed, that no matter how aggressively I weed it out, every spring it pops up yet again. The top picture is a stock picture, but it could easily be one from my backyard if I didn’t do anything to keep the Bishop’s weed at bay.
I googled controlling Bishop’s weed and what I found surprised me, the Bishop weed is medicinal! It was used to treat digestive issues, psoriasis, kidney stones, angina and asthma. Its chemical properties include methoxsalen which is now prepared in laboratories, but prior to the lab, methoxsalen was rendered from the weed itself. Between the herbs that I plant each year and my other perennials I have a natural pharmacy right here in my backyard; I think that is pretty darn cool. I don’t have any birch growing on my property but all I have to do is walk to the park and I could either get some Willow tree bark or White Birch bark and whip up some aspirin. lol
Tragically for us, we have lost much of the medicinal lore practiced by many indigenous people because of deforestation, land grabs and forced tribal removal. We have decimated so many native populations and their culture that we have obliterated much wisdom, how short-sighted can we be? It is such a shame that we treat the old ways, the old lore and traditions as something to be thrown away and forgotten or even neglected. It is such a shame.
laurieanichols 