Sunday, July 26, 2015

Weedy tea



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The top photo is young Bee Balm, which apparently adds a bergamot flavour to tea. Though I mostly just appreciate their vivid and ragged purple. It "is common in moist open woods, along roadsides and in moist prairies."

The second is the flowering spikes of Common Burdock, which is often found growing "along river banks, disturbed habitats, roadsides, vacant lots, and fields." The young roots and purple/green stems can apparently be eaten and the leaves used to wrap food you want to cook in the coals of a fire, but mostly it's considered an invasive weed. The young plants are often mistaken for rhubarb, whose leaves are poisonous and whose red/green stems are delicious.

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