Leave it To Cleaver: A Warning About Goosegrass
Do not drink cleaver tea (a.k.a goosegrass or bedstraw) before bed time. Seriously. I know it sounds like a fun idea and all, like throwing them on your husband's back when you are out walking, but if you're staying in a freaking cold van in the High Country of Victoria in Winter, you do not want to get up and pee all night.
You see, cleavers are fabulous for kidney cleansing, thus, they're gonna detox you and make you PEE. I was rapt to find some along a stream when we were camping a few days ago, because I felt, like I often do when I meet a herb out a-walking, that they were put on my path for a REASON. My kidneys had been sore for days - I think just a strain on them from cold weather and not enough clothes (Australians get confused when the weather gets cold, and it takes us a while to realise more clothes help). I was looking for plantain, as I need something for my lungs AND for Jamie's sinuses post nose op, knowing it would help both things. I did find plantain, and nettle, and CLEAVERS - woo! Thus, made ourselves a beautiful herbal tea before bed, thinking, ah, this is gonna do us some good. I remembered cleavers were good for the lymph so figured it'd be part of a tonic tea. We used to drink it all the time in England. I used to love this quote from Culpepper:
It is under the dominion of the Moon. The juice of the herb and the seed together taken in wine, helpeth those bitten with an adder, by preserving the heart from the venom. It is familiarly taken in broth, to keep them lean and lank that are apt to grow fat.
Nicholas Culpeper, 1653
We used to joke that drinking it would stop Jamie getting too fat, because then I wouldn't love him. It was funny coz he is naturally a lean guy.
I'd forgotten, though, just how good cleavers were at removing excess fluid from the body - and mine responded particularly well to them.Hence constant wee wees. I nearly filled the bucket we had in the van for that purpose!
Dad used to drink nettle tea a lot for his psoriasis as that too is a blood cleanser. Cleavers would have been good added this brew, but they just didn't grow where we grew up. In fact, I'd never heard of them til I moved to the UK, although they are found around Australia. A lot of colonial towns of course have 'weeds' which are English or European plants escaped from people's gardens - nettles, yarrow, chickweed, plantain, cleavers, dandelions, sorrel and the like. I have been specifically looking for them whilst in this beautiful part of the world on our road trip. I'm going to take some home to tincture.
I feel I have a lot to learn about cleavers and the more I read, the more I think they'd be a good companion for plantain, being good for the digestion and as an astringent for skin.
This post was written a few weeks back and I just found it in my drafts. Since then, I have found more cleavers on a wild forest road where we stopped for a wee and look and the view. I adore how plants just pop up when you least expect them
Do you use cleavers? How have you prepared them?
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I don't grow cleavers, but its cousin bedstraw. It's an herb my sister planted in 1992. It's use was to stuff in straw ticks because it smells nice, and it repels bugs. (It was in with the straw...)
I'm sure it has other medicinal, etc uses, but that one I remember because of the name. :))
I have heard of bed straw. It certainly has some history, as many of these herbs do. No one grows them intentionally here and it is seen as a weed. I just put some in my garden. Same with Nettles I planted a patch in a far corner and everyone thought I was mad. I think they are mad for not growing them. I guess the sting puts people off.
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I never knew about this plant, maybe I'm from another part of the planet that's why.
Thanks for sharing all this but I don't know if I would come across this plant here in my country.
And there are many African plants that don't grow here either . yet still we benefit from the natural world even if we don't have every single plant around us
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I remember you telling ( a summarized version of ) this story on the natural medicine Discord. One question remains, after all the peeing, did your kidneys feel better?
xx
YES!!!!! yes!!!
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Awesome :>)
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I love cleavers, I love to use it with chickweed and nettle to make a wonderful spring tonic. If you do make a tincture you really need to first crush the stems as it is so tough and woody, but you probably know that already. I just love how feckin clever it is to stick on to things xxx
I know right? I still get total delight from sticking it on hubby as pictured! He he. Small things!!!
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Not played at throwing this since the 60s. I'd like to know more about what herbs can do medicinally
What? You must throw it at the next person you meet!!! Where do you live?
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I haven’t used cleavers. Dandelion is a good cleanse. I make a tea with the blossoms when they come out in the spring. Dandelion wine is really good too. Mother used to make it once in awhile.
Oh gosh yes we made dandelion wine once. It reminded us of retsina.
A dandelion, nettle and cleaver tea would be an awesome tonic!
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I think the herbs which stimulate our natural elimination are soooo important, despite being seriously inconvenient on chilly nights in a van. Buckets for the win. :)
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