Wild Yarrow

by Cynthia

A few days ago my children and I went on a walk looking for various plants and flowers that we might gather for my natural dyes and medicinal uses. I noted that in just another week or two tansy will begin to flower. Tansy grows like a weed around where we live and many people may call it just that. I also noted that the goldenrod still has quite a bit longer to go before it begins to even set bud. This year I hope to gather some goldenrod for my dyes as well as for some medicinal purposes. I have not used goldenrod medicinally before but have been reading about it what it is good for and hope to try it out some.

One plant on our walk was in bloom and ready to be gathered for medicinal purposes or even for dyeing. That herb happens to be one of my favorites too. I am talking about Achilea millefolium or yarrow as it is commonly known.

Yarrow can indeed be used as a natural dye and will in fact produce various shades of yellow. It has been a favorite of mine for medicinal purposes for many years now. I like to turn to it in times of colds, flus, or fevers and will add it to my medicinal tea mixes.

My daughter had so much fun helping me pick a bundle of Yarrow’s flowering tops.

We brought this bundle home and hung it upside down to dry. Yarrow dries very nicely this way.

One could even use some of the flowers in a dried flower arrangement. Dried yarrow flowers hold up rather well and look pretty mixed with other dried botanicals.

I always make sure I point out my children on these walks how important it is to never take more than we can use and to always leave plenty of the plant behind to continue growing and producing. Also, it is so important to make sure you are harvesting from areas that you know have not been treated with pesticides. Safe and courteous wildcrafting is something I cannot stress enough! For more information on wildcrafting I suggest taking a look at this informative pdf link.

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