Is This A Weed? with Danni Morinich
On this episode of Gritty and Green, host Meredith Nutting is joined by herbalist, Lady Danni Morinich to explore the bigger issues behind the question, "is this a weed?"
To learn more about Lady Danni and the Landed Gentress check out: https://www.landedgentress.com/
And find her on tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ladydanni_landedgentress?lang=en
and instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladydanni1/
To learn more about the effort to save the Meadows go to: https://www.savethemeadows.com/
And here's information about the Healthy Outdoor Places Act: https://www.toxicfreephilly.org/
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION
Meredith: Weeds Find a Way by Cindy Jenson Elliot – Weeds find a way to live where other plants can’t grow. –
MEREDITH: I LOVE STORY TIME. THERE ARE SO MANY GOOD BOOKS ABOUT GARDENING
Meredith: Weeds find a way to stay reaching deep with a grip so strong the stem always breaks first, leaving the roots behind to sprout again. ---
MEREDITH: WITH HIDDEN MESSAGES ABOUT LIFE
Meredith: Weeds find a way to be loved sending up flares of riotous red,
MEREDITH: THAT JUST MAKE A LITTLE HOPEFUL FOR THE FUTURE.
Meredith: Weeds find a way to stay unexpected guests who just happen to bring the whole family along.
MEREDITH: PLUS THE PICTURES ARE NICE
Meredith: The end.
Nat sound: lights off
MEREDITH: HI! THIS IS GRITTY AND GREEN AND I’M YOUR HOST MEREDITH NUTTING. THIS WEEK WE’RE GETTING IN THE WEEDS ABOUT – WELL, WEEDS! I GOT A CHANCE TO TALK WITH THE CHAMPION OF OUR LEAST CELEBRATED PLANTS, LADY DANNI.
SO LET’S GET GROWING!
Gritty and Green Theme Music
MEREDITH: YOU CAN’T BE ENGAGED IN ANY ONLINE GARDENING GROUP WITHOUT SEEING AT LEAST ONE, IF NOT A THOUSAND POSTS ASKING “IS THIS A WEED?”
IT’S USUALLY A PICTURE OF A SMALL INOCUOUS PLANT LIVING ITS BEST LIFE WITH SOME STORY ABOUT THE GARDENER FORGETTING WHAT THEY PLANTED, OR WONDERING WHAT VOLUNTEER PLANT HAS POPPED UP IN THEIR HERB GARDEN. THE QUESTION IS ALWAYS – IS THIS A WEED? AND THAT QUESTION IS, NO OFFENSE, USELESS AND IT CAN DIG UP SOME OF THE TROUBLING TRUTHS ABOUT GARDENING. LIKE WHAT BELONGS IN LAND THAT SHOULDN’T BELONG TO ANYBODY? IS A WEED IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER? AM I A WEED?
FIRST, LET’S START WITH THE MOST BASIC QUESTION WHAT IS A WEED?
BY DEFINITION A WEED IS A PLANT GROWING WHERE YOU DON’T WANT IT TO BE GROWING.
DEPENDING ON WHAT THE PLANT IS IT MAY OUT COMPETE THE PLANTS YOU ARE TRYING TO CULTIVATE WHEN IT COMES TO NUTRIENTS, WATER AND LIGHT AND IT MIGHT ATTRACT PESTS OR SPREAD DISEASES. OR – MAYBE IT ADDS NUTRIENTS TO THE SOIL AND ATTRACTS PESTS AWAY FROM YOUR PLANTS.
THERE’S GOOD REASON TO KNOW WHAT IS GROWING ALONGSIDE THE PLANTS YOU HAVE PURPOSEFULLY PUT IN THE GROUND AND ARE CARING FOR. BUT ASKING IS THIS A WEED IS NOT GOING TO GET YOU THAT INFORMATION.
WHAT IS THIS PLANT? IS A BETTER QUESTION. BY STARTING THERE YOU CAN FIND OUT IF IT IS BENEFICIAL OR HARMFUL TO THE PLANTS ITS GROWING NEARBY. YOU CAN FIND OUT IF IT’S A NATIVE OR AN INTRODUCED SPECIES. YOU CAN FIND OUT IF IT’S AGGRESSIVE OR INVASIVE.
INTRODUCED, AGGRESSIVE AND INVASIVE ARE DESCRIPTORS THAT ARE COMMONLY USED INTERCHANGABLE BUT THEY HAVE SOME IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES.
AN INTRODUCED SPECIES IS ONE THAT DIDN’T EVOLVE IN PLACE IT IS GROWING. IT WAS BROUGHT THERE OFTEN TIMES ON PUROSE, AND IF YOU’RE SEEING IT IN YOUR GARDEN IT PROBABLY HAD A GREAT TIME LIVING IN A LAND WITH NOTHING TO EAT IT OR KEEP IT IN CHECK. NOT ALL INTRODUCED SPECIES THRIVE OR EVEN SURVIVE IN THEIR NEW HOME BUT IF THEY DO, INTRODUCED SPECIES TEND TO BECOME AGGRESSIVE.
AGGRESSIVE SPECIES ARE THOSE THAT CAN OUTCOMPETE OTHER SPECIES. LOTS OF INTRODUCED SPECIES WITH NO NATURAL COMPETITION CAN BE AGGRESSIVE. BUT THERE ARE NATIVE AGGRESSIVE SPECIES TOO. USUALLY THESE ARE PIONEER SPECIES LIKE GOLDENROD THAT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPEN LAND ON THE EDGES OF FORESTS – KIND OF LIKE MOST OF OUR CLEARED FARMLANDS, PARKS AND GARDENS.
AND THEN THERE ARE INVASIVE PLANTS. THEY ARE INTRODUCED SPECIES THAT ARE AGGRESSIVE AND ENCOMOICALLY OR ENVIRONMENTALLY HARMFUL. MY SENSE FROM SEEING THOUSANDS OF POSTS ASKING “IS THIS A WEED?” IS THAT THIS IS THE QUESTION FOLKS ARE REALLY ASKING. DO I NEED TO REMOVE THIS PLANT BEFORE IT TAKES OVER MY ENTIRE GARDEN?
SOME INTRODUCED SPECIES ARE NEITHER INVASIVE OR AGGRESSIVE. AND SOME NATIVE SPECIES CAN BE AGGRESSIVE ESPECIALLY IN OUR LITTLE GARDENS . SO ANY PLANT CAN BE A “WEED” IF YOU DON’T WANT IT THERE. AND THEN THERE’S A LIST OF WHAT ARE DEEMED NOXIOUS WEEDS. THOSE CAN BE NATIVE OR INTRODUCED SPECIES. THEY ARE PLANTS THAT ARE REALLY AGGRESSIVE, DIFFICULT TO MANAGE, TOXIC OR CARRY DISEASES. IF A PLANT IS ON THE NOXIOUS WEED LIST IT WILL BE BANNED FROM BEING SOLD OR TRANSPORTED IN THE STATE AND FOLKS WHO HAVE IT WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO REMOVE IT. IN PENNSYLVANIA FOR EXAMPLE THE CALLERY OR BRADFORD PEAR TREE WHICH WAS INTRODUCED IN THE EARLY 1900S FROM ASIA NOW ON THE NOXIOUS WEEDS LIST.
YOU PROBABLY HAVE SEEN THESE TREES AND SMELLED THEIR WHITE FLOWERS WHICH INCREASINGLY HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED AS HAVING A DISTINCT UNPLEASANT SMELL OF A CERTAIN BODILY FLUID AHEM. THEY ARE ONE OF THE MOST COMMON URBAN TREES IN THE SOUTHEASTER UNITED STATES. ORIGINALLY THEY WERE TUATED AS BEING STERILE TREES UNABLE TO REPRODUCE BUT NEW CULTIVARS WERE CREATED AND THE TREE STARTED REPRODUCING. TO QUOTE ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES, JURASSIC PARK, NATURE FINDS A WAY. AND NOW THE BARDFORD PEAR HAS TAKEN OVER WILD LANDSCAPES OUT COMPETING NATIVE PLANTS AND HARMING THOSE ECOSYSTEMS.
STARTING THIS YEAR THE TREES WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE HOWEVER, THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE AND AS LONG AS THERE ARE TREES OUT THERE TO REPRODUCE, IT WON’T STOP. INVASIVE PLANTS AREN’T THE ONLY SPECIES ON THE NOXIOUS WEED LISTS THOUGH! NATIVE PLANTS CAN BE DEEMED NOXIOUS IN AREAS PARTICULARLY IF THEY ARE TOXIC TO LIVESTOCK OR CLOG UP WATERWAYS AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO MANAGE THEM. SO KNOWING WHAT PLANTS ARE IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL AND KNOWING WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK WILL HELP GET YOU TO THE ANSWERS.
WHAT IS THIS PLANT? IS IT NATIVE? IS IT BENEFICIAL TO WHAT I’M GROWING? OR IS IT HARMFUL? IS IT AGGRESSIVE OR INVASIVE? IS IT ILLEGAL? ANY OF THOSE QUESTIONS IS BETTER THAN JUST ASKING “IS THIS A WEED?” BUT THERE’S A COUPLE QUESTIONS I LEFT OUT OF MY LIST. IS IT EDIBLE? IS IT MEDICINAL? WHAT WAS IT DOING BEFORE MY GARDEN WAS HERE? WHO WAS USING IT? I GOT TO CHAT WITH SOMEONE WHO ASKS ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS EVERYDAY – SOUTH PHILLY FORAGER AND SELF DESCRIBED “LOVER OF PLANTS FORMERLY KNOWN AS WEEDS!” LADY DANNI.
Danni: I was really not the outdoorsy type whatsoever. I was a Girl Scout. I got to badges. One was for archery, the other was from arts and crafts. I really was not a fan of sleeping outdoors or camping or any of those things. Mosquitoes think that I'm a moveable feast. So this was not an easy thing, but I just felt like so led to do it that, you know, sometimes you just get pulled into something and it's like beyond your control. And that's kind of what I felt with this.
MEREDITH: DANNI MORINICH IS A MASTER HERBAILST AND MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN HERBALIST GUILD AND AMERICAN BOTANICAL COUNCIL. SHE ALSO HOSTS FORAGING TOURS WITH WILD FOODIES, THE FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA, AND THE PAINTED BRIDE’S RESISTANCE GARDEN AMONG OTHERS. BUT AS YOU’VE HEARD, GETTING TO BE ONE OF PHILADELPHIA’S MOST WELL-KNOWN FORAGERS WASN’T A STRAIGHT PATH.
Danni: I think officially started foraging in like 2016. But if kind of the path was set because after 20 years of selling or recruitment and advertising and medical marketing and media, the company I was with was changing dramatically. So exactly two weeks before my 20th anniversary, I quit. I gave them, you know, the two weeks notice, but I was done. And during that time I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I was doing soap making at the time and doing a lot of stuff with essential oils. So I started on a path with Do it and training for that, and then I realized the waste that that is because it takes so much topical material in order to distill that down to essential oil.
MEREDITH: ESSENTIAL OILS ARE CREATED BY SEPARATING THE AROMATIC OIL COMPOUNDS FROM THE REST OF THE PLANT. IT’S BASICALLY A DISTILLING PROCESS WITH THE END PRODUCT BEING A CONCENTRATED PLANTE EXTRACT THAT CAN BE USED IN SOAP OR LOTION OR AS AROMATHERPY.
BUT GETTING ENOUGH OIL TO USE REQUIRES A LOT OF PLANT MATERIAL. MOST PLANTS AR E MADE UP OF ONLY 1-2% OF THESE OILS. IT CAN TAKE 8 MILLION JASMINE BLOSSOMS TO MAKE 2 POUNDS OF ESSENTIAL OIL. IT CAN TAKE A 60 ROSE BUDS TO PRODUCE ON DROP OF ROSE OIL. SO WHILE YOU MAY ONLY NEED A DROP OR TWO OF AN ESSENTIAL OIL AT A TIME THE AMOUNT OF PLANT MATERIAL WASTED IN MAKING IT IS ASTONISHING.
Danni: So then I started getting more into using herbs as a full spectrum thing. So I did an online master herbalism course with that. But then when I was talking with other herbalists, they were all kind of in their ivory tower and dealing with kind of patisseries and, you know, planted cultivated plants and that was kind of not where I wanted to be because I always thought in the back of my mind, which is weird because I've always been like forward thinking and it's taken a lot of time for other people to catch up. I was like, What if something happened? What if there was some kind of I was thinking more of an ecological disaster where all of your cultivated plants don't grow. So what happens? You're stuck with wheat.
I don’t call them weeds. I prefer ala Prince, plants formerly known as weeds because it’s really about once you know what it’s capable of it is a mindset change. The things you’re stepping on every day. They things you’re ignoring. I’ve always been for the underdogs. Maybe that’s why Philly is my city. Is because it’s really about the things that people ignore or step on or rip it out.
So many plants whether they’re native or not have value.
MEREDITH: WITH A FOCUS ON WEEDS DANNI’S COMPANY GREW AND EVOLVED AND DANNI RECEIVED HER TITLE.
Danni: friends of mine in Scotland. After I left my job, they knew that I was trying to set up business and they bought my husband and I the official one square foot of Earth in Scotland, in Glencoe. And because you now have the rights to that, you also have the right to be laird or lady.
And that is what I chose to use. I really have a problem with people that are like 2020 with titles. And I thought, Hey, if you can have one, so can I do it?
MEREDITH: AND THEN CAME ANOTHER TWIST IN DANNI’S PATH AS AN HERBALIST. IN 2016 HER DAD DIED. GROWING UP HE WAS A GARDENER AND SMALL GAME HUNTER SO SPENT A LOT OF TIME OUT IN THE WOODS.
Danni: So when he passed I went out with the idea of just kind of reconnecting to all the things that my father loved and that’s when I went out with Wild Foodies.
MEREDITH: WILD FOODIES IS A PHILADELPHIA BASED GROUP FOUNDED BY LYNN LANDES IN 2010 THAT AIMS TO EMPOWER PEOPLE THROUGH THE EDUCATION OF WILD EDIBLE PLANTS.
Danni: And then once I went out with them, I just kept going out with them as it was like I wanted more information, more information, So what do these weeds do? And with wild food is and this. It was all about the food section of that which gave me a really good basis for that. Then I fell down a rabbit hole of wanting to know, okay, well, beyond eating this, are there medicinal properties? Because there were a lot of plants that while foodies were like, Oh, that's not edible. So they were just kind of disregarding and again, what they ignored and, you know, dismiss. But I started really looking at other things. And is it not edible because you don't know how to eat it? Is it it not edible because maybe you don't have information about it? Is there like folk information about it? Which led me down to another path of looking through the Lenape writings of the people who lived in the area and how they've used the plant over periods of time. And it just started pulling up a wellspring of information. And I just started writing all the down. So much of it I'm constantly going through, I'm constantly finding out new and exciting information about plants that I never knew. and then Lynn Landes said, you know, really, you should be doing your own tours.
MEREDITH: SO AROUND 2018 LADY DANNI DID START HOSTING HER OWN TOURS WITH WILD FOODIS, MAINLY THROUGH THE MEADOWS IN FDR PARK IN SOUTH PHILLY.
Danni: It was nothing short of magical. I mean, it was so dense. Was like, seriously forest primeval. You would go in there and you, the trees, even on the sides, were so dense that you couldn't see the housing and apartment buildings that were around it when you went deep into it, especially if you were by yourself. As many mornings I was, it was just beautiful. I mean, just thick and lush and green and some pathways were overgrown, but then you would look forward to some areas to get to. And like blackberries are in abundance or back when they used to have at the Girard Point Lookout, there was a tree that had to swing there and you could look down this kind of rolling lawn that was just green and lush.
And people would love to like, take their dogs off leash and just let them run down there. It was absolutely beautiful. And now when you go and you stand in that same spot and you look down and it's just all like Brown Field, it's heartbreaking.
MEREDITH: DESPITE PUBLIC OUTCRY, OVER 400 TREES WERE CUT DOWN INCLUDING 45 MASSIVE HERITAGE TREES. IF YOU’RE CONFUSED WHY A CITY IN DESPERATE NEED FOR CANOPY COVER ESPECIALLY IN SOUTH PHILLY – WOULD JUST CHOP DOWN A FLOREST? YOU AREN’T ALONE.
Danni: And now that they've cut off almost all I mean, all of the trails that I used to take in when I took tours in are now closed up. It was such a tremendous for me personally, a tremendous loss because of just resources of things that I could forage back there. But then in the last year, even before they did the final destruction, all the heritage trees, it was just sad to see them to start ripping more things out, to start spraying things that they felt were persona non grata anymore. It was just it's it's really sad because at its heyday it was just it was so amazing. It was like something that you would see a storybook and, you know, overgrown like brambles and things that look like little thatched huts. It was just that it was everything.
I just think in a city where we have so many issues, especially gun violence being one of them, the ability to be in green space has been proven by several studies that it lower stress levels. It has a way of making you feel better about yourself and your situation, and it reduces anger and all of those positive things. It just being in a space with trees and promote and instead of like say, Oh yeah, and you have a city that has a clean and green initiative, that should be something that you're promoting. And so we're cutting it down, we're cutting it down, we're removing shade, removing something that automatically turns carbon dioxide to oxygen. And then then we're expecting people to not only be okay with that, but like as the temperatures increase, oh, you know, you shouldn't be upset about that because, you know, after all, it is what it is. And then with the Canadian wildfire and things that are happening to, we don't have that culture anymore. So we need to, like, really reconnect and realize that everything, as my daddy say, is all stretched. So whether you're having issues in your personal life and stress levels or whether you're out playing in the backyard, all of that goes to, you know, your mental health, all those other things. There's like such an interweb. It's like roots in a tree. They don't just attach to that tree. They go through the land, they reach out to other things. There are pulses and things that happen. And I just don't think that. I think with all the technology and things that we have, we really haven't stopped to think about like the importance of nature. so it's like you can't divorce it. It's so connected. I'm sorry. That was a rant.
MEREDITH: IF YOU TAKE AWAY ONE THING ABOUT GARDENING AND GREEN SPACES FROM THIS PODCAST I HOPE IT’S THE RUNNING THEME THAT NATURE IN CITIES IS A NECCESSITY TO OUR HEALTH AND WELL BEING.
AND THIS URBAN FOREST HAD THE ADDED BONUS FOR SOME LIKE LADY DANNI, AS A PLACE TO FORAGE. BUT IT’S NOT THE ONLY PLACE.
Danni: I am an urban forager. I live in the city, so I'm dealing with what I got at the time. A lot of people get tied up into It needs to be so many feet away from the this, you know, street. It needs to be on a hill where like water is running down and, you know, all these other things.
Now I'm not going to pick up. I don't care how great the specimen looks, if there are like needles around it or like cigaret butts or things like that, and I'll give that one to miss. But I am above like in the city, there are constantly like blocks of pavement that are missing that a lot of things will grow into. So maybe I won't use the root from that. But if dock is growing there and the seed salt comes up, I know it's a member of the Buckwheat family and the seeds can be grown and yield like a buckwheat flour, so I'm damn sure going to take those.
The other issue I hear a lot about is toxins in the ground, depending on like in some areas where houses were pulled down, you might find a lot of weeds, but you kind of have to be cautious because you're not really sure if lead paint was used that's going into the ground.
But, you know, you take your chances really because there is no way of knowing that that great looking apple that you just bought from like Whole Foods has not been sprayed with pesticides. I know a lot of these companies said, oh, no, we're all organic. Okay. I call shenanigans on that one because I've seen a lot of stuff that really is it.
like organic honey cracks me up. How do the police come back and say, We've only been to these flowers at the organic farm? I mean, yet you hope that the organic is nearby, that that's they're not going to fly miles and miles, that they've got it right next door.
But there's really not that way of knowing. So I just think some of it is it's merchandizing it's marketing and we fall for it and we need to stop falling for that and looking to ourselves and what we can make, what we can grow, we can use and feel safer about that. And you just try and do your best. Nothing is promise to you. And realistically, we are drinking microplastics and eating a whole heap of chemicals on a daily.
So don't get all precious with me about weeds that are coming out of the street
MEREDITH: ONE WAY LADY DANNI HAS FOUND TO ENSURE THE PLANTS FORMERLY KNOWN AS WEEDS ARE SAFE TO USE THE WAY SHE WANTS TO IS TO GROW THEM HERSELF.
Danni: About her garden in south Philly it's just so much easier with Marks doing more reckless spraying with pesticides. The fact that I have this weed now growing where I can have control of it, I know that my soil is today is is a big one. So I I've got I just seeded dandelions the other day and people think I'm mad as box of rocks and you can think that but I want to do the whole roasting of all the roots and eating them like French fries next year. And in order to do that, I have to be able to dig up those roots.
It's the park system definitely frowned upon. And I also want to make sure that the dirt that they're coming from isn't filled with like, pesticides. And because even though the hops law passed in Philadelphia, which is a healthy outdoor Protected Spaces law and is supposed to prevent glyphosate from being used, it still happens because the mayor never signed off.
MEREDITH: THE HEALTHY OUTDOOR PORTECTED SPACES LAW WAS WRITTEN IN 2020 AND ALTHOUGH IT WAS OFFICIALLY ENACTED INTO LAW IN JANUARY 2021 THE CITY IS NOT ENFORCING IT. ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION OVER 15 TONS OF TOXIC HERBICIDES WERE SPRAYED ON PUBLIC LANDS IN 2023.
Danni: it's self-defense, it's growing weeds or allowing them to grow as a matter of self-defense because I know the value of them and how they could be used in a beneficial way. And I really just wish people not saying that you're not going to weed them out, but I just wish people took a minute to understand some of these things and understand some weeds are incredibly beneficial to even things that you are growing.
Like. If we talk about lambs quarter, lambs quarter has more iron and everything than spinach and people should be eating that. But above and beyond that, if it's love it, so do things like cabbage beetles and stuff. So if you have it growing cabbages, don't pull it out. Leave it because all the nasties will go directly for that play. They leave your cabbages and things alone.
MEREDITH: IF YOU PURPOSEFULLY GROW WEEDS – THEN BY DEFINITION THEY ARENT’ WEEDS ANY MORE RIGHT? OF COURSE DANNI DOES DO A LOT OF FORAGING AND SHE HAS SOME TIPS!
Danni: So people would think like, you're going to go out foraging one time. It's like, okay, I'm good. No, not really. Oh yeah. If you walk away knowing one or two plans that you actually remember the stuff, I, I have like three ring binders, like three of them that have just all the information I'm constantly collecting. And it's a constant learning process. I got my phone, I got picture this, and I would just make sure that wherever I was going, I left myself another 40 minutes or so to get there. And then I would just walk down the street and, Oh, what's that like?
Oh, that's that. And I would do that for everything. And then because picture this, kept a record of what I looked at and I could go back and cross-reference it with books or check it with Google and get as much information as I could. And that's that constant doing it. And it's a constant process.
MEREDITH: APPS LIKE PICTURE THIS ARE GREAT BUT THEY CAN BE INACCURATE SO IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT – ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE GOING TO CONSUME THE PLANT YOU FOUND – TO CROSS CHECK WITH BOOKS AND OTHER SOURCES.
Danni: I think it helps you identify things. I also say like no one goes slow. So if you see something and you think, you know what it is, make sure don't put it in your mouth.. Start with the easy to find plants that you can identify. I also recommend everybody getting like a good book. The very first one that I started out was made a Silverman's A City Herbal. She wrote it about New York City and thinks that you find the cracks in the sidewalk. I think the original ones published in 1977, but the book still holds up because there are still so many plants that you can find that are in that book that you'll find popping up through the city.
MEREDITH: OK SO DO YOUR RESEARCH. SECOND – CONSUME THEM SAFELY
Danni: So you just have to do your best. But I also believe that when you come home with stuff proper cleaning, I will put like vinegar and baking soda and put them in to bathe before I use them. unless you're going to use something like in the case of elderflower, if you're making a cordial, you want something to be fizzy, then you need the natural yeast on plants. So in a case like that, I would say get them after the first rain so that you have them a little bit cleansed off because you don't want to over wash them when you get home.
MEREDITH: IF THIS IS ALL SOUNDING OVERWHELMING I SUGGEST YOU TAKE A LOOK AT LADY DANNI’S INSTAGRAM. SHE HAS SO MANY VIDEOS OF FORAGING EXPERIMENTS THAT SHOW – YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW EVERYTHING TO GET STARTED.
Danni: And I mean, that's one of the biggest things that I think this whole process has taught me is just you cannot go in telling nature what you're going to get out of it. You just have to be open and then all of it pours out on to you. But there are a number of things that stick because I'm trying not only to relate the ability to use these in an edible way, but also if they have medicinal properties or also, if you remember my story on The Girl and why you should never say the name Mugwort–
MEREDITH: LONG AGO IN A VILLAGE ON THE EDGE OF ANCIENT FOREST, A KIND HEARTED GIRL COLLECTED HERBS AND FLOWERS FOR HER AILING GRANDMOTHER. IN THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON SHE VENTURED DEEPER INTO THE WOODS THAN EVER BEFORE AND STUMBLED INTO A GLEN FILLED WITH MUGWORT – IT’S SILVERY LEAVES SHIMMERING LIKE THE MOON, IT’S ENCHANTING SCENT TELLING OF ITS PROTECTIVE AND MYSTICAL POWERS.
THE GIRL BEGAN TO GATHER IT IN HANDFULS AND THEN AN OLD WOMAN EMERGED FROM THE SHADOWS OF THE FOREST. SHE WARNED THE GIRL NEVER TO SAY THE NAME MUGWORT ALOUD FROM IT WOULD SUMMON THE SPIRITS THAT GUARDED IT. THE GIRL PROMISED TO KEEP THE SECRET AND NEVER SAID THE NAME MUGWORT AND ASD YEARS WENT BY SHE GREW INTO THE VILLAGE’S HEALER.
ONE DAY A STRANGER CAME TO THE VILLAGE LOOKING FOR HEALING AND NOT HEEDING THE WARNING SHOUTED MUGWORT INTO THE NIGHT. THE SPIRITS DESCENDED ON THE VILLAGE. THE GIRL KNEW WHAT HAD TO BE DONE AND GRABBING A HANDFUL OF MUGWORT SPOKE SOFTLY TO THE SPIRITS, OFFERING TO EXCHANGE HER LIFE FOR THE SAFETY OF HER VILLAGE. SO MOVED, THE SPIRITS TOOK HER INTO THE SHADOWS ENSURE THE VILLAGE’S PROTECTION FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. FROM THAT DAY FORWARD THE VILLAGERS HONORED THE GIRL BY NEVER UTTERING “MUGWORT” AND ALWAYS RESPECTING THE POWER OF THE SILVERY MOON.
Danni: the whole tie in between the light of the moon and Mugwort being tied into having lunar capabilities and ties into sleep and dreaming, you know, all those little bits and pieces, they're like little fragments that just go out there, but they're embedded in the story. And I think that helps people remember.
So it's more for me about preservation of knowledge and just getting it out there so people feel comfortable about this stuff. The people used to know all over. It wasn't a question of like me being the only one. Everybody knew this stuff. So I think especially for younger people that don't have grandparents here or, you know, family members, I can tell you how they used to use these things in the old days, me reminding you of that may be the thing that now you pass on to your child and and it gets you know, the knowledge is preserved.
MEREDITH: WORKING AS AN HERBALIST WITH A BACKGROUND IN PHARMACETICAL PUBLISHING, LADY DANNI HAS UNIQUE INSIGHT ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF BOTH AND WHERE THEY FALL SHORT. SHE SPENDS A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO MARRY WHAT SHE LEARNS FROM ORAL TRADITIONS WITH WHAT HAS BEEN SCIENTIFICALLY RESEARCHED ABOUT MEDICINAL PLANTS.
Danni: The problem with that --- big pharma – so all you have is empirical evidence about it
MEREDITH: BUT JUST BECAUSE FORMAL SCIENCE HASN’T FIGURED IT OUT THE VALUE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS DOESN’T MEAN IT’S NOT THERE. SO LEARNING THE ORAL HISTORIES OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN USING THESE MEDICINES FOR GENERAGINOS – IN FACT IS PROBALBY THE MOST INVALUABLE RESOURCE WE HAVE.
Danni: It’s a constant balance of information ----
I think it’s really important and if you take the time to learn the benefits of the plant --- Those are really beneficial old timey, old fashioned things that people have just that's the wisdom people discarded, but they're there for the taking. You just have to make time to to learn. And like I said, I just feel fortunate that I'm in the space right now. And you know, I, I would do what I do because this is where I am at this point in life.
I know, like some people want to do it because they always laugh and say like, Yeah, I went into foraging for the fame and fortune. Not well. I just I love what I'm doing so much. And this was like not my comfort level of going out and teaching people or anything else. But like I said, sometimes you get called to do something and sometimes, God, there's like a couple.
And sometimes if you don't get like the fact that this is the call, it, there's a break. So I'm just happy that like, I didn't get hit by a boulder before I realized that maybe this is something that I should be doing. And is it easy now? Always get butterflies in my stomach before I go out.
So, like, share what you do and just, you know, I try and do everything to the best of my ability, even when it's out of my comfort zone. And I just hope that if nothing else and people just see that you can be you can be that full fledged weirdo that everybody told you you shouldn't be and you should, like, rein it in a little bit. I'm not reading it in anymore. I mean, how much life you've got left. So it's like I might as well be like the lawn crazy plant lady. I'll cool with that
MEREDITH: THAT WAS LADY DANNI OF THE LANDED GENTRESS. IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FORAGING, HERBALISM AND MAYBE EVEN GO MEET THE LADY HERSELF CHECK OUT HER WEBSITE – LANDEDGENTRESS.COM OR FIND HER ON INSTAGRAM AND TIKTOK!
IF YOU FEEL LIKE FORAGING HAS BECOME SUPER POPULAR THESE DAYS YOU AREN’T WRONG. IT IS HAVING A RESURGANCE PARTIALLY THANKS TO FOLKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA LIKE LADY DANNI THAT ARE PUTTING WILD FOODS IN THE SPOTLIGHT. SOME OF THAT IS DRIVEN BY A DESIRE TO RECONNECT WITH NATURE. SOME OF IT WAS OUT OF NECCESSITY AROUND SUPPLY ISSUES DURING COVID. BUT THE TRUTH IS FORAGING HAS ALWAYS BEEN AROUND BUT THERE WERE FORCES AT WORK TRYING TO BURY IT.
COLONIALISM IS A BIG ONE. PART OF TAKING OVER LAND INVOLVED TAKING OVER THE ENVIRONMENT. PLANTS FROM THE HOMELAND WERE INTRODUCED AND EVERYTHING ELSE WAS DEEMED A WEED. HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY SO MANY OF OUR NATIVE PLANTS ARE NAMED WEEDS? MILKWEED, POKEWEED, JOE PYE WEED THE LIST GOES ON.
OF COURSE A BIG REASON TO INTRODUCE PLANTS WAS TO BE ABLE TO GROW FOOD. BUT IT WAS ALSO USED TO CONTROL THE PEOPLE ALREADY LIVING THERE. BY IMPOSING EURPOEAN METHODS OF FARMING AND STIGMATIZING FORAGING AS AN INFERIOR OR PRIMATIVE WAY OF GETTING FOOD THE COLONIST STARTED TO CONTROL HOW PEOPLE COULD EAT.
FARMLAND BEGAN TO TAKE OVER FORAGING LAND. EVEN PLACES THAT WERE PROTECTED AND REMAINED WILD AND FILLED WITH FOOD BECAME OFF LIMITS. PEOPLE WHO HAD FOR GENERATIONS FOUND THEIR FOOD ON THESE NEWLY CRAETED STATE AND FEDERAL PARKS WERE NOW BARRED FROM COLLECTING ANY PLANTS. RESTRICTING ACCESS TO WILD PLANTS – OR WEEDS AS THEY BECAME KNOWN – CREATED A DEPENDENCY ON COLONALIST FOR FOOD AND RESOURCES.
OF COURSE THE FORCE OF COLONIALISM GOES HAND IN HAND WITH RACISM AND THIS EXTENDED TO BLACK AMERICANS. ENSLAVED PEOPLE WOULD FORAGE TO SUPPLIMENT THE PLANTATION FOOD. AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR FREED BLACK PEOPLE WOULD SELL THEIR FORAGED FOODS AS A SOURCE OF INCOME UNTIL THE UNITED STATES GOVERNEMNT PASSED RACIST LAWS MAKING FORAGING ILLEGAL.
AND THEN WE HAVE GOOD OLD CAPITALISM. BIG AGRICULTURE CAN’T MAKE A PROFIT IF PEOPLE CAN FIND FREE FOOD. AND FINDING YOUR OWN FOOD TAKES TIME AND, IN A SYSTEM, WHERE YOU NEED MONEY TO SURVIVE AND TO EARN THAT MONEY YOU HAVE TO WORK ALL THE TIME, CHEAP FOOD PRODUCED BY INDUSTRIALLY GROWN MONOCULTURES WINS OUT.
THERE IS SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THE STATE OF OUR GARDENS AND OUR FOOD SYSTEMS AND HOW THEY HAVE BEEN SHAPED BY OUR NATION’S HISTORY.
BUT FOR NOW LET’S JUST TAKE SOME TIME TO CONSIDER WHO GETS TO DECIDE – IS THIS A WEED AND INSTEAD MAYBE ASK SOME BIGGER QUESTIONS.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME ON THIS JOURNEY INTO THE WEEDS. AND A VERY WARM SPECIAL THANKS TO LADY DANNI – SERIOUSLY IF YOU HAVEN’T FOUND HER ONLINE YET PLEASE DO! I’VE HELPED YOU OUT IN THE SHOW NOTES.
IF YOU’VE BEEN LIKING THIS PODCAST PLEASE LIKE, REVIEW AND SHARE IT. WE ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE EPISODES THIS SEASON AND I’D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU LOVE, WHAT YOU COULD LEAVE BEHIND AND WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT. YOU CAN EMAIL ME THAT AND YOUR GARDEN QUESTIONS AT GRITTY AND GREEN @ COOLGOON PRODUCTIONS.COM
UNTIL NEXT TIME, MAYBE JUST SKIP THE WEEDING.
GRITTY AND GREEN IS PRESENTED BY GREEN PHILLY.
IN COLLABORATION WITH COOL GOON PRODUCTIONS.
IT WAS WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND EDITED BY ME, MEREDITH NUTTING.
THEME MUSIC BY KAZUYA
IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY GO TO GREENPHL.COM