In the front of our house, by the herb and flower bed area, the lawn was covered with white clover last year and our youngest son would just mow right over it. We don't use any lawn care products or chemicals, so this year I am hoping to gather some and put it to use in the Golden D kitchen.
The only times I EVER had any experience with clover, whether white or red, was when we had rabbits years ago. My two daughters would harvest and forage the clover up by the handfuls and feed them to the rabbits. Now mind you, the rabbits LOVED the clover treat; but other than that, I never paid much mind to it.
Or when I was sitting on the back deck of my old farmhouse and watching bees flutter and flitter from clover to clover collecting the pollen and pollinating all the other flowers and vegetable plants in the garden.
But Now...
I know better...
Clover has so many uses; let's see what I have found out. First, everything on the clover plant is EDIBLE!
Every aerial part of the clover plant: leaves, stems, flowers, and seed pods- ALL of it. COMPLETELY EDIBLE!
- Dried leaves and flowers have a vanilla aroma to them and can be used in baking
- Fresh leaves can be used in salads
- Dried flowers can be used in herbal teas
- Dried leaves and flowers can be used in herbal teas to help with fever and colds
- Young and tender leaves can be added to soups and stews (I'm thinking in place of chervil and spinach; recommended to harvest before clover flower starts to bloom for easier digestion)
- Flowers can be used in tea and tinctures to help with arthritis and as an anti-inflammatory
- Flower heads can be used to make wine (combined with sugar and wine yeast- A DEFINITE to my list since it has a vanilla taste. I can make a new recipe called Clover Vanilla)
- White clover apparently has a natural chemical called estrogenic isoflavone genistein which has anti-oxidant properties.
So this is a MUST HAVE on my foraging list this spring and summer. Since I already give my mom catnip, marjoram, lemon balm, raspberry leaves, mint and sage for her herbal teas in the aid of her arthritis and as anti-inflammatory reducer, I will be adding the white clover to her check list when she comes to visit. I can't wait to tell her!
I'm also considering making some white clover tincture to have. This would be nice to add to my sweet tea this summer on those humid evenings when we're relaxing. I've never made my own tincture before, but from what I've read and researched in the last few months, it doesn't appear to be too difficult to make.
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Yes, there are many medicinal plants that are also considered "weeds"!
Resteemed and upvoted by the MAP-AAKOM community.
Will be added to the next Resteems post.
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Thank you! That's wonderful news! I'll keep an eye out for the post.
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Excellent flower..looks very beautiful...nice post....
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Thank you! Great to see a new member stopping by
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I miss the white clover all over. When I moved here from Upstate NY we went from a 20 acre farm and house to 15 acres of rough soil, rocks and clay. The purple ones are super delicious. I used the whole fresh flowers in my salads. Day Lilly too! Great post made me miss the NE.
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I planted day lily last year and am hoping to see them peeking out soon here.
OUCH! Rocky, sandy and clay- that's not good at all.
I haven't seen the purple or red ones here. But when I lived further north we had those too. I'll be keeping an eye for them around the new house this spring.
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It is so useful! But be aware that in clover, white and red, there are isoflavones that act like estrogen in the human body. So estrogen-sentive conditions like breast, uterine and ovarian cancer, ovarian cysts, endometriosis... those sorts of things can be worsened by the use of clover. I have endometriosis and a strong family history of reproductive cancers, so I avoid it.
We should all be taking advantage of our wild edibles and medicinals, just be careful!
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THANK YOU for that warning and information. Good to know.
It's weird because when I was reading about it earlier this week, somewhere it was mentioned about anti-cancer properties. Unless it wasn't pertaining to estrogen-like ones.
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Yes, it's just estrogen fed cancers that are worsened by it. The other side of that coin is that the estrogen mimicking isoflavones are great for relieving the symptoms of menopause. :)
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WOW! That is so interesting.
Hmmm, menopause relief! Now that I like! lol
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yes! goldendawne speaking the truth! save those clovers and eat and use them. don't spray your yards otherwise they're not useful as medicine or food <3 the tinctures aren't difficult at all! harvest at peak flowering (or leafing, whatever) and put in high proof (40% or more) alcohol. store in cool dry darkish place for 4-8 weeks, strain and viola! very simple, and i know red clovers are anticarcinogenic, not sure about white, but i know it's all GREAT for the blood :)
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AWESOME!!! About the tincture. I've been wanting to try one this year (another skill under my homesteading belt) and it really sounds easy enough to make.
We have never sprayed our lawn and the dog has her area in the very back of the property...far away from the front area that I'm eye-balling.. so I should be good to go.
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I did not know that! I always assumed they were just weeds that grew in the back yard. We liked to search for the four leaf clovers, but just to say we had found them. I'll have to keep an eye out for them this year. I can just start munching away. No need to cook them. ;)
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Nope! They're good to go- the perfect snack when foraging.
Yeah I remember looking for the ever-absent four leaf clover as a kid too- never did find one.
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I have to find some clover to sow in the backfield of our homestead. Maybe it will attract the bees to the garden also.
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Best News this week! I had no idea either. You gave quite the Newsflash today :)
I would love to forage for it too this year. I am hoping for dandelions too for salads and wine. My list is long..... but exciting! Resteeming, Thanks!
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Wow, I never thought that there are other colors of clovers. I only seen the green one. As the saying, you must be very fortunate, as clovers, especially the 4-leaf one, bring luck to anyone who found them. :) And a yard full of clovers, so cool!
My grandma use to put piece of clover on my sandwich when I was younger. And I suddenly miss those days.
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clover is also supposed to be an amazing cover crop - BAM! good for the soil, and good for your body!
i know i've eaten the flowers before, just for the sake of it, but i can't recall what they tasted like. probably pure sunshine :)
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lol- pure sunshine! Love that.
From all my reading, everything has been saying vanilla; which intrigues me. I love the aroma and scent of vanilla, so I'm wondering about drying it in a bundle hanging upside down. Hoping it would be like a natural air freshener.
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We used to pluck clovers and suck on them as kids. Sort of sugary/sweet. I use clover in my wild flower jelly and for tea but never thought of wine!! I am SO excited. I am determined to have the wildest weirdest wine collection ever :)
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Oh wow!!! Clover jelly!
I'll make the wine, you make the jelly and we'll find someone to bring some crusty bread and cheese!
I think I saw your post about the jelly- I'll have to look it up again.
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That sounds pretty much perfect. I sure wish we could do that!
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it does smell differently than grass when i'd mow over it. i bet you could make some awesome potpourri with it.
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Very beautiful flowers,
I lake it!
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Thank you
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I've used white clover, a low growing variety called Alice, as ground cover. But I never thought to dehydrate it for the layers, as I have lots of red clover and what I had heard is the higher colored plants often have higher nutrient levels.
It's interesting to find out it has so many good properties. I'm going to add it to the list.
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Now I can't wait for spring to get here even more so I can watch our front lawn turn into a clover field; small but still beautiful. And adding a few flowers and leaves to our salads? YES!!
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Even though it's healthy and good for you and all, I think you mentioned the most important aspect of clover in your yard. The bees just love it, and what's good for the bees is good for the earth.
Thanks for a just terrific post. Probably should be quarated, I'll talk to the administrator. :)
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lol- I'm the one who does curating. Four to five posts a week. I never expect to be curated myself.. but one never knows. I know @accelerator mentioned above they were going to feature this in their next post- so that makes me smile!
I am not one for bees.. I have a grave fear of them. Stung twice in my life.. about 6 years ago for both stings... but I have a GREAT respect for bees and their purpose in our world as pollinators. I won't be using up all the clover... golden rule of foraging... never take it all. Leave it for others (or the bees). Only take what you need.
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Awesome! You probably thought as I did that it was a weed? Did you use them this year when they ooooed up for any cool teas or tinctures? They’re pretty too. Thank you for sharing.
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This was a great post Dawn
My parents have a farm in the Lake District and they have a totally unspoilt herbage there, all kinds of clover everywhere, it has always been fully organic, no spray or fertilizers since its institution in 1924 when uncle bought the land and built a dwelling there, and our sheep, parkland Cheviot do very well on the natural herbage so much so they are much better at controlling any ailments they happen along.
We also kept bees there and have heather only half a mile away.
Father once won a competition from The Farmers Weekly for a story for alternative uses and the healing properties of honey, this was way back in the day before our modern hospitals began ramping up their use of the golden liquid on humans.
The story was we had a ewe that had badly injured one of its hind legs and after several visits from the vet it was actually getting worse, so father used some of our clover honey in a last ditched attempt to save the animal due to having two nice lambs in tow. The ending was a complete success for the honey and all animals survived.
Thos who are following this kind of alternative might like to buy a copy of this book or one of the reprints that is very similar.
https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/culpeper's-complete-herbal/first-edition/
If you do please buy it from your local book store and support the little shop, thanks.
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Dry the flowers, then grind them into flour to use in cooking. It is a member of the pea family and the flour will turn a lot of recipes green, but it has the same uses as a starch but is much cheaper than buying green pea flour!
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Last year I came across a white clover custard recipe! It's on the edge of my brain somewhere, but I cannot pinpoint where I saw it. If I remember and find the recipe, I'll be sure to share it with you!
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