With the abundance of precipitation that we have had this year, all of the vegetation around the farm is just beyond resplendent, and one cultivar in particular is truly have a showcase of a bloom, the red clover.
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) grows all over our farm. I have fond memories of running around the Cascade foothills between Mt Rainer, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens where I spent the first decade of my life as a child, plucking red clover flowers and sucking the nectar out of each petal as I ran through the woods.
I know some view it as a weed, but how can you not adore a legume that fixes nitrogen into the soil and has the most glorious colored flowers? I mean every animal on the place loves red clover, the cows demolish it, the cats and dogs love to roll on the plant for some reason, and the bees are all abuzz over the plant.
Not to mention there is some interesting research going on regarding the plant. It's full of isoflavones, a compound that mimics estrogen in mammals, a phytoestrogen. Some cultures eat tons of phytoestrogens and are known for living healthy, long lives, so I am excited to see what the research on red clover will yield in the coming years.
Now, here's my thoughts on scientific research, especially regarding herbs/organic compounds. I love reading studies and their results, but I also know that it's important to keep in mind the controls of that study, who financed it, the context of the findings in regard to the overall scope of what is being asserted, etc. Just because something is observed means just that, it was observed and should be studied more, not that it is definitive in absolutely every applicable case.
But I digress.
Anyway, there's loads of research about red clover being perhaps useful for menopausal women due to its phytoestrogenic effects, that it may be good for skin and hair health, that it may battle cancer, that it is a cleanser of mucus, the list goes on. As with all things one takes in, it's up to us as individuals to do the research on what we ingest. Me, I just like red clover tea, but I also don't overdo it, because even though I believe in the healing power of plants, I also adhere to the glorious principle of moderation in all things.
That said, here's some links about red clover and it's potential benefits, possible side effects, etc:
American Botanical Council
Healthline
Mount Sinai
Now, back to the harvest!
I got out my colander and a pair of scissors and went meandering around the farm. We don't use any pesticides or herbicides round here, so other than where the cars are parked, any red clover I came across was fair game.
I snipped the flowers right below the flower head and first leaf cluster and happily chucked them into my colander. Whenever I harvest flowers and herbs for drying, I tend to do it first thing in the morning, when there is still a bit of dew. I also don't massacre the plant, bees and pollinators gotta eat too!
It used to drive me bananas when I was a kid and people would come up in the mountains where we lived to harvest mushrooms, bear grass, and huckleberries and they would basically just strip mine the forest. Um, no. I always leave at least half of the plant's bounty, it's called being polite dangit!
Anyway, after I clipped a respectable amount of clover flowers, I brought them in and spread them out in the trays of my super inexpensive dehydrator I picked up from Cabelas on sale quite a few years ago. Old Trusty works so well to dry herbs on. I usually just do small batches on it, and I skip every other tray, only using the top two or so.
After plugging in the beast, I set my timer on my phone for four hours and went out to weedeat and mow for a spell. A lot of time I just dry herbs on screens in a shady area, but thanks to the strange, rainy, cold spring, EVERYTHING is ripening and blooming all at once, so I have to speed some stuff up a bit.
In four hours time, the clover flowers dried perfectly. You don't want any moisture lurking, lest you will experience the dreaded M word...MOLD!
A lot of the time I store my dried herbs in paper lunch sacks or canning jars, whatever I grab really. I truly admire all those people out there who are so orderly and picture perfect in their habitats, that is definitely not me. My motto truly is Good and done is better than perfect and unfinished.
And now that I have a batch of red clover dried for future tea purposes, let's just say that I am excited to move on to the next wildcrafting harvest selections, Nootka roses, yarrow, plantain, and mullein.
It's gonna be a busy weekend 😉
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's probably sick of harvested wild plants pictures already iPhone