Out for a wander and what do we see?
To be honest I’ve seen these many times before but never questioned what it is, or more lately what can i do with it.
One thing I’m trying to do is to improve my foraging skills, and critical element of this is the ability to identify something and know if its safe or dangerous.
From looking in my little reference book it didnt include forget-me-not which is a shame but Google managed to fill in all of the blanks
So with an image in hand i turned to google and fairly quickly found out its
Field Forget-me-not
Myosotis arvensis
One interesting fact i found out was that it's in the same family as Borage another useful herb I’ve sown in the garden and look forward to seeing in flower.
Apparently the whole plant is “astringent” which i also had to google but wikipedia helped to clarify
An astringent (occasional alternative: adstringent) substance is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues
And can be used to treat wounds either fresh or dried. Looks like you’d need a lot as it was a pretty small plant with tiny flowers and few leaves.
One thing i keep seeing is the disparity between what the old school herbalists say and the modern medical facilitys alot of things i’ve looked up recently have have simliar warnings to what was found when researching the forget-me-not
Forget-me-not might be UNSAFE. It belongs to a plant family that contains hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, chemicals that can cause severe liver damage and cancer.
Source : WebMD
On a side note I’ve ordered some organic beewax bars to have a go making some natural salve’s once the herbs in the garden really pick up growing. At least with these i should be safe as far as i can tell.
I came across this quote the other day and it really rings true with my quest for knowledge at the moment!
“It’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see” - Henry David Thoreau
Anyone else brushing up on their identification skills?
As always thanks again for stopping by, why not upvote, re-steem or follow if you liked what you have seen!
All the best and Steem on!
Dan
I love forget me nots... my great grandma's wedding band had them on it and ivy and on the underside it read: 'forget me not and I love thee' 💙💙💙 so whenever I see them I think of that. So thanks!
Your welcome 😀 sounds like a beautiful ring
I said Borage to myself before reading what you had put. Until I brush up further on my foraging skills I'll be jumping to 'Borage' for anything blue LOL.
That would of been my go to also, I've actually just planted some borage seeds for the garden so ill hopefully learn the difference haha
:)
Borage is beautiful, collected some wild seeds here but where I'm going to use them I don't know I want to give them to someone in a tropical climate see if they would grow. Will u be starting them in green house and transplanting outside? . Alot of my plants bolted because we had a really cold spring and then a sudden shift into really hot. I'm learning certain plants don't like the heat and that I need to ignore what some of my seed packets say and plant them earlier next year as well because some I left after the cold patch and they straight in to heat was too intense for them. I've never manage to grow a spring onion from seed past a seedling, I think its because they get eaten by gnats or maybe its something else but apparently I can just transplant store brought ones. My tomato seeds never germinated but I think I left them too late aswell. Anyway this growing thing is super hard and I find ppl instructions on the Internet a bit confusing some times. Really admire ur green fingers, keep it up
Im having similar problems, got lots in the greenhouse running to seed and in my raised beds it been unusually hot and dry and my soil isnt the best at holding moisture. Most is been in to collect seeds and act as a natural sun shade for ths other plants. I agree gardening can be a steep learning curve. Thanks for commenting and i hope your well!