Some plants grow abundantly around my property and have numerous benefits. Some I just can’t find a use for. Today my attention was drawn to a Border Privet. I’ve never noticed its berries before and thought maybe I can find a use for them. The internet has been nearly useless in this case. One article says the seeds can be used as a coffee substitute while another says all parts of it are mildly toxic. One says it has not been reported as toxic while another say that it will give you diarrhea and a headache. I love trying to find a use for things that I’m intending to remove. This plant in particular decided to grow into a walking path and is going to be ripped out. Do you have any plants that you see all the time and wonder if it’s useful for anything?

PictureThis is an app I use incredibly often. It has a yearly subscription for $29.99 and it helps me discover new plants all the time. All you do is take a picture and it goes to work. Recently I made a stupid mistake in the first hour of the first day on a 5 day hike. I saw a plant that looked like it would be a kind of young spruce or fir. I picked it and rubbed it between my fingers hoping for a blast of that fresh piney scent. Nothing… it smelled vaguely plantish. I was intrigued and pulled out the PictureThis app and took a picture. Introducing Cypress Spurge, a plant that could have rocked my world. As soon as I had read the description I set about washing the crap out of my hands with some of the water I had in a spare bottle followed by rinsing them in a stream I crossed a little while later. I waited for the irritation to ensue but apparently got enough of it off to not be an issue. The app isn’t very helpful with uses of the plant for food or medicine but for identification and safety it’s something I rely on pretty heavily.

Curious if anyone has attempted making their own soap and what their experience was with it? We recently rendered almost 20 liters beef fat for tallow and am planning on making some soap for my jiu jitsu buddies.

What are some of your favorite fall time remedies for when people are getting sick all around? I tend to increase my intake of herbal teas as a precaution but this season I’m adding something a little different. I took a course recently through Herbal Medics Academy on Electuaries, Pastilles and lozenges and am excited to put that information to use.