28/03/2025
Get your sticky w***y pick! 😉
Cleavers – the spring cleanser!
This is one of my top 3 foraging favourites that are all around us now in our hedgerows and fields at this time of year.
My children fondly remember it as “sticky w***y”, the stuff you throw at your fathers back to have a giggle with your friends.
Together with nettles, cleaver (Galium aparine, also known as goosegrass, amongst many other names) is one of the first sources for vitamin C as well as other key vitamins and minerals in the wild, traditionally long awaited after the dark and scarce winter months.
Cleavers is a mover with diuretic effects on lymph vessels and glands, kidneys, and the liver. With numerous health benefits it is foremost known to support the lymphatic system in flushing out toxins, cleansing the lymph vessels/glands (like swollen tonsils and glands in groin, breast and armpits) and can reduce swelling or oedema.
It is also supportive of kidneys, liver, and the urinary tract, particularly if you suffer from bladder infections or UTI’s. Other benefits might include help with skin conditions, like (sun)burns and acne, and general immune support by boosting the production of white blood cells.
Cleaver is believed to be safe to consume both orally and topically. It has been used in some traditions to prevent pregnancies and as treatment for gonorrhoea – so I think you should refrain from consuming it if you are trying to conceive, are pregnant or breastfeeding.
It can be freshly juiced, dried and prepared as infusion, or simply put (crushed) in cold water overnight and drunk in the morning (my favourite, keeping it simple).
Take you pick!
(https://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/C/Cleavers/Cleavers.htm)
