Red Clover, Red Clover send...

The way the Green World works always amazes me. After harvesting Heal All and then discarding it because of self doubt and fear of poisoning myself and others, I set out to find more today. Following the familiar path to the little field beside my house I was in awe at how much everything had grown. The Bedstraw is in bloom. Its tiny white flowers scattered along the path way looked like snow had come earlier to Connecticut. The wild grasses that were once inches from the ground almost surpass me in height. Every thing has changed rapidly. Walking through the high grass every step released a cloud of pollen. I search amongst the small yellow butter cups and other lemon colored flowers but Heal All was no were to be found. It was almost as though it had made its appearance to me early on and having lost patience is now hiding . Leaving me to wait another year to seek its wisdom.
With some disappointment I turned my attention to the statuesque Mullein. Hoping that it would be in bloom and I would be able to gather some of its flowers to make an oil Infusion. I am afraid that I arrived to early. The Mullein has tripled in size but is not yet in bloom. I have a friend who get frequent ear aches and I was hoping to make the oil for her.
After puttering around a little more I stumbled across Red Clover. I have been searching for some time for this pretty pink flower. I feared that I wouldn’t find any around my house. White clover is scattered every where but it is in frequently mowed areas and close to motor traffic. There were very few blossoms and of the few that were present most had faded or browned. Strike three I thought. I continued walking along the edge of the woods. I followed the Hedge listening the birds sing. My eyes catching glimpses of chipmunks and rabbits. I found a beautiful brown feather that shimmers with green and grey. The weather was gorgeous. Warm and breezy. I wandered onto the gravel path that leads behind the industrial park. A rocky line cut between the receive docks and the wood lined river. I decided to see were it lead. It turned out to continue past the building to the road and the beginning of the nature trail I had found before. I was about to follow the road home when that little voice told me to check out the first section of trail to find out how much it had changed as well. It was mostly the same. The Violets have evaporated and small vines are beginning to make there way onto the path. I made it to the opening and turned to follow the field back home when I tripped on a thin stalk that was in the middle of the path. I looked back at it and told it to be careful then continued on. I glanced over to my right and noticed that along the path a large amount of Red Clover was growing. Vivid pink flowers seated a top 3 round leaves. The bees danced from blossom to blossom sipping away. I was amazed and slowly began to gather the Clover. I backtracked taking a little from here and there not want to over harvest the area. Talking with the bees. Wait for them to finish in one place before I step over. It was long before I noticed that the beginning of the Red Clover patch lined up perfectly with the stalk that had tripped me. Having missed my chances with Heal All this season I seemed to have “stumbled” on to a new Ally. The way the Green World works always seems to amaze me.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

i have decided to devote a patch of my herb gardens to red clover...especially since i have a particularly lovely specimen growing wild already near one of the beds. i was going to wait til it finished blooming to try and move it... what would you think to do? :)

rose AKA Walk in the Woods - she/her said...

Nice, Ryan. Very nice. I too have been collecting red clover today. Some for Rick's fresh herb teas, and some for the bunny rabbit that is part of our caretaking gig. Bunny had clovers and dandelion, cleavers and bedstraw, plantain and grape leaves.

And annie, harvest some tops and then transplant it while it's "hacked" back, before it strats growing again. Wild plants can be rather finicky about transplanting, so - really - better to listen to them than to me or Ry or anyone else!

Kim said...

I plan to harvest my red clover this week end. I am blessed to have it grow abundantly in my yard. It sounds like a lovely walk and nature really knows what we need more than we do.

Rosebud Collection said...

I was just out looking at my red clover and thinking..I know they do something with this, but what?

rose AKA Walk in the Woods - she/her said...

:)