July 24, 1989 Vol. 32 No. 4
Weed All About It! Linda Runyon, a Wild Chef, Says We Should Veg Out on Crabgrass and Clover
By Dan Chu, Martha K. Babcock
When Linda Runyon talks about lawn food, she definitely doesn't mean fertilizer. She's talking weeds. While crabgrass, dandelions and clover are the nemeses of backyard gardeners, Runyon, 52, views them as the very staff of life and adventures in good eating.
An expert on weeds and other wild foods, and a strict vegetarian—"an environmentarian," she calls herself—Runyon's mission is to teach people that nutritious edibles are springing up all around us free for the picking. Her sell-published Lawn Food Cook Book offers such delicacies as cattail stem soup, a quiche concocted of dandelions, and a casserole of brown rice and thistle root. With common weeds as the mainstay of one's diet, Runyon claims, it is entirely possible to reduce the monthly grocery bill to about $30 per person, not counting the time-cost of gathering the pesky produce. Her greatest triumph in transforming weeds into food occurred several years ago. "I fed 200 people off 10 square feet of grass," Runyon recalls. "I spent 10 or 15 minutes on the lawn every day, and in about three weeks I had enough weeds to rent the town hall at Indian Lake, N.Y., and serve 200 dinners." Paying just $3 a head, the townspeople were enthusiastic about the event, but Runyon was told she would have to get a restaurant license to do it again.
Giving an example of the wild riches available all around us, Runyon says she gets most of her own protein from just one lowly weed: by dining in clover. "If I don't eat it raw as salad, I dry the leaves in the oven—bring it to 300 degrees—and later crumble it to powder. It's the strongest flour there is, so I usually add a little whole wheat flour to dilute the herby taste. Around a campfire we would add some water and cook it on hot rocks to make pancakes."
Pine nuts, which Runyon calls "the chocolate of wild food," are her favorite snack. One problem, though, is that a cup contains 816 calories, "so I have to be careful," concedes the 5'2" Runyon, "because I gain weight." But for energy, she advises, "take a couple of pine needles, twist them in the middle and suck out the juice. Pine is loaded with vitamin C—one bough is the equivalent of a couple of crates of oranges. And a large tree theoretically could feed a whole town." Runyon hastens to add an important caveat for human grazers: Some plants are highly dangerous or potentially fatal. To keep foragers from toxic mistakes, Runyon sells a deck of "Wild Cards" ($10) with photos of the 52 safest common herbs. She's working on a companion deck of 15 common poisonous plants to avoid, such as mandrake and poison ivy. Plants subjected to weed or insect spray must be strictly avoided, of course, as should plants growing within 100 yards of roadways, because cat exhaust contaminates them with cadmium and lead.
Before chowing down on unfamiliar plants, Runyon strongly recommends that the wild foodstuffs be identified through the use of three separate, reliable field guides. Even after doing that, "I'll take a small piece, roll it between my fingers, rub the crushed piece on my gum and wait 20 minutes. If it doesn't get numb, itchy, or burn, I'll take another little piece of it and make a cup of very weak tea as a toxic test."
A twice-divorced New Jersey native who is a registered nurse, Runyon first developed an affinity for tasty weeds during childhood summers spent at a 430-acre Adirondack tourist camp owned by her grandparents. In 1972 she chose to return to a life in the wild in upstate New York. For 13 years she homesteaded with her second husband and her youngest child, Todd (her other son, Eric, and her daughter, Kim, remained with their father in New Jersey), in spartan cabins and abandoned logging camps, where the cooking was done outdoors and much of the food was foraged. Out of necessity, Runyon gained a thorough knowledge of edible wild plants, most of them found in all parts of the U.S. The weed lady has written a field guide, and she now lectures extensively on the subject to Boy Scouts and ladies' garden clubs, among others.
As proof that nature does provide in unexpected ways, Runyon makes 14 varieties of herb vinegar and 18 different wild-food wines. Cattails are good in soup, she says, or can be boiled and eaten like corn on the cob, while the versatile and nutrition-laden lamb's-quarters leaves make a splendid flour. Even the widely scorned Digitaria sanguinalis—that's crabgrass—should not be disdained. With its "sweet, mild, oat bran-like flavor," says Runyon, it's terrific in cookies. Mrs. Fields, take note.
—Dan Chu, Martha K. Babcock in the Adirondacks
Chemical name (−)-(6aR,10aR)-6,6,9-trimethyl-
3-pentyl-6a,7,8,10a-tetrahydro-
6H-benzo[c]chromen-1-ol
Chemical formula C21H30O2
Molecular mass 314.46 g/mol
Glass transition 9.3 °C
Boiling point 155-157 °C (vacuum, 0.07 mbar)
Solubility (water) 2.8 mg/L (23 °C)
Solubility (saline) 0.77 mg/L (NaCl, 0.15 M)
pKa 10.6
log P 3.78 (water @ pH 7 / octanol)
CAS number 1972-08-3
By "Dr Kate" - Monday, August 31 1998
Eat some chocolate, run a hot bath and bask in the remedy that is straight from mother earth! Feel better, Ladies!
Sourced from Cannabis Culture Mag
Hundreds of testimonials show that marijuana can alleviate PMS!
In the 1800's cannabis was commonly used by women to ease menstrual cramps and labour pains. Yet by 1920, women were influenced into thinking that the symptoms they had around their period were due to innate physical problems, and their reproductive organs were often removed as a cure. Nowadays, women are often told that their very real physical symptoms are psychological, and handed a script for a prescription for antidepressants or tranquilizers.
These harsh drugs take weeks to build up in the system enough to produce a noticeable effect. It seems like overkill to take something that can throw many of the body's systems out of balance and cut down sex-drive, every day of the month, to try to cut symptoms that typically last 3-5 days, before and during a woman's period.
Often, all that's needed to relax the tense, stimulate the sluggish, and soothe the crampy, is a couple of puffs of RCMP ? Royal Canadian Marijuana Products.
We can now proclaim to the world that for many women PMS is hugely alleviated by cannabis resin. The proof lies in my collection of testimonial letters submitted by women from around the globe via the internet and regular post.
These personal experiences prove that women should be insisting on access to this good herb if they are victims of this disorder, which can be disabling and even marriage-threatening in extreme cases.
Almost 200 letters, stories, and submissions are powerfully convincing, many poignant to the point of inspiring tears in the eye of the reader, some too private to ever print. What follows are just a few typical examples:
Hi Dr Kate. I have used marijuana cigarettes for my premenstrual rages and grumpiness for the last 15 years. Works like a charm. My family is glad. What else would you like to know?
A husband writes:
My wife has used marijuana to control nausea and lessen cramps. It seems to work very well, even in low doses.
A Canadian lady writes:
About your medical marijuana and menstrual discomforts, etc. I have used it for many years for pre-menstrual cramps and bitchiness? PMS! It helps me to mellow out and to tolerate the intense lower pains that I get once a month for about 3 days.
From a man in the US:
My live-in girlfriend suffered from severe cramps and depression for 2 to 3 days a month during her period. She did not smoke pot until I suggested it might help out with this, since watching her suffer was agonizing for me too.
The results were even better than expected, and she continues to smoke pot for this condition. She did do some rare occasional recreational smoking, but every cycle the pot would make her life considerably easier.
She has since moved to a state where anti-pot laws are severe, so she often does without for this reason.
And finally, from a teenager:
Dear Dr Kate, I have smoked up since I was 14. Now I'm 17. My mom found out and so I had to stop, but when it's that time of the month, I sneak over to my friend's house if she has some, because it really helps the cramps and headache.
Herbal remedy experts
In my studies of herbal remedies and natural healing methods I have found only a small handful of herbal expert writers courageous and honest enough to include cannabis in their repertoires.
One of these is the late,great Dr John R Christopher, author of School of Natural Healing, the greatest herbal and natural healing instructive text. He and other early herbalists call cannabis by the name Indian Hemp, but there is no doubt they are referring to the medicinal herb.
Dr Christopher lists cannabis in 11 different categories of usefulness, including Hypnotic, Antispasmodic, Analgesic, and Emmenagogue, which is described as follows:
Herbs that are female correctives to the reproductive organs, which stimulate and promote a normal menstrual function, flow and discharge.
Susun Weed is the only prominent herbalist of our time who is brave enough to speak up in defense of the much-slandered herb. She also explains that cannabis as an important emmenagogue, and describes the benefit of a couple of puffs of nice, warm bronchial-dilating smoke as "good exercise for the lungs."
I quote her "Wise Woman" philosophies often, because they are full of common-sense insights and down-to-earth wisdom. She has knowledge only experience can bring. Susun is revered among midwives and natural women of all ages who want to take responsibility for their own bodies.
Dr Kate can be reached by email at: galbraithe@upanet.uleth.ca.
Home Remedies and Natural Cures for Menstrual Cramps Treatment
From HomeRemedies.com
Menstrual Cramps Home Remedy Using Heating Pads
Many women have found that a heating pad placed on your lower back or abdomen helps to ease the pain and discomfort of menstrual cramps. If you don't have a heating pad, one can be easily made by filling a sock with flaxseeds or uncooked rice and heating it in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.
Menstrual Cramps Home Remedy Using Chamomile
Chamomile is widely used to treat gynecologic complaints such as menstrual cramps and discomfort related to premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Add 2 teaspoons of dried Chamomile flowers to a cup of boiling water and let it steep for at least 5 minutes. If you are using a package of Chamomile tea bags, then follow the directions as stated on the box. Honey or sugar can be added for taste. A good preventive measure is to start drinking Chamomile tea a couple of days before you are expecting your period, and then drink at least 2 cups everyday during your period. It also feels great if you use your hot mug as a hot compress for your lower abdomen while you are drinking it.
Vitamins and Minerals for Treating Menstrual Cramps
Foods and supplements that are rich in B-vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and zinc have been found to reduce the pain, bloating and other symptoms of menstrual cramps.
In particular, calcium is known to help maintain muscle tone as well as prevent cramps and pain. For most women, a daily intake of 800 mg of calcium is recommended, which can be found in 3 cups of milk. Increasing magnesium is also recommended, since it helps the body absorb calcium. Good sources of magnesium include beans, whole wheat, tofu, salmon, shrimp, nuts, and vegetables.
Regular Exercise as a Natural Cure for Menstrual Cramps
Exercise is considered to be a natural way to reduce muscle tension and elevate one's mood. Therefore, maintaining a regular exercise program, including something as simple as walking for 20 minutes each day, can help reduce the severity of menstrual cramps.
Ginger Root Tea to Relieve Menstrual Cramps
Ginger root has been found to help relieve the pain associated with menstrual cramps. Therefore, a simple soothing herbal tea can made from Ginger as follows:
Slice a handful of ginger root
Let the pieces simmer in boiling water for 15 minutes
Using a strainer, pour the tea into a drinking cup or mug
Add some honey as a natural sweetener if desired
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