Speedwells – Veronica SPP.: Edible & Medicinal Uses of the Green Tea of Wild Plants

Speedwells – Veronica SPP.

Marsh speedwell is the main native speedwell (Veronica spp.) you’ll find here, but we have quite a few species creeping around Ontario. All are edible and medicinal wild plants. Around Haliburton, the most common speedwells are marsh speedwell (Veronica scutellata) and thyme-leaved speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia). I most often spot marsh and thyme-leaved in lawns left …

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Common Juniper – Juniperus Communis: Edible & Medicinal Uses of the Spicy Conifer of Wild Plants

Common Juniper – Juniperus Communis

Common junipers (Juniperus communis) “berries” aren’t as sweet as they appear. But common juniper is still an edible and medicinal plant, especially popular in Northern Europe. In Haliburton, Ontario, you’ll find J. communis var. depressa Pursh. It’s been fairly common around here, especially dotting open fields. With our forest taking back the land that was cleared it …

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Serviceberry – Amelanchier SPP.: Edible & Medicinal Uses of the Early Bloomer of Wild Plants

Serviceberry – Amelanchier Spp.

The English name serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) has origins related to when one can finally have funeral services/burial for winters dead. They’re also called juneberries even though you’ll be waiting until the end of June or later for ripe berries. Here around Haliburton, Ontario you’ll find, to the least: downy (Amelanchier arborea), mountain (Amelanchier bartramania), smooth …

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Lowbush Blueberry – Vaccinium Angustifolium: Edible & Medicinal Uses of the Super Berry of Wild Plants

Lowbush Blueberry – Vaccinium Angustifolium

Lowbush blueberry AKA “low sweet” blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) is common here, as is velvet-leaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides) which thrives around marshes. I’ve heard a few personal anecdotes from locals about picking blueberries all the while watching a black bear or bears doing the same nearby. There’s a myth (I originally believed!) that blackflies pollinate blueberry …

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White Pine – Pinus Strobus: Edible & Medicinal Uses of Ontario’s Tallest Wild Plant

White Pine - Pinus Strobus

White pine (Pinus strobus) was the most towering of edible and medicinal plants here in Ontario 200 yrs ago. Imagine forests of 200-ft tall, 4-ft wide powerful evergreen medicine. This tree has so much life. It has the longest list of mammals and birds and insects allies that I have seen yet in my preparations …

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