Beth’s Natural Way – Cleavers

Truxton, NY
Phone/Fax: 607-842-6863
E-mail: bethsnaturalway@yahoo.com

Our early settlers used cleavers to make bed mattresses, not even realizing that it was healing the body at the sane time. The foliage produces a yellow dye and rennet, which was used to curdle milk for making cheese faster and for coloring the cheese and butter. The roots provide a red dye. Cleavers is in over abundance along the sides of the road and in your gardens as a weed.

FOLK NAMES: Lady’s bedstraw, yellow gallium, cheese rennet, curdwort, maid’s hair, yellow cleavers, petty mugget, cheese renning.
LATIN NAME: Galium verum.

ELEMENT: Water.

POWERS: Peace, harmony, meditation, courage.

MEDICINAL PARTS: Whole plant.

CONSTITUTES: Iridoide momoterpenes, rennin, flavonoids, anthracene derivatives, caffeic acid ester.

PROPERTIES: Astringent, acidic, slightly bitter, alternative, diuretic.
MAGICAL USES: It was believed that if one slept on the herb that one would get told their future in their dreams. A powerful dream weaver.
INTERNAL USES: Tonic for lymph system, lowers blood pressure, promotes healing, reduces glandular fevers, tonsillitis, benign breast tumors and cysts, cystitis, eczema, psoriasis, reduces bloat, abdominal fluid, swollen ankles, throat infections.

EXTERNAL USES: Reduces swollen lymph glands, breast lumps, ulcers, skin inflammations, minor injuries, skin diseases. Sleep on many plants with a sheet covering them. Crush the fresh plant and put on bruising. Cut into small pieces and add fresh to any swollen area like breast, changing every hour for three days, the reduce to changing every three hours until the problem reduces to normal. Fenugreek is another potent herb that can help increase breast size in women. You can read more about it in this article.

HARVEST: Anytime throughout the growing season before it flowers.
USE AS: Teas, extracts, powders, poultices.

PRECAUTIONS: None known.

Vibrantly,
Beth Hill of Beth’s Natural Way!

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