In the front of our house, by the herb and flower bed area, the lawn was covered with white clover last year and our youngest son would just mow right over it. We don't use any lawn care products or chemicals, so this year I am hoping to gather some and put it to use in the Golden D kitchen.
The only times I EVER had any experience with clover, whether white or red, was when we had rabbits years ago. My two daughters would harvest and forage the clover up by the handfuls and feed them to the rabbits. Now mind you, the rabbits LOVED the clover treat; but other than that, I never paid much mind to it.
Or when I was sitting on the back deck of my old farmhouse and watching bees flutter and flitter from clover to clover collecting the pollen and pollinating all the other flowers and vegetable plants in the garden.
But Now...
I know better...
Clover has so many uses; let's see what I have found out. First, everything on the clover plant is EDIBLE!
Every aerial part of the clover plant: leaves, stems, flowers, and seed pods- ALL of it. COMPLETELY EDIBLE!
- Dried leaves and flowers have a vanilla aroma to them and can be used in baking
- Fresh leaves can be used in salads
- Dried flowers can be used in herbal teas
- Dried leaves and flowers can be used in herbal teas to help with fever and colds
- Young and tender leaves can be added to soups and stews (I'm thinking in place of chervil and spinach; recommended to harvest before clover flower starts to bloom for easier digestion)
- Flowers can be used in tea and tinctures to help with arthritis and as an anti-inflammatory
- Flower heads can be used to make wine (combined with sugar and wine yeast- A DEFINITE to my list since it has a vanilla taste. I can make a new recipe called Clover Vanilla)
- White clover apparently has a natural chemical called estrogenic isoflavone genistein which has anti-oxidant properties.
So this is a MUST HAVE on my foraging list this spring and summer. Since I already give my mom catnip, marjoram, lemon balm, raspberry leaves, mint and sage for her herbal teas in the aid of her arthritis and as anti-inflammatory reducer, I will be adding the white clover to her check list when she comes to visit. I can't wait to tell her!
I'm also considering making some white clover tincture to have. This would be nice to add to my sweet tea this summer on those humid evenings when we're relaxing. I've never made my own tincture before, but from what I've read and researched in the last few months, it doesn't appear to be too difficult to make.
