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Benefits of ragweed.

 
Blake Lenoir
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Hello there! I wanna find out the medicinal benefits of ragweed and how it has been used historically. I've heard native peoples such as the Cherokee and Lenape used it for medicine. Are people using it today? I've also heard it's a winter food for people to get protein. The ragweed's good bird and wildlife food in autumn and winter. I don't understand folks keep treating it like the enemy due to blown pollen that make them allergic. How we convince others the benefits of ragweed? I have only native ones in my neighborhood areas where they grow on their own. Please reach me at this column when you need me. Much love!
 
John C Daley
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From; giant ragweed and its use

"  Giant ragweed is a very pesky plant. Is affects the crop’s of farmers causing reduced yields, and it also a major contributor to allergies, specifically hay fever.
Ragweed is also a plant of concern in the global warming issue, because tests have shown that higher levels of  carbon dioxide will greatly increase pollen production.
On dry windy days, the pollen will travel many kilometers. When the humidity rises above 70%, the pollen tends to clump and is not so likely to become airborne.
    The plant does have some helpful uses for  people and animals though.
Preparations such as astringents, skin disinfectants, emetics, antidotes, and fever reducers.
Teas or tinctures can be treatment of fevers, pneumonia, nausea, intestinal cramps, diarrhea and menstrual disorders.
Poultices  applied externally to insect bites, rheumatic joints and various skin conditions. The Kiowa rolled the plant up with different sages for use in sweathouses........"
Ragweed pollen is harvested and manufactured into pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of allergies (immunotherapy).
In terms of wildlife, the seeds of ragweed are rich in oil, and the seed production per plant is enormous.
Some of the seeds will remain on the plant into winter and are forage for birds and other wildlife.
Seeds of Ambrosia species are a staple in the diet of game birds, especially the bobwhite quail, and for many songbirds including the goldfinch, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, and the junco.

John Daley Bendigo, Australia The Enemy of progress is the hope of a perfect plan
Benefits of rainfall collection https://permies.com/t/88043/benefits-rainfall-collection
GOOD DEBT/ BAD DEBT https://permies.com/t/179218/mortgages-good-debt-bad-debt

 
Faye Streiff
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It is one of the more nutritious, high protein forage crops for ruminants.  Also feed to the pigs.  

With appropriate microbes, minerals and organic matter, there is no need for pesticides or herbicides.

 
Casie Becker
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Considering how long the list of birds that eat it, I suspect it would interest chickens.  I was looking at why people don't feed regular birdseed to chickens at oe point and it said the wild birdseed mixed were too high in fats. Sounds like that would be a concern with these, too. Does anyone know why chickens need a low fat diet? If there's no real reason I suspect you could convince all sorts to let you forage.
 
Blake Lenoir
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How do rag prevent soil pollution by fighting lead, mercury and stuff? Is it well osborbent in the dirtiest of all soil conditions. Can our soil be healthy again if we kept rag in our gardens to help soil and wildlife?
 
John C Daley
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From; nitrogen-in-diet-key-to-leaner-chickens
"Fat happens
Body fat in chickens is either derived from the diet or produced naturally by the bird.
Like other birds, they're unique among animals in that they produce all of their fat in the liver.
However, chickens aren't unique in where their fat is typically deposited: the abdominal area.
The diet-created fat is easy to control, Davis said, because "chickens today are typically fed a very low-fat diet that consists of about 22-percent protein."
But the fat that's created naturally, "just because," is harder to control.
From both the producer and consumer standpoint, chicken fat is no good.
"From the farmers' standpoint, fat is a waste," Davis said. "Nobody wants to eat it, so you sure can't sell it."

""When chickens are fed nitrogen, the fat content of their livers is significantly decreased within 24 hours," he said.

John Daley Bendigo, Australia The Enemy of progress is the hope of a perfect plan
Benefits of rainfall collection https://permies.com/t/88043/benefits-rainfall-collection
GOOD DEBT/ BAD DEBT https://permies.com/t/179218/mortgages-good-debt-bad-debt

 
Thomas Dean
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John C Daley wrote:
From both the producer and consumer standpoint, chicken fat is no good.
"From the farmers' standpoint, fat is a waste," Davis said. "Nobody wants to eat it, so you sure can't sell it."



For the small producer, it does have some use: https://www.thespruceeats.com/rendered-chicken-fat-schmaltz-1327884
You can render it and cook with it.  I do so with my duck/goose fat, have not done so with my chicken fat.  I generally throw visceral fat back to the cats (or the rest of the flock) to eat.  
However, my old hens are getting too fat - they are getting way too much food waste from local sources - I get fresh meat by-products from one place, pizza mistakes from another, and general foodservice waste from another.  All of it high-ish in calories.  When I reduced my flock from 150 to 50 birds, the average intake per hen went up 3 fold, as my supply stayed the same.  

Education: "the ardent search for truth and its unselfish transmission to youth and to all those learning to think rigorously, so as to act rightly and to serve humanity better." - John Paul II

 
Anne Miller
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The best use of ragweed I have ever heard is a story from the 1940s during WWII.

We have friends from a little town in Northern Oklahoma named Jay.

Back during WWII, this little town made rope from ragweed to contribute to the War Effort.

At least that is the way I remember the story...

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

 
Trace Oswald
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I love giant ragweed.  It produces an enormous amount of biomass for composting with zero care.  If you leave any of it, it produces up to 10,000 seeds per plant that are 40-50% protein.  I think it's a truly great plant.  If the pollen bothers you, just cut it and use it for biomass before pollen season.

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Redhawk's excellent soil-building series

 
Blake Lenoir
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Are there any plants that are companions to the ragweed? I got native prairie plants in my gardens and how why they be affected with more common ones such as rag? Will they outgrow and out seed the more conservetive types in my garden?  If anybody has any ideas on companions for ragweed to help wildlife, please let me know. Thanks!
 
May Lotito
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I have both common ragweed and giant ragweed in my yard. The common ragweeds self seed so prolifically they tend to take over big patches. I prefer a mix of various prairie wildflowers growing together. So far I have penstemon, mountain mint, goldenrod, aster, rosenweed, ironweed and wild petunia in that area. To keep common ragweeds under controll I let them grow until flowering stage and cut the above ground part for biomass and broadcast other wildflower seeds on the spot.

Giant ragweeds seem to prefer wetter spot by the ditch and I haven't paid much attention to them before. I am intrigued to see what the seeds look like.

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Blake Lenoir
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Could the rags also be used to produce nitrogen and to keep the soil healthy? Should they remain for fall and winter creatures such as migratory songbirds?
 
Eric Hammond
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My sheep love regular ragweed and giant ragweed
 
Lexie Smith
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Ragweed and goldenrod bloom seasons overlap here in the southeastern United States and ragweed causes fairly severe allergy problems and goldenrod gets blamed. I’m not familiar with a use for ragweed but goldenrod tincture is an excellent treatment for for the seasonal allergies ragweed causes. I hate taking diphenhydramine and goldenrod tincture treats all the same things. Fire ant stings cause a huge reaction on me and I can apply a little of my tincture as soon as it happens and it stops the burning immediately and prevents the little pustules that usually follow.
 
Tina Wolf
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I eat the new ragweed leaves...put them in smoothies, grind up and put over food.  Also, the roots for tea and grind up seeds and sprinkle over food.  All for allergies.  Our allergies are non-existent since we started eating ragweed

Lexie Smith wrote:Ragweed and goldenrod bloom seasons overlap here in the southeastern United States and ragweed causes fairly severe allergy problems and goldenrod gets blamed. I’m not familiar with a use for ragweed but goldenrod tincture is an excellent treatment for for the seasonal allergies ragweed causes.  

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Cris Fellows
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We tincture ragweed before it goes to seed and is covered in pollen.   It has been a game changer for me.   I used to take allergy medicine every day of my life, now I take a ragweed blend and suffer no medicine head feeling and find relief far quicker.   I would never have undertaken a giant garden without it.
 

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Kristine Keeney
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I have giant ragweed that moved in one year, about 10 years ago. We spent a few years with a jungle of giant ragweed - the dogs played in the jungle and the chickens loved the seeds and leaves.
Then the goldenrod moved in and we started working harder on upkeep. Right now we seem to have a balance between the giant ragweed, which does wonderful things for the soil, the goldenrod, feral fenugreek (I had thrown a few handfuls to the chickens some years back on the advice of my endocrinologist), and some random native plants that the chickens and geese don't eat to the ground.

The chickens will eat the seeds of the fenugreek and giant ragweed. I use the dead stalks as compost, once chopped a bit, or for lightweight support where ever I might need it. I haven't figured a way to cut it back to prevent bloom, which I have tried for several years on the advice of some Permies. I have found that if I cut a flower head off, it will sprout secondary flower heads at each leaf node - and that can be A LOT of flower heads!

I hope to start experimenting with the different uses it's been put to historically to see if it's useful to us. Some of my earlier research had mentioned that it doesn't do well in cultivation and that the native populations had stopped growing it when other plants were introduced as they were easier to grow in an organized fashion. It's been my experience that the giant ragweed really doesn't like any sort of soil disturbance, but tends to be more of a second wave of natives retaking areas.

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Lexie Smith
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Tina Wolf wrote:I eat the new ragweed leaves...put them in smoothies, grind up and put over food.  Also, the roots for tea and grind up seeds and sprinkle over food.  All for allergies.  Our allergies are non-existent since we started eating ragweed

That sounds wonderful! My whole family suffers from extremely intrusive allergies almost year round. Some of us take oregano oil and some a mixture of goldenrod and mimosa but I love the idea of the symptoms being nonexistent! Please, give me a little more information about timing. Do you wait to harvest until the seeds are present and then harvest the different parts of the plant? I’m playing with a new freeze dryer and I really love the way it preserves herbs, do you dry the seeds and leaves for year round use?

 
Blake Lenoir
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Glad I got a little more attention so far. What's going on folks! Glad the sheep liked some ragweed.
 
Tina Wolf
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Lexie Smith wrote:

That sounds wonderful! My whole family suffers from extremely intrusive allergies almost year round. Some of us take oregano oil and some a mixture of goldenrod and mimosa but I love the idea of the symptoms being nonexistent! Please, give me a little more information about timing. Do you wait to harvest until the seeds are present and then harvest the different parts of the plant? I’m playing with a new freeze dryer and I really love the way it preserves herbs, do you dry the seeds and leaves for year round use?



I harvest leaves when they are available ... the tender baby leaves.  I eat them as is, in salads or in smoothies.  I cull the plants anytime if they become too numerous by pulling some of them up by the roots and harvesting the roots.  I also just clean the roots and "grate" them to use (grating is easier when they're fresh).  Then, when they go to seed I harvest the seeds.  Yes, I dry the seeds and roots for year-round use.  Haven't dried leaves as I use seeds and roots when leaves aren't available.

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Brenda Nicholson
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I have seen over and over the statement that people think they are allergic to goldenrod when really it is ragweed.  I had allergy testing done a few years ago (the skin prick test) and I am way more allergic to goldenrod than ragweed, though I am allergic to both.  A few years prior to that I had tried a goldenrod tea for allergies (collected before flowering to avoid the flower-fuzz once dry) and it made me feel sick.  And yes, I am absolutely sure it was the right plant!  So if you are prone to allergies, you should always proceed with caution when trying a new plant.
 
Ellen Lewis
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The ragweed I have here is Ambrosia psylostachia. Medicinally equivalent, to my knowlege.

Eat the young leaves? I'll have to try that. I tried the older tops, and couldn't get them down. Now how do I remember that when spring comes and they're growing?

I make and use the tincture for allergy symptoms.

I planted it in my parking strip to crowd out foxtail and burr clover and dallis grass. Spread quickly, grew thickly, worked great. Now that the ground is not stickery it's time to plant something else that's tall enough to compete and will crowd out the ragweed.

My understanding is that traditionally the seeds were eaten, which sounds time-consuming & fiddly, but so are many seeds that can diversify a diet such as those used in pinole.
 
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What's happening folks! I wanna find out if the leaves and seeds could eaten raw especially in survival situations. When do we harvest the stuff if they become ripe?
 
Tina Wolf
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Blake Lenoir wrote:What's happening folks! I wanna find out if the leaves and seeds could eaten raw especially in survival situations. When do we harvest the stuff if they become ripe?



I eat ragweed raw whenever it's available.
https://www.eattheweeds.com/ragweed/

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Faye Streiff
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Greater ragweed leaves have from 10 to 17% protein depending on maturity.  Older leaves have lesser amounts.  The seed was used by Native Americans and ground and used in soups or a type of bread.  47% protein.  I dry it for my goats for winter forage.   I’ve tried eating the young, tender leaves, not too bad, but not among my favorites.   Might have been better chopped finely and used in quiche or in soups with other ingredients.  

With appropriate microbes, minerals and organic matter, there is no need for pesticides or herbicides.

 
Kristine Keeney
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Ellen Lewis wrote:The ragweed I have here is Ambrosia psylostachia. Medicinally equivalent, to my knowlege.
I planted it in my parking strip to crowd out foxtail and burr clover and dallis grass. Spread quickly, grew thickly, worked great. Now that the ground is not stickery it's time to plant something else that's tall enough to compete and will crowd out the ragweed.
My understanding is that traditionally the seeds were eaten, which sounds time-consuming & fiddly, but so are many seeds that can diversify a diet such as those used in pinole.


My giant ragweed grows to be about 8 feet tall, so the idea of planting something that might get tall enough, and be stubborn enough, to crowd it out is terrifying.
I tend to pull up the plants if they happen to be in areas I don't want them, and they're reasonably small. They are easier to dislodge if the ground is damp, after a good soaking rain  when they're young, so it's a perfect time to think about stuff like that.  

I understand that the seeds were gathered when they fell from the plants, but have not found good descriptions. I should just remember to do some experiments in the fall. They are very obvious when they flower, and I have found that removing flower heads just encourages them to send up new shoots, flower buds, and just re-energizes them. I figure gathering the plants and hanging them over a sheet/tarp to let the seeds fall in a controlled area might be easier than some other ideas, but will need to science it out. There are an amazing number of small things that need gathered and are powerhouses of nutrition, of some sort, and it's their value that makes the time worth while. I figure these fall into that camp.
 
Ellen Lewis
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My giant ragweed grows to be about 8 feet tall, so the idea of planting something that might get tall enough, and be stubborn enough, to crowd it out is terrifying.  



Mine is only about three feet tall, and I have manzanita, ceanothus, blue oak, persimmon, and lemon guava started in among it. They all benefit from a little shade initially, and I sort of weed or push back a little circle around them as they get bigger. It's kept from spreading by the street and the sidewalk. The ragweed discourages the people who park cars there from stepping on the baby plants, and as they become large and shrubby (which won't be soon) I am hoping I can effetively weed out the ragweed. It's certainly easier to remove than some of the things it's replacing. It's true it's easy to lose plants in there when I forget I've planted them (bye, pitcher sage), but I remember the trees.
 
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