Burdock (Arctium lappa) Benefits and Uses
NOTE: This article is about growing or foraging and harvesting burdock root in the first year, and the video included goes into a lot more depth about the medicinal benefits and health promoting benefits of burdock (Arctium lappa).
**This article was originally written in 2016 and recently updated.
I love Burdock Root. I love the leaves too! I love that it is what many people consider a huge noxious and possibly invasive weed and that it’s also extremely valuable wild food and medicine.
I especially love the flowers....which is actually what makes my first experience growing Burdock Root a big FAIL. The beautiful, beautiful flowers.
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Flowering Burdock---Yep, it's too late for those roots now, as I sadly found out! Find out how to grow, use, and forage for Burdock!
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About Burdock as a Medicinal Herb.
According to Rosemary Gladstar, in one of my favorite books, Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs, a Beginner's Guide, Burdock "is quite simply one of the safest, tastiest, and most effective detoxifying and cleansing herbs in Western and traditional Chinese medicine."
Burdock is well-known for its ability to help alleviate skin issues, including acne, eczema, psoriasis and others that are often caused by hormone or chemical imbalances in the body. This is because it strongly supports liver health, and the liver is your most important organ for filtering toxins out of the body. Many skin issues can be directly attributed to toxic overload. And…the liver can only take so much.
You can take it internally as a tea or more powerfully, a tincture. And externally it can be used as a wash or infused into oils to create salves or rubs. It is especially powerful when used in conjunction with Dandelion root, another great and common liver cleansing herb.
In addition to its blood purifying and liver detoxifying properties, Burdock may have anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties. Scientists are learning more about Burdock every day. It is one of the components of the popular folk tea for cancer, Essiac Tea.
Burdock cleans your whole system, including helping lymph fluids to flow, alleviating swollen lymph glands.
Enjoy the video below for even more details about burdock’s health-promoting benefits!
The lovely purple flowers are nothing short of stunning!
Growing Burdock
I did an experiment the Spring before last (2015) and threw some Burdock seeds into one corner of my garden. Now, keep in mind that I live in an area where the soil is BAD---rocky, alkaline, and sandy. What I really wanted to see were the flowers!
That was my first year gardening in that particular area of our yard, too, which means that the soil had not even had one season to build up nutrients! (See my article on how we amended this poor soil.) I did not expect a great deal from the poor little Burdock seeds.
But lo and behold! Some plants sprouted! And grew! And grew! And before I knew it, I had a nice little patch of cute little first year Burdock plants. Burdock is a biennial, like Mullein (which you harvest in the second season), so I just assumed I would do the same with the Burdock: harvest in the second season.
Oh, boy was I WRONG. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
The second year, my Burdock plants became gigantic! Just HUGE! They were easily five and six feet tall! And the beautiful purple flowers with the signature hooks emerged profusely. I was thrilled! The bees were thrilled!
That is, I was thrilled until I decided to pull up the roots that fall. What I found was not a reasonable, soft, pliable root. It was tough (too hard to cut with even a sharp kitchen knife, or even an axe), pithy, and used up. That is what happens to roots when they are pouring all of their stored up energy into the flower! Why didn't I realize that? Hello? But I didn't.
So I ended up with some really great-sized roots---but they were completely unusable.
NOTE: Not all herbs’ roots get this pithy and difficult the second year. Some herbs need a year or even more to have a root that is mature enough to harvest for medicine or food. Herbs that need more time include valerian, astragalus, and often even ashwagandha.
This is why it’s a great idea to learn about medicinal and edible plants one by one, in depth! Check out my Confident Herbalist Tribe—-an affordable way to learn herbalism, plant by plant, with teacher support!
These are second-year roots, and they are too hard to cut up and use. You need to gather the roots during the first year! Before the flowers bloom!
At any rate, the flowers have gone to seed, and I am sure I will have a TON of my own first year (much kinder and softer) Burdock Root to harvest next year! In the meantime, I will continue obtaining my organic Burdock Root from Starwest Botanicals, an excellent online bulk herb shop that focuses on sustainability and quality. I have never been disappointed in any of their herbs.
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Burdock extract contains inulin, which is helpful for cholesterol balance, constipation, and some say even weight loss.
Burdock leaves are large and wide, growing in a rosette pattern. It’s a good idea to watch burdock in your area over a season or two to positively identify it, as it has some look-alikes, such as wild rhubarb.
Final Thoughts On Harvesting Burdock Root
I was so disappointed to learn that those second year roots were just too tough to use. It was SUCH a bummer, as I had waited all summer for them to be ready. However….Bummer experiences are learning experiences, and this is how I take this in stride!
Next year, I’m looking forward to harvesting first year roots and enjoying my fresh burdock tincture and perhaps some gobo!
You might also be interested in these related articles:
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How to Forage, Identify, Harvest and Use Wild Rose Hips
How to Forage, Identify, Harvest and Use St. John’s Wort
Foraging, Identifying, and Using the Medicinal Powers of Pine
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Hugs, Health, & Self-Reliance---
Heidi
P.S. If you are interested in herbs, you might also enjoy these articles:
Make a Nerve-Soothing Tincture, (This is a great daily migraine preventive tonic, and aids the body's adrenal system/stress response.)
Herbs for Detoxing/Cleansing Your Body (Plus a recipe for a delicious herbal tea to drink daily.)
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The book above is one you may find often sprinkled in relevant posts and that is because it is seriously one of my all-time best favorite books for learning about basic herbs and their uses. It's easy to read, Rosemary gives clear directions for growing and using the herbs, and the pictures are terrific!