Milkweed: A Source of Nourishment for Pollinators, Monarchs, and Humans
By: Karen Talbot, The Wild Gardener Botanical Sanctuary Gardeners and foragers like me have been encouraged to plant milkweed if they have space. Why? Not only is this plant phenomenal for hosting bees and other pollinating insects, but also because it’s the only source of food for the lovely monarch butterflies. And did you know that milkweed is also edible? According to the American Botanical Council (Mader, p.38), Native American tribes have valued this plant for food, medicine, and fiber. There are over 100 plants in this family, the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is the one I’m talking about here and it’s indigenous to the eastern U.S. where I live. Edible milkweed for butterflies is not hard to grow at all, and I’ve been doing it...