How to Find Wild Pineapple Weed and Make Tea or Jelly With It
Pineapple weed is one of the most useful and healthy native wild plants in nature. It is sometimes called “wild chamomile” because it is among the same family of that plant. As you may know, chamomile is used as a popular herbal remedy and tea.
Pineapple weed is named thusly because it has a slightly sweet scent that some find similar to pineapple. It’s easy to find and work with.
The amazing thing about pineapple-weed is that it grows in harsh areas, such as gravel roads, roadside shoulders or pathways. It can be seen growing in cracks or interstices in sidewalks. It somewhat resembles wild chamomile but is leafier and its flowers lack the white rays of wild chamomile. Its range is from southern Canada to Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Here in Minnesota it can be found everywhere starting early to mid-summer. Take a good look at the picture I have provides below. I bet many of you already recognize this common “weed.”
To make a fine tea, simply pick some of this stuff, pluck off the flower heads, boil them, let it steep and then strain it through a coffee filter. It makes a mild, fragrant slightly golden-colored tea. Add a tad of sugar and lemon if you want.
But you can also make a marvelous jelly out of this plant. It’s easy.
Gather a small bowl-full of pineapple weed. You can use both the leaves and the flower buds if you want, although some prefer to use only the heads. Boil the buds in about four cups of water. Let it steep and cool. More foraging tips.
Next, pour 3 and one-half cups of your pineapple weed infusion into a kettle. Add three cups of sugar (or less) and bring to a boil. Toss in a 1.75 oz box of fruit pectin, such as Sure-Jell, and bring to a boil. Then quickly scoop the liquid into prepared canning jars — and now all you have to do is wait for it to set.
It’s really easy and the whole process takes maybe less than an hour. The jelly is sweet but just slightly tart.
Over the years, pineapple weed has been a popular herbal remedy for the relief of gastrointestinal upset, infected sores, fevers, and postpartum anemia.
Pineapple weed is easy to find for urban and rural dwellers alike. Give it a try!
See also: How to Forage Acorns and Use Them to Make Delicious Bread and Other Foods
Ken Korczak is the author of The Man in the Nothing Chamber
