Foraging for Willow
Willow is one of the first trees to bud in the early spring. There are hundreds of species of willow throughout the world, all belonging to the genus Salix. Willow grows readily and often in large thickets, making it pretty easy to forage. Willows love water and grow in nearly all temperate regions in the world where water is available. Along streams, creeks, and ponds are great places to look for willow.
Willow is edible, but it isn't really tasty. The leaves, buds, and inner bark are all edible but very bitter. Despite this, there's excellent medicinal reasons to forage for willow!
The inner bark of willow branches contain salicylic acid, which is the precursor to aspirin! This makes willow excellent for pain relief. Salicylic acid is present in all willows and early spring is the best time to forage for this purpose. Willow's pain relieving properties are well known and have been used by many Indigenous cultures throughout the world. It's pain relieving effects are so effective that Charles Frederic Gerhardt set out to create a synthesized version of salicylic acid. The result, discovered in 1853 was called acetylsalicylic acid and in 1899 the pharmaceutical company BAYER named it aspirin!
Harvesting Willow Bark for Medicine:
Clip some thin (less than the diameter of your thumb) willow branches and peel off the outer bark. The inner bark will be white or cream to slightly green in color. It's a very thin layer of fibers just underneath the outer bark, this is where the medicine is!
Early spring is when the bark is the most pliable and easy to remove and also when the levels of salicylic acid are at their highest! By fall the amount of medicine in the bark will have dropped significantly.
Using Willow Bark as Medicine:
Willow bark can be used fresh or dried. To use it fresh, you can just pop some fresh bark in your mouth for a while. Peel off 3-4 small, 2-inch strips of bark and chew them, swallowing the juices. It will be bitter but it will work for pain relief! I've gotten headaches while hiking and willow has been a life saver. You should start feeling relief after 30 minutes or so, similar to over the counter pain medication. This can be repeated a few times a day as necessary.
Drying willow bark for tea is pretty easy as well. Cut your bark into strips about 3 inches long. They can be dried in a dehydrator or on a baking sheet left out on a counter for a few days, just turn them over every so often so all sides get air. Once dry you can use them as is or chop up your strips into small pieces.
To make willow bark tea with your dried bark, use about 1-2 teaspoons of bark for every 16oz of water. Bring your water to a boil and add the bark. Boil for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down and let it simmer another 10 minutes. Strain it and enjoy. If you're sick or sore, 1-2 cups of this tea per day will bring great relief. Unlike the fresh bark the tea isn't bitter, it's more of a woody flavor.
More Fun Willow Facts:
Willow is a natural rooting hormone. It will ready root and clone itself, helping it spread rapidly.
This isn't a plant to worry about over-harvesting, it's often seen as a nuisance because it spreads so rapidly. Of course still harvest responsibly!
If you place some willow branches in water they will quickly grow new roots and new growth. You can then plant these or use the "willow water" to help your other plants form roots. No more nasty rooting hormone chemicals from the store!
You can even just shove some branches in the ground and they'll very likely take root and grow into a tree of it's own.
Willow makes a great windbreak or living fence.
Willow branches are excellent for making baskets!
As always be safe and happy foraging!
Sources: 1, 2
