Mexican Marigold for gastritis and infested gardens
Mexican Marigold, Tagetes minuta syn. T. glandulifera and T. glandulosa, is also known as chinchilla, giant marigold, little marigold, mint marigold, muster John Henry, stinking Roger and wild marigold, though UK gardeners almost always refer to it by its latin name. It is closely related to the French marigold and the African marigold, less closely to the English marigold. It is not related to mint. It has tiny flowers (inset), hence the specific name minuta.
Mexican Marigold is a native of South America naturalized in Southern Europe and parts of the US, including California. It is usually classified as a half-hardy annual and can reach a height of 4 feet (1.2m). It’s not fussy about soil, even surviving in heavy clay, though good drainage is required. It will not grow in full shade. In areas with a cool temperate climate like the UK, it will need to be sown under cover in early spring and transplanted after all risk of frost has passed, as it requires a long season.
It is not particularly attractive, neither is it amazingly useful medicinally, but if you have ground that is infested by certain weeds or pests, it is a great way to deal with the situation, and would make a good first crop that is also usable for medicine, amongst other things. The pests it is said to deal with are nematodes/eelworms and keeled slugs; the weeds are celandine (Ranunculus ficaria), couch grass (Agropyron repens), field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria), ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) and horsetail (Equisetum arvense). It does this by producing secretions from the roots about 3 or 4 months after sowing. Harvest as much as you need for medicine as required, and when flowering to be dried for later use.
Here are some suggestions for other uses to which you can put the undoubtedly huge quantities of material produced by using the plant in this way: as a dye (unfortunately, I have no information as to what color this produces or whether or not it requires a mordant); as a flavoring apparently similar to apples; to repel insects, either by hanging up dried plants or extracting the essential oil. It’s also supposed to deter moles and mice, and doubtless it will make a great contribution to the compost heap as well.
If you have sensitive skin, avoid contact with the sap, as it may cause dermatitis.
Make a standard infusion using 3 handfuls of fresh leaves or 30g (1 ounce) of dried to 600ml (2.5 US cups, 1 UK pint) boiling water. Allow to stand for between 15 minutes and 4 hours, then strain off the herb and discard. This can be used internally to treat colds and other respiratory infections, gastritis, indigestion and as a vermifuge. Externally it can be used to treat hemorrhoids (piles) and skin infections.
Plants grown as natural soil treatments, as well as those used for medicine, should be grown organically to avoid changing the chemical constituents in a way that masks or removes the essential properties. To find out more about growing organic Mexican marigolds visit the Gardenzone.
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