Selfsufficientish.com

Hi All,
I am new to this site, but discovered you when i tried to find a website describing 'cleavers' which apparently has a number of virtuous medicinal properties and can be used as a vegetable, a bit like spinach? I have a vague recollection of my grandmother mentioning it/them in the 50s when I was small and think it may have been a kind of wild grass. Does anyone out there know where I can find and recognise it ? Alternatively, is it possible to purchase seed/with growing instructions etc? Has anyone grow it,eaten it,or can you vouch for its medicinal properties? Many thanks for any information. Carole

No idea on cleavers but welcome to the site. Actually, when I say I've got no idea, what I mean is that I've got no solid information. However, I wonder if 'cleaver' might have been a local term for a more well known plant. Where in the country was your grandmother living (and where did she grow up if that was somewhere else)? That's just a guess but pinning down an area might help tracking back to a more common name.

Wulf

Hi Carole - I thought this was going to be a post about meat cleavers!

No idea but welcome to the site and hope you find out about this mystery plant.

I can't find anything about 'cleavers' either. But welcome to the forum, anyway. Maybe one of the more specialist gardening or food forums may have some idea.

cleavers is that plant with the sticky balls on the whole plant sticks to clothes as well. I've never eaten it myself but my guinea pigs love it I believe its also called goosegrass. you could try searching by its latin name - Galium aparine

blimey, 2steps ,I am well impressed with that reply, welcome to the site Carole

I used to keep guinea pigs a few years ago and they need a daily vitamin c intake like us so I learnt loads of stuff about plants at the time they used to go crazy for cleavers, dandelions and parsely loverly little creatures too

Maybe guinea pig food is the best thing for cleavers or goosegrass. I wouldn't recommend it, tried it once it's very stringy. I found the only usefull human things to do with it is use it to make a stock. I think it used to be used for straining milk too.

it doesn't look very tasty

used to be loads of it in our school palyground, all the kids used to throw it at each other

It's not the tastiest. We had it at our school too, I don't think I've grown out of throwing it at people either.