Wonderful Weeds: Yellow Dock

Okay, this title is a bit of hyperbole. There’s nothing wonderful, as a gardener, about having a tenacious introduced weed in your garden beds. But the settlers introduced yellow dock, Rumex crispus L, also known as curly dock, for a purpose. It was important medicine for them and was soon adopted by many Native American tribes for the same purpose.

Indeed, dock was one of the first herbs I ever picked and used. Growing up in Britain, I was often stung by nettles. Luckily, dock likes the same kind of disturbed ground that nettles do. So, whenever we got stung, we children would hunt around for a dock leaf to crush and rub on the sting, with immediate soothing effect.

Dock is a member of the Polygonaceae or buckwheat family. Gastronomically there is a great divide in the rumex genus. Most are bitter, a few are sour. Yellow dock falls into the bitter group and doesn’t have that sour sorrel-like taste. For culinary purposes, it can be used much like any other bitter leafy green vegetable. Its bitterness and astringency also endow it with many medicinal properties, the most outstanding being alterative (blood cleansing) antiseptic, cholagogue and laxative. You can use the bruised leaves topically, as I did as a child, or you can mash the fresh root and apply it to wounds, swellings and painful joints. Yellow dock can be used in salves for skin rashes and also in a douche for vaginitis. The root can be used in a blood cleansing tea, together with other wonderful weeds like dandelion and burdock. It can also be made into a herbal syrup or into a tincture.

This year we finally decided to start eating our yellow dock leaves. So yesterday I made a delicious pesto of dandelion greens and yellow dock leaves, with pine nuts, olive oil and pecorino cheese. This went well with some linguine I had prepared with asparagus, lemon and portobello mushroom. This was perfect, because we’re finally out of the basil pesto I made in the fall.

If I come up with other great ways to use curly dock leaves, I’ll be sure to write a blog and share the recipe.

 Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!