Alan R McDaniel Jr
09-22-2018, 09:28 PM
A number of years ago I thinned out a Maguey (century plant. the plant tequila is made from) patch I had and took the thinnings to the ranch. I made the mistake of tossing it bay the gate to the camp house and it made another patch. In thinning that out I started throwing it in washouts along the roads to stop erosion. it grows fairly easy and stops erosion well.
It's hardly medicinal but it does have some uses. The thorns at the end of the big leaves are very strong and very sharp. If you carefully cut from each side and leave a strip in the middle a long stout string can be drawn from the leaf with a useable needle already attached. These can be used to repair clothing, packs and in a pinch, with considerable teeth gritting, I'd imagine they could be used to stitch up some skin, although it would be extremely uncomfortable.
Anyway, after seeing how well the washout plants were growing I decided I'd start spreading them around the ranch, to grow some "just in case" needles and threads.
The indigenous poeples of the area did exactly that. They would have those patches growing at all their regular stops and use them for lots of things pertaining to basketry, twine, nets, etc.
One word of caution. The juice will cause itching like you wouldn't believe, especially it you hit one with a weedeater.
Alan
It's hardly medicinal but it does have some uses. The thorns at the end of the big leaves are very strong and very sharp. If you carefully cut from each side and leave a strip in the middle a long stout string can be drawn from the leaf with a useable needle already attached. These can be used to repair clothing, packs and in a pinch, with considerable teeth gritting, I'd imagine they could be used to stitch up some skin, although it would be extremely uncomfortable.
Anyway, after seeing how well the washout plants were growing I decided I'd start spreading them around the ranch, to grow some "just in case" needles and threads.
The indigenous poeples of the area did exactly that. They would have those patches growing at all their regular stops and use them for lots of things pertaining to basketry, twine, nets, etc.
One word of caution. The juice will cause itching like you wouldn't believe, especially it you hit one with a weedeater.
Alan