From free moves this week up to the deep plays.
For a minor cut, crush clean fresh yarrow leaves and press them onto the wound. The clotting action helps slow the bleeding while you get to a proper dressing.
This is for minor cuts and clean plants only. Deep or dirty wounds need real medical care.
Mixed into or replacing a lawn, yarrow stays green in drought, needs little mowing, and feeds insects when allowed to flower. A water-thrifty alternative to thirsty grass.
Let part of it flower for the bees, and mow paths through the rest.
A yarrow patch near the vegetable beds pulls in ladybirds, lacewings, and hoverflies, the predators that keep aphids in check without spray.
Keep a clump flowering all season so the predators always have a reason to stay.
Dry the flowering tops and steep them as a hot tea at the start of a fever, or as a bitter before a heavy meal. Keep it to short stretches.
Do not use yarrow tea in pregnancy. It can stimulate the uterus.
Grind well-dried yarrow leaf to a fine powder and keep it in a jar for the first-aid shelf. A pinch on a minor cut helps stop the bleeding.
Label and date the jar. Dried herb fades over a year or two.