Yucca's Not Yucky




Most people know yucca to be that expansive, unmovable, bombarding spike plant in your yard that looks like it could poke your guts out. I personally think I've experienced pulling its roots out. I was helping a lady remove crabgrass from her front yard, and we encountered this nasty, gushy deformed root plop in the middle of everything. As we dug it up we found more and more and also that it had no reliable form. We would just randomly find more of it and it was so sickeningly disgusting that we didn't want to just leave it there.
I noted that the only place in the whole yard that had crabgrass, was in an oval around the root spot. It made sense the a plant like yucca could have looked right in that particular spot. People say it's really hard to completely remove one of those things, so I suspect whoever owned the house previously pulled it up and planted grass around the spot it had shaded. Not knowing there were still some roots down there, left it. We later discovered it and couldn't find out what it was. Later I realized this when I was talking to my grandmother, who was complaint about her yucca. She told me about how difficult it is to completely remove them and thats when the lightbulb popped on in my head!
It's definitely tempting to think this article of vegetation is a worthless, waste of time. Along with that it is only a good landscaping plant if you live in the dessert were greenery resembling barbs, skewers and spines are deemed a favorite among most yards. Please let me convince you otherwise.


1. Survival Soap

This is pretty cool, and there are three versions of it. One of them is more work than all the others, another is much simpler, easier, soapier. The last is over-priced.
  1. Scrape & Shake Till' You Break: With this one you basically scrape all the green off the yucca leaf/abominable spike and leave the white alone. Then you take the scrapings and throw it with some water in a jar and shake for several minutes or until you feel like your hands about to fall off. After all that, you have to strain the liquid to get all the chunks away (which you discard). You've finally come across some yucca soap. Kind of a lot of work and not convenient when you are lost in the middle of a forest.
  2. Dig & Massage: In this soap, you want the root, so pull up a small yucca plant. Then you strip all the leaves off until you have the center. This, you smash in between to rocks and then squish around in your hands. Then you set it down on the rock and smash it more with your hands. Pretty simple and you don't need any supplies. This one's my favorite and it has this awesome wordless hippie video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xvorvt3GK8 
  3. Waste Your Money: The last and worse is this: buy Shea Moisture's Yucca & Plantain "Anti-Breakage Strengthening Shampoo." It's over-priced, doesn't work, and has a horrible lather. I did it myself, so I know from experience. I'm not super-disappointed because I know that I'm putting natural ingredients in my hair. I also got a tiny bottle that was on sale. 
So that's survival soap for you. I would say that alone should keep yucca on the face of the earth.



2. Joint Pain

It is said that native americans used yucca for arthritis. Modern research says that whether yucca affects arthritis hasn't been scientifically proven. BUT they do say that it is an anti-inflammatory agent. Despite what the scientists say, people still say it works, and every article I read about yucca said it was anti-inflammatory. Don't know what's going on there, but if you're desperate, I'd try it and see if it works. I can't because I don't have joint pain of any sort.   

3. Minor Skin injuries 

The reason for this is because of the antioxidants. They help the body recover from cell damage. There is such a thing as yucca extract, so you can make your own skin products. But, not everybody is a make-your-own-everything type of person so fortunately, the stores don't have a skimpy amount of yucca goods!

4. Hair Annoyances

One of my favorite things about yucca is this: it is full of nutrients, and is used as a scalp treatment. It helps rid you of that nasty substance called dandruff. Even better, it is a legit remedy for hair loss. It's actually been seriously affective when used as a shampoo! The magic ingredient here is saponin, which also reduces inflammation and itchiness.

5. It's Edible!!!!

Since it's full of vitamins and carbohydrates, it's actually good for you. BUT, some people say that its hard on your stomach if you eat it raw. So the best way to eat it is cooked. Yucca root, (which I earlier told you it's impossible to dispose of) actually is the part you can consume! I found many tasty-looking recipes for yuca that were fried, mashed, steamed, baked etc. Pretty cool!


So the despised yucca plant does have some uses! It's actually kind of like shea butter and lavender which I've written about too. They have so many uses, you wouldn't believe it. You can pretty much just make some soap out of yucca and clean your hair, body, wounds, and joints (or just make a bath of it). That way you'll get all you can out of it in one way!

Comments

  1. So you can see how doing a little research can change your attitude towards the fruits of the earth. Seeing as how I didn't grow up in California or the Southwest where this info may be more well known, I found your article very informative!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ann my bestie had these growing in her yard. Im glad you are saying good things about this plant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yea it would be awesome if you could share my blog with her! I have a feeling she'd love it... :-)

    ReplyDelete

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