Milk Thistle – 5 Seeds

Milk Thistle Seeds. Milk Thistle (Silybum Marianum) is grown both as an ornamental flower and as a culinary and medicinal herb. It is incredibly popular with pollinators, especially bees and various pollinating fly species like syrphid flies. It is a heady, spiny plant with white-veined leaves and purple flowers. The seed of the plant is commonly used to treat chronic inflammatory liver disorders and it is among the top-selling medicinal herbs. While milk thistle products are easy to come by, this is a great herb to grow at home. It requires very little care and a controlled environment to prevent invasive growth. This species is biennial plant of the family Asteraceae.

Milk Thistle Culinary Uses

• Roots – the large carrot-like taproots on the young plants can be cooked and eaten before they get too old and fibrous.
• Leaves – the leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach, although it’s advisable to cut the spines off first.
• Flowers – the young flower stems can be eaten before they mature and hollow.
• Stems – the immature flowers can be used to make sun tea; some people report eating them like their relative artichokes.
• Seeds – mature thistle seeds are the most commonly used edible part of the plant.

Milk Thistle Medicinal Benefits

• It has been used for over 2000 years to treat illnesses such as liver and gallbladder problems, hepatitis and even as a cure for mushroom poisoning. In addition, it shows promise as a cancer treatment, although more studies are required.
• It has been prized for centuries for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral properties.
• It is also highly regarded as a liver tonic due to high amounts of a chemical compound known as silymarin.
• It is a bitter digestive and diuretic tonic herb. It stimulates bile flow. It increases lactating mother’s milk flow production and relaxes spasms.

Growing Milk Thistle

Indoor Sowing: Not Recommended.

Direct Sowing: Spring and Autumn.

• It is a hardy plant that grows well in different environments, but it prefers high temperatures and dry conditions. The only requirement for milk thistle is a well-draining soil.
• Seedlings do not transplant well, so indoor sowing is not recommended.
• To grow milk thistle outdoors, sow seeds 90cm apart, directly into the prepared soil.
• Barely cover the seeds with soil, as they need some light to germinate.
• Keep the soil moist until germination, which takes about 2 weeks.
• It is a very drought tolerant plant and prefers dry conditions.
• It should not be necessary to water milk thistle unless there are very extreme conditions of drought.
• The plant reseeds itself readily so in order to control its spread, it is advised to harvest the seeds before they become over-mature.