Wild Oats, Milky Oats (Avena sativa and A fatua)

Common names: Wild Oats, Milky Oats

Taxonomic name: Avena species

Family: Poaceae

Uses: food, nervous exhaustion

Area of origin: don’t know

Warnings: none

Wild Oats of the Avena genus are ready to harvest at the end of Spring and early Summer.

What marks this time as being special is that inside the seed case, the seed is forming. At this time it is a blob of white latex and this is what gives these plants their other common name ‘Milky Oats’ and is what we’re after to make our herbal remedies.

The ‘milk’ component of Wild Oats is used to restore tired and exhausted nervous systems. It helps to sooth and calm our nerves and to rebuild energy.

The rest of the oats is nutritious too, it’s full of minerals so a tea made from it can help frazzled nerves and exhaustion too.