Since time unknown, the maguey or agave plant has been used by the people in Mexico for clothing, medicine, shelter, fuel, alcohol and tools. Fibers, called pitas, were taken from the plant and woven into cloth. Thorns were used as sewing needles. Pencas (leaves) were dried to burn as fuel or overlaid for roofing. The sap was used as a sweetener, as medicine or distilled for alcohol. The Aztecs/Mexica even had a specific patron deity for this plant, the goddess Mayahuel.
The goddess Mayahuel
The maguey or agave plant is often mistaken for sábila (aloe vera), but is not closely related. Nor is it a cactus. The maguey can grow without irrigation and can withstand a great variation of moisture and temperature. It grows wild, but can also be cultivated.It may take 10 to 12 years for a maguey plant to be mature enough to “flower”. The “flower” is a large, obtrusive stalk that grows right from the middle of the plant. After flowering, the plant typically dies.
To harvest, the stalk is cut before it blooms, leaving a hollow where the aguamiel (honey water) is collected. This juice can be fermented into an alcoholic drink which the Aztecs called octli, and is now called pulque. For tequila or mezcal, the sap is collected by heating the center of the plant in ovens and then distilled.
The Aztec/Mexica god of pulque wine, Tezcatzoncatl.
According to my trusty source, Antiguo Recetario Medicinal Azteca, this plant is more than just making tequila or pulque. It can treat syphilis, accelerate the formation of scarring on wounds, cure gonorrhea, can be used as a strong stomach and intestine antiseptic (the sap has antibiotic properties which was also used to kill both staphylococcus aureaus and E. coli bacteria) and is useful as a laxative. Additionally, Bernardino de Sahagún attested in his book Historia General de las cosas de la Nueva España, that aguamiel was also used as a treatment for sore throats by the Aztecs.
Drinking pulque.
Antiguo Recetario Medicinal Azteca suggests that for syphilis treatment, water and 10 drops of the sap from the root of the maquey should be drunk in the morning and 10 drops in the afternoon on the first day of treatment. The second day the dosage should be 20 drops and so on until 200 drops are ingested in each day.
For aid in scar formation, heat the pencas (leaves) and squeeze out the juice much as you would with aloe vera. (See Animal Doctoring) The juice should be boiled with a little sugar until thickened. The salve should be placed on a cloth and tied around the wound.
Gonorrhea can be treated by drinking the 1/4 cup of cooked aguamiel (maguey juice) for 15 days.
For stomach and intestine cleansing, it is recommended to drink one glass of aguamiel with breakfast.
While most pharmaceutical companies would poo-poo the use of maguey in treatment, these recipes have been around a long time and there may be some basis for using maguey medicinally.
We have even used the maguey penca in cooking goat. We dug a large hole and lined it with rocks which we then lined with dethorned maguey leaves. The goat was cut into pieces and put in a pot and then the hole was topped with another maguey leaf. The meat cooked, or steamed, overnight and was as tender as could be. Delicious!
This year has been particularly good for ants. According to local farm lore, a good ant year means a good crop year, so my husband, along with many others, has begun soil preparation early. Harbinger of good fortune though they might be, we are not totally thrilled with the en masse invasion in La Yacata.
In previous years, ant attacks have stunted our peach and pomegranate trees. Everything would be unfurling nicely in the spring and then suddenly BAM! we woke up the next morning to completely naked trees. The ants had stripped the leaves overnight.
Ant mounds outdoors are easy to spot and just as easy to avoid. Personally, I have nothing against ants and respect their place in the grand eco scheme of things, even when I have accidentally blundered close enough to be attacked. However, when they start invading indoors, biting me even in my bed at night, then it’s time to take up arms.
This year we have a scourge of itty bitty bitey red ants. They slipped right under our doors and windowsills and used our tile grout as a super highway. Not content with the crumbs, they scaled the shelves looking for more. Having most of our food in closed storage containers already, you would think they would back down, but no! They sent out highly organized scouts. Any less than perfectly sealed container was targeted. I have been bitten by scurrying little ants while gathering the ingredients for dinner.
Enough already! My husband, being the traditionalist he is, went and got some sort of powder pesticide and surrounded the house in a fairy ring, on the inside, of course, so that the chickens wouldn’t accidentally be poisoned. This temporarily stopped the invasion. Notice, I said, temporarily…in just a day or two they were back, stealthily avoiding the poison chem trails and burrowing straight through the brick walls.
They also stepped up their attacks outdoors and began bothering our animals. Our poor goats and horses were bitten while they slept. Some had bare patches rubbed raw from ant attacks.
You would think our chickens would keep the ant population down, but the ants are far from tarugos (idiots) and bypassed the chicken corral in the day when the chickens were awake but blitzed it at night. One night an ant attack killed 10 newly hatched baby chicks.
Obviously, my husband couldn’t use the poisoned powder around our animals so I did some internet research. Cinnamon was by the far the nicest recommendation, however, it is an expensive spice here. Borax was also off the list due to limited availability. However, chalk and coffee were definitely on the to-try list. Coffee as a deterrent would also explain why the little buggers left my re-purposed coffee storage containers alone and focused on the Tupperware.
My husband immediately bought a bag of cal and went to work spreading it around the animals area. When the bag ripped, the outdoor corral looked much like a sudden snow squall had hit. The animals sneezed a bit until the dust settled, but it did drastically reduce the number of ants in the area for a time.
Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work as well as promised and we had to wait for the rains to begin for the attacks to finally let up.
With so many wildflowers growing in La Yacata, at times, I am overwhelmed with being so under informed, not being a native and all. I am sure that these plants are useful, and not just another pretty face, but it has been difficult to find anyone that knows herblore anymore.
My mother was always interested in herbs and I remember drying and using chamomile flowers. For that reason, when I discovered this plant in my backyard, I thought at first it was a type of local chamomile. Locals call is manzanilla, which is chamomile. However, upon closer examination, it seemed just a little bit different than the chamomile flowers my mother dried. Although the flower was similar, it had a flat center rather than a cone shaped one and thus it was feverfew, not chamomile after all.
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is also known as also known as altamisa, amargaza, amargazón, arrugas, artemisa, botón de plata, botón de plata común, camamila de los huertos, camelina de los huertos, camomila de Aragón, chapote, flor de la calentura, flor de santos, gamarza, gamaza, gamazón, hierba de altamira, hierba de Santa María, hierba santa, madrehuela doble, madrehuela olorosa, madrehuela rósea, magarsa, magarza, magarza amarilla, magarzuela, manzanilla, manzanilla botonera, manzanilla brava, manzanillo, manzanillón, margaza, matricaria, matronaria, pelitre, Santa María blanca, yerba de Santa María in Mexican Spanich and in Aztec– iztactzapotl or cochitzapotl.
Even with all these names, I wasn’t able to find any information in my Aztec medicine booklets. But I was able to find a page in another of my books in my small, but oh so useful library.
The name feverfew is misleading since this plant has not been shown to reduce fever. However, it has been used for centuries to prevent or reduce migraines. It also has been shown to relieve muscle spasms and can be used a mild sedative.
Cut and hung feverfew drying for tea.
When I asked around, my local sources told me this plant could be dried and made into a tea. I wasted no time in cutting and hanging. I have periodic migraines, leftover from a car accident some 20 years ago, and my husband constantly complains about hernia pain even after his operation, so I figured this was the perfect tea for us.
Dried feverfew
When the plant was finally dry, I crunched the flowers and leaves, discarding the stems and roots. It had a very strong herb scent, but I was bound and determined to make a tea.
I admit the first cup of tea was so very strong that we had to choke it down. (I made everybody drink a cup). So the next cup, I tried adding local organic honey and our own organic raw goat milk to try and cut the flavor. We decided this tea wasn’t a tea for milk, so the third night I just added the honey and we all agreed that it was passably flavored like that.
This plant is self-seeding and before we even finished the first batch, there were plants to cut and dry. This time, I am going to try and separate the flowers and leaves and try a tea with just the flowers. The leaves are pungent and make the tea a might bit strong for our tastes.
Since time unknown, the maguey or agave plant has been used by the people in Mexico for clothing, medicine, shelter, fuel, alcohol and tools. Fibers, called pitas, were taken from the plant and woven into cloth. Thorns were used as sewing needles. Pencas (leaves) were dried to burn as fuel or overlaid for roofing. The sap was used as a sweetener, as medicine or distilled for alcohol. The Aztecs/Mexica even had a specific patron deity for this plant, the goddess Mayahuel.
To harvest, the stalk is cut before it blooms, leaving a hollow where the aguamiel (honey water) is collected. This juice can be fermented into an alcoholic drink which the Aztecs called octli, and is now called pulque. For tequila or mezcal, the sap is collected by heating the center of the plant in ovens and then distilled.
We have even used the maguey penca in cooking goat. We dug a large hole and lined it with rocks which we then lined with dethorned maguey leaves. The goat was cut into pieces and put in a pot and then the hole was topped with another maguey leaf. The meat cooked, or steamed, overnight and was as tender as could be. Delicious!
Surviving Mexico 