Herbs along the way
Grass around my house has not been cut recently, so it’s transcended from yard to pasture. The most direct route from the bottom step to the garden gate takes 48 steps or so, but direct is no fun. The first diversion along the way would be plantain everywhere. I park my vehicles on plaintain. No choice.
I keep a few plaintain plants that sprout in the garden for harvesting like other greens. The Peterson Field Guides Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants by Steven Foster and James A. Duke states regarding common plaintain, “Prominent folk cancer remedy in Latin America. Widely used in folk medicine throughout the world.” Good enough for me, so I keep dehydrated leaves in a jar and add them to soups and beans.
Farther along the path through the pasture are patches of yarrow. I didn’t plant it and it’s in an area that gets mowed, but we’ve reached an amiable understanding. It creates a community there, and I relocate an occasional suburb to flower beds by the house.
I learned from Herbal Renaissance by Steven Foster yarrow will tolerate most any soil, but it loves sunlight. He added, “Yarrow has been valued to stop bleeding and heal wounds by cultures from the ancient Greeks to North American Indians,” and then offered first person accounts of the vulnerary effect of yarrow.
And it’s growing in my yard (pasture)! Thank you, yarrow, and thank you Steven for sharing.
Eureka Springs had a party one time, and Steven sidled over to where I was seated, and hello how we doing, etc., until I mentioned I had recently checked out Herbal Renaissance from the library and how much I was learning from it. He kept an even face, but his eyes smiled, and he told me of an online site where I could get a copy for cheap.
I mentioned I too had been a student of herbs along the way, and it was customary for me back in the day to combine three or more dried herbs for a pot of tea, and I was alarmed to read in his book coltsfoot had possible toxic side effects. I added it regularly, and possibly with comfrey which also now is known to have possible toxic side effects. Steven observed, “None of us knew back then.”
Comfrey grows near the path through the pasture. In Herbal Renaissance, Foster reports in thorough details the story of how comfrey had centuries of use as a healer, but science of the mid-‘70s revealed a toxic understory accompanying the healing effects. Foster sums up his opinion by stating, “In regard to comfrey, cautious moderation, or perhaps even abstinence, works best.”
Good to know.
Once I finally make it through the garden gate, I immediately find on my left a small patch of mountain mint, a transplant from two healthy patches at the edge of the woods. I had no idea what it was until I either showed a photo or a leaf to Steven. Without pause, “Mountain mint,” and he mentioned which Pycnanthemum variety it was, but I don’t remember.
His Field Guide mentions leaf teas made from mountain mints have been used traditionally to treat a variety of cold and cough-related ailments and to relieve gas.
I was inspired to identify other new-to-me plants without asking Steven. A regular in a spot in my garden is some kind of monarda. My name for it at first was Ozark bee balm, but I learned it is Monarda bradburia, and it likes my hillside.
One spring, a mystery monarda sprouted which produced exotic flowers. I discovered it was Monarda punctata and I showed Steven a couple photos. He remarked, “Good for you,” and I don’t know if he was referring to how sharp I was to figure something out by myself or if my garden was lucky to have such a plant.
Yes, my garden was lucky, as were we all. Thank you, Steven.