Walk out into the yard and cast an eye around the fringes.

Thursday, August 12, 1999

Walk out into the yard and cast an eye around the fringes. See any weeds? A dandelion is probably within a few steps in the untreated lawn, same with plantain, which grows like dandelion but has broader, rounder leaves. Any goldenrod in the ditch over there? What about red clover?

Those aren’t weeds, mister, those are herbs.

Dandelion? The leaves are a good source of calcium, folic acid and potassium. In addition to vitalizing and healing the liver, dandelion leaves also help the kidneys function better.

Plantain? The bane of diaper rash. Use fresh or dried leaves, oil or ointment to heal and relieve the pain and itching – good for hemorrhoids as well.

Goldenrod? Helps with allergies, roots also make a great poultice for burns.

Red Clover? Called the single most helpful herb for establishing fertility by herbalist Susan Weed, red clover flowers are high in vitamins, protein, calcium, magnesium, and a variety of minerals. It can be drunk in tea, and is particularly tasty combined with peppermint. From the bean family, red clover’s fresh flowers can be added to salads and dried flowers taste great in soup.

New age stuff, you say, and shake your head … then again, maybe not so new age.

Herbs have been around for a long, long time – the earliest evidence of plant medicines comes from a 60,000 year old Neanderthal burial site, where the remains of what-would-have-been a rather boring-looking plant wreath was found. The plants – cornflower, yarrow, thistle, groundsel, hollyhock, ephedra and grape hyacinth – are all known today for their medicinal properties.

The Chinese have the oldest written records of herbal medicine, dating from approximately 3000 BC; the western world’s oldest records come from around 2,500 BC.

The good news for these useful plants? Herbs are chic again: to eat, to drink, to heal and to sniff.

The good news for the human residents? A lot of them can be found in the average, unchemically-treated yard or garden.

A week ago, a group of approximately 10 area men and women from every walk of life – writers, homemakers, lawyers, teachers – took a short stroll around Sheila and Tom Donnelly’s farmyard west of Blooming Prairie to take a closer look at some of the plants growing there.

"The wise women say that everything you need to heal yourself is within 100 yards of your house," Sheila’s pony-tailed brother Tim O’Leary said. "Unless, of course, you live in a city."

O’Leary led the herb walk. Originally from the Albert Lea area, O’Leary moved to California more than a decade ago. There he met his wife – and Moonrise Herbs store owner – Sarah, and the learning process is still going on. He’s not the only O’Leary interested in herbs; Sheila has been growing and using different herbs for years. On her kitchen table is a calendula tincture, in her garden an abundance of medicinal herbs crowd either end.

"A couple years ago I was home visiting Sheila. We took a walk and I realized her property is full of herbs," O’Leary said. "When you’re not familiar with plants, it looks like a sea of green – and so many of them are plants you’ve always been stepping on, pulling out or trying to eradicate with chemicals. Today I want to show how some of those plants can be used."

On the picnic table by the fire pit is a camp stove, bars of beeswax, a basket of different leaves and flowers, olive oil, a grater, notes on 5×7 cards and several books: "Herbal Healing for Women," by Rosemary Gladstar; "Peterson Field Guide to Eastern and Central Medicinal Plants" by Stephen Foster and James A. Duke; "Herbal Bounty: The Gentle Art of Herb Culture" by Stephen Foster.

O’Leary has gathered some herbs before the guests arrive, because they’re going to make two different salves before the afternoon is over.

He waves a basket of leaves and flowers in the air. Inside are comfrey, plantain, mallow and strawberry leaves, as well as calendula flowers. He tells his temporary students to tear up (macerate) the leaves and flowers, and puts them in one of the empty pans, on top of a double boiler. Next he pours, measuring each cup, enough olive oil to cover the green stuff. Now the stove goes on low enough to heat, not high enough to boil.

While the group walks, the leaves and flowers will cook, releasing their healing essence into the oil.

The group, armed with notebooks, pens and pencils, walk about 30 feet from the table to a small stump. O’Leary points out nettles growing alongside three other valuable medicinal herbs – burdock, plantain and motherwort.

"Nettles are great," he said, pointing to, but not grabbing the stinging plant. "You can use the whole plant. Any dish where you would normally use spinach, you can use nettles, as long as they’re cooked. It’s a great spring tonic, provides a lot of energy."

Maybe that’s because the common stinging nettle is reputed to have more chlorophyll than any other herb; maybe it’s because the nettle contains nearly every vitamin and mineral necessary for human health and growth. Very high in vitamin K.

"And, although it stings, there’s usually a cure for the sting growing close to a nettle patch," he added, pointing to the broad-leafed plantain low to the ground. "Just crumple up a leaf and rub it on the skin where the nettle hit."

The group look at each plant, some sketch it, others put sample sprigs in their notebooks. They take a few more steps. The grandmother of herbs, comfrey, is spilling out of the south end of Sheila’s garden. Near the fence, red clover grows in abundance. Ragweed towers in the ditch – although it causes allergies, it can also be used as a cure.

More than an hour and approximately 20 plants later, the group head back to the slowly stewing herb and oil mixes on the campstove, and the final stages of the salve making commences. The mix is strained through cheesecloth and a strainer, with every bit of liquid squeezed out of the cloth. The plant remains go to "the compost goddess" as O’Leary termed it.

Next, using one bar, or half a cup, of beeswax for each cup of oil that went in the mix originally, the wax is grated into the saturated oil and heated, stirring fairly constantly, in the double boiler until it’s melted together.

Last, O’Leary pours the mixture into 20 small plastic pots and lets cool. Presto – a healing homemade herbal salve. The second salve, which has also been cooking throughout the herb walk, is made only of wild violet leaves, almond oil and a few drops of lavender oil. It is a heart salve, to be rubbed over the heart or on the "third eye," which is located between the eyebrows – think ancient Egyptian statue.

"With nature, you’re always a student," O’Leary says. "The more you learn, the more you realize there is to know."

He and his students sit down to enjoy some wild greens and sun tea – partly cloudy tea on that particular afternoon – made from wild raspberry leaf, red clover flowers, spearmint leaves, lemon verbena leaves, goldenrod flower and echinacea flower.