Perhaps it’s not necessary to state the obvious, but it’s gotten cold way too soon. I did get a warm-up Thursday night though when I attended a talk given by urban gardener and herbalist Joan Tasker at NECIC’s offices in downtown Mansfield.
For the past eighteen years she has been growing a variety of herbs and exploring their medicinal uses. She also makes herbal soaps and ointments along with herbal teas which Jean Taddie from NECIC (North End Community Improvement Collaborative) was kind enough to make sure all had a chance to sample.
Joan has been a gardener all her life but ornamental qualities have never been given great weight when judging a plant. Since her days working in her grandfather’s vegetable garden, it’s always been more about how useful a plant is. For that reason, the line she draws between weed and herb is a blurred one, which sometimes causes problems for her husband John when he attempts to determine that distinction.
Bad behavior does not seem to be an issue for Joan either. She grows some serious bad boys like comfrey which loves to jump ship and submarine across the yard. To her though, its usefulness mitigates its unruliness, and comfrey is the plant that actually got Joan interested in the medicinal properties of herbs.
Though she had grown herbs it was more out of culinary interest. Then one summer, her hands became so dry and cracked, it was painful. Nothing seemed to help until one day somebody told her about comfrey. She had some in the garden so she grabbed a bunch of leaves, crushed them up, and rubbed the juice all over her hands. She said the relief was almost immediate, and that is when her journey with herbs really began.
Comfrey’s skin healing properties, she says, are so quick that one has to be careful. Used on a cut that has not been well-cleaned, it can actually seal in the dirt which can lead to a festering infection. She has come a long way since that first introduction to it. She now mixes the crushed comfrey leaves with calendula flowers and infuses them in olive oil to make a ointment that not only smells wonderful, it works. I purchased some for my painfully dry and cracked hands, and got instant relief.
The calendula flowers also have skin healing properties, somehow helping to regenerate skin cells. It is useful in the treatment of eczema and psoriasis, and it is also edible. It can be put in salads or steeped in hot water for tea. It’s orange color also make it useful as a substitute for saffron, a traditional but very expensive spice and colorant for a variety of ethnic cuisines.
Another workhorse herb for her is sage, Salvia officinalis. The Latin root of the word “salvia” actually means “to heal,” and though I know it as a culinary herb, it seems to have had a long standing role in herbal medicines. In the 17th century the Chinese with their long tradition of herbal medicine, would give British and Dutch traders 2-3 chests of tea for just one chest of dried sage.
Sage helps relieve coughs and colds, and can be ingested through a tea or tincture. Sage’s antiseptic properties help to heal mouth sores, and it can be applied as an anti-perspirant. It is even said to actually be able to relieve night sweats in menopausal women.
When asked what a tincture was, Mrs. Tasker explained it was a way of concentrating the beneficial properties of herbs. She will stuff the herbs she wants in a canning jar, then fill it with vodka. Though other liquids can be used, Joan explained that alcohol-based tinctures last much longer, and the higher the proof the longer it lasts. Once the herbs have soaked long enough, they are filtered out leaving the liquid extract. Because the herbs have been concentrated, it then only takes a couple drops to gain the benefits.
Joan produces her tinctures only for herself and her family, but she does sell her herbal soaps, ointments, teas, and notecards through her business J. Marie’s Botanicals and Drygoods. You can find her on Facebook, and she’ll be at the Waterford on December 6.
Many thanks to Joan for this early winter warmup, and thanks also to NECIC for continuing to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information on gardening throughout the Richland Community. To keep informed of their gardening programs, subscribe to their weekly Community Garden News by going to http://goo.gl/XWZZxC. To find out more about all the things NECIC does go to their website.
