Everything You Need is Where You Are

I have been learning to work with herbs since the mid-1970s.  I am the eternal student, for the plants always have a new lesson.  One important thing I have learned, and learned well, is that everything you need is here.  This planet, with the others species who share space with our species, are generous beyond belief.  We just have to learn to look.

When I mow my lawn, I am taking a mental inventory of all the herbs I am beheading, shortening...wasting.  We are moving into a time when we will have a chance to be grateful for the abundance around us.  We will become aware of the innocuous foods and medicines available outside the backdoor.

I will admit that I live in extreme abundance - with a large yard and a nearby forest.  But even in the city I have found herbs pushing through the sidewalk. 

Two days ago I spent about five minutes walking through my lawn and checking the gardens.  I listed more than 60 plants - herbs and flowers, mostly.  With these herbs, I could cure many illnesses and ease many symptoms.

Quickly, with folk names, and in the order I noticed them:
day lily
plantain (2 kinds, actually!)
dandelion
curled dock
ground ivy
chicory
Queen Anne's Lace
yarrow
birdsfoot trefoil
timothy
wood sorrel
bindweed
Virginia creeper
strawberry
goldenrod
goats beard
melilot (2 colors)
poison ivy
buttercups
ragweed
gravel root
cinquefoil
grapes
red raspberry
blackberry
black raspberry
garlic mustard
burdock
wild roses
pineapple weed
shepherd's purse
mullein
iris
peony
foxglove
moth mullein
monarda
bedstraw
cleavers
red clover (and more varieties of clover I failed to list)
redroot/pigweed
rhubarb
columbine

And because I am an herbalist:
costmary
echinacea
feverfew
borage
milk thistle
blessed thistle
mints
garlic
onions
shallots
marjoram
thyme
sage
tarragon
savory
lavender
rue
germander


There are also fruits:
pears
choke cherries
plums
quince
crab apple
apple
mulberries

When I am invited to lead plant walks, I never worry.  I know we can find these plants anywhere.  A normal, healthy lawn offers this variety. 

But once I was invited to work with a group of students at a small university.  I was barefoot on a groomed lawn on a sunny Saturday morning.  I started talking about being able to find herbal allies anywhere.  After my spiel, we all looked down, ready to meet and greet.  We found grass.  One of the students said, "Uh-oh, we'd better get off here."  We all realized we were looking at a monoculture - only one species of grass.  We knew we were standing on a poisoned landscape.  So we moved to the raggedy, unkempt edge of campus and found healthy abundance. 

A healthy lawn has dandelions.  Dandelions offer health and nutrition.  People used to know that.  My friend, Sue, pointed out once, that we have become accustomed to seeing lawns with no dandelions, because people picked them all for steamed greens or salads.  That was before.  Now we recreate that by dumping poisons on our homes.  If your life is lacking dandelions...I feel sorry for you.  You are living in toxins, overworking your liver, and you need - dandelion - to heal you!

I plan to discuss the plants I have listed, but we'll see what develops here.  This could be the start of a new leg of my journey with plants.