How To Begin Using Plants For Better Health
Photo courtesy Wendy Mackenzie
It wasn’t until I was teaching a high school health class in my late twenties that I fell in love with plants. Most of what I learned in health classes as a student was “don’t do this and don’t do that.” As the teacher of a health class, I wanted to be able to share helpful, lifelong health strategies, things you could do to be healthy.
Luckily there was a health food store near my school that had a list of volunteer speakers who could come to my classroom and share their passions. A vegetarian chef, a Reiki practitioner, a yoga teacher and others took the time to come speak to us. I learned so much good information right alongside my students.
When Isabelle Hadley, a local herbalist came in and passed around large jars of colorful dried herbs and little glass bottles of heavenly smelling essential oils, I was hooked. I basically followed her out of my classroom and into her living room, where she taught a six-month class about herbs in her cozy log cabin in southern Vermont. I never looked back. Suddenly, I understood the pull of plants. You could work with them to create a healthier way of living. You could eat better, smell better, and feel better with herbs.
The best way to fall in love with herbalism is to start with some of the weeds that grow right at our feet here in New England. (Just be sure to know the plants you are using or ask someone to help you identify them.) The following two weeds are very helpful and in plentiful supply locally.
PLANTAIN is a common lawn herb I have had amazing success with. There are two different varieties of plantain: Plantago major, with broader, rounder leaves, and Plantago lanceolata, with longer, narrow leaves. They will both work. (Just to avoid any confusion, we are not talking about tropical starchy plantains that look like bananas!) Plantain is super valuable as a first aid plant, and easy to find — probably right outside your front door.
While many believe you need to make a spit poultice of chewing the leaves first before you apply them, I haven’t found that to be necessary in my experience of working with it for over 40 years. Just pick a clean, unsprayed leaf, and press it against your wound. You can stick it in place using a band aid if you get tired of holding it against your skin.
One of the common names for plantain is “pulls it out,” since it draws out splinters, insect, snake and spider bite toxins, and even infections. I was riding back from a trip to the hardware store on a particularly hot day in a truck that didn’t have air conditioning. With the windows rolled down, a bee flew into the cab and stung my thigh. I have never experienced an insect bite as painful as that sting! I yelled for my partner to stop the truck, jumped out, found a plantain leaf, and got back inside. In less than 10 minutes the pain of the sting was gone, and all I did was hold the leaf against my leg.
YARROW, Achillea millefolium, is another first aid herb that grows in meadows and can easily be found locally. It has a white, flat-topped flower with long, feathery leaves. As an herb student I heard heroic stories about yarrow and all that it could do. I believe the exact story was that yarrow could stop the bleeding if you cut your arm off with a chainsaw! It seemed like an exaggerated claim to me, but at least it was a story I could remember in times of trouble. The problem with being an herbalist is that you have to keep a level head and remember what plant to use when you get hurt, which isn’t always easily done in an emergency!
One day as I was vigorously cleaning the bathroom, my finger got stabbed by a sharp piece of broken porcelain. Within seconds my forearm was completely covered with blood and I didn’t know what to do. Then I heard yarrow calling to me.
My three children were all under 10 at the time, but I yelled to them to go outside and pick some yarrow leaves. As I made it out to the yard and their handful of freshly-picked leaves, I gently placed one delicate, feathery leaf on the gash of my fingertip, and the bleeding stopped instantly. Relieved, but a bit in disbelief, I removed the leaf and my finger gushed more blood. I put the leaf back, and the bleeding stopped. Soft against my skin, I experimented with the leaf for about 30 minutes, in awe of what was happening.
That same day I found some dried powdered yarrow I had on hand, and shook some onto the wound. Concerned when the soft powder stuck to the jagged flesh of my finger, I tried to wash it out with water, but the yarrow wouldn’t rinse out. I had no choice but to leave it covered with a bandage. Three days later I could barely see the wound. The powdered yarrow had healed it nicely, and there wasn’t even a scar.
Identify the plantain and yarrow in your yard so if you ever need it, you will know where to find it.
Wendy Mackenzie is the founder and owner of Everlasting Herb Farm in Peacham Vermont, which formulates herbal products for the Vermont Country Store, as well as her own Meadow Bee Deodorant, winner of two international awards in the 2023 Beauty Shortlist Wellness Awards. Meet Wendy November 11-12, 2023 at the Natural Living Expo, Meadow Bee Deodorant booth #31, and share your stories with her of how the magic of herbs has shown up in your life.
