When I first thought about gathering and selling medicinal wildcrafted herbs, I knew about 3 or 4 important varieties that were growing in my immediate area. Dandelion, raspberry, cleavers, strawberry, and plantain come quickly to mind. I really considered myself lucky to have these amazing wild plants right in my own “yard”.
As I started looking at the local plants more closely, I soon realized that nettle and motherwort were also very plentiful. I was thrilled, and decided to start my little business at that point.
But then, I seemed to be discovering medicinal herbs everywhere I looked. Mullein, goldenrod, mallow, yarrow, white oak, burdock..... Seriously?
After another day of poking around in the grass, and identifying self-heal, St. John's Wort, evening primrose and shepherd's purse, I started to question myself a little bit. Ok, maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see with a little too much optimism. I mean, how could I possibly have more than a dozen valuable and medicinal herbs all so close to home? It seemed crazy.
Out came the trusty field guide, and I spent more time online looking at photos for further identification. Sure enough. My original identifications were all correct. I do indeed have all these beneficial plants growing wild and free on my property. Wow. What are the odds?
Here are 3 great herbs all within a square foot of field space.
I had a bit of a revelation at that point. There is nothing unusual about this whatsoever! Potent medicinal herbs actually do grow all around us, and are not as exotic or rare as we seem to think. When we only see them as products sold as expensive products in fancy health food stores, we lose track of what these herbs actually are. They're just plants, and they obviously have to grow somewhere.
And it really only makes sense that these herbs are relatively common, at least in some areas. Our distant ancestors wouldn't have eaten or experimented with hard-to-find or rare plants enough to develop much knowledge about them. They would have only gotten to know the healing qualities of herbs they saw and used frequently.
I do feel quite privileged that interesting herbs are right at my fingertips but I have to admit that it's not really that remarkable. It's just a reflection of how amazing the natural world is all around us.
Do you have some nifty medicinal herbs growing near you? I'd like to hear about it in the comments.
(all photos are my own)
