Modern Hill Woman

My mom has been gone for 20 years. I miss her the most in the spring and stop myself from picking up the phone to call and ask gardening advice. She could grow anything. She had a room full of African violets that flourished. She had house plants that were over 30 years old. She planted a large garden and tilled it herself up into her 80s. Whether she meant to or not, she taught us a lot about botany. She always said that God put everything on this earth that we needed for healing. We just had to learn what those things were.

A sure sign of spring are the minuscule purplish flowers called tiny bluets. When I was a little girl, I would pick Barbie doll-size bouquets of the smallest flowers I’d ever seen and put them in a thimble. Mom called them “wet beds” and I always wondered why. I recently learned that Native Americans made a tea from the flowers to treat bedwetting by strengthening the bladder. I saw several patches of “wet beds” in my yard today, so spring is really here.

By our old corral is a patch of mullein. Each plant reminds me of a large pale green fuzzy rose. Mullein is valued for its many medicinal uses. It’s anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and an expectorant, and can be used for poultices or dried and burned to loosen chest congestion.

Some small plantain weeds are sprouting up in my backyard. Known for growing everywhere from parking lots to playgrounds, plantain is often considered a pervasive garden pest. However, it’s not only edible and readily available, but has been used for centuries as medicine. It reduces inflammation, improves digestion, and promotes wound healing. I was on a field trip with my granddaughters and my daughter, and granddaughter Matti got stung twice by a wasp. No one had a first aid kit. I had seen some plantain growing there and knew it was edible, so I chewed some leaves and placed them on the stings. It reduced the swelling and the pain.

Coming soon...sharing the puckery joy of eating “sheep shower” with my grandkids.