This June will be Wexford Conservation District’s first herbal and native plant sale. It will take place at the Cadillac Farmers Market on June 11 and 12 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Plants have been grown by Misty Ridge Greenhouse, a local greenhouse, located in Mesick. There will be a wide range of herbs and natives for sale on site.
Healing Herbs
Herbs are also known as herbaceous plants and have no woody stems. They can be annuals, perennials, or biennials. The problem with the definition is it excludes lavender, sage, and rosemary. So, a general meaning of herb is a plant that can be useful to humans. A few common herbs grown easily in the northern Michigan garden are lemon balm, garden sage, spearmint, thyme, sting nettle and lavender.
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), also known as common balm, is a herb in the mint family. It is a perennial with small white flowers. As an aromatic plant, it has a pleasant fresh smell and is commonly used as an essential oil. The leaves can also be dried. These leaves are then used in many ways, including teas, flavoring in ice cream, and fish dishes.
Garden sage (Salvia officinalis) is a very easy sage to grow and propagate in northern Michigan. It is a perennial also known as common or kitchen sage. Sage is an aromatic plant and the Romans referred to it as “holy herb‘. The leaves go great in tea and as seasoning. They add great flavor to pork, lamb, and fish.
Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is a perennial and is also known as garden or lamb mint. It is also an aromatic with a square stem. Square stems are a characteristic of the mint family. Spearmint can spread very quickly in your garden, so it is a good herb to grow in a pot. The leaves can be used dried or fresh. They are great for teas and for cooking. Spearmint is also used in toothpaste because it contains menthol and menthone.
Sting nettle (Urtica dioica) is a perennial herb commonly found in the wild but can also be cultivated. Not all plants sting in this species but many do. When the skin comes into contact with the plant and breaks a stinger, the plant releases a venom. This venom can cause tingling, pain and red bumps on the skin. That is why sting nettle must be harvested with care and gloves. The leaves can be used for tea or cooking. But cannot be eaten raw, they need to be heated in some way first.
Lavender (Lavandula) is in the mint family and there are about 47 different species. These species come in a wide range of plants, including annuals, perennials, shrub-like, subshrubs and small shrubs. The most common one found in Michigan is English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). Lavender is an aromatic plant used in many products like essential oils, balms, salves, perfumes and soaps. The buds are also used in teas, cooking and infusions.
Herbs play a very important role in everyday life including medicinal, culinary, aromatically, topically and spiritual. Harvesting your own herbs out of your garden can be a great way to be in nature and can give a better understanding of the role herbs play. It also gives you a connection to the generations who came before.
Importance of Natives
Native plants, or indigenous plants, are plants that by no human intervention, only natural processes, are present in a region.
Native plants are important for many reasons, a few of these given by the U.S. Forest Service are; they do not require fertilizers, require less water than lawns, provide shelter and food for wildlife, promote biodiversity and stewardship of our natural heritage.
Natives are an important part of conservation as they help conserve not only our native landscape but also conserve our cultural connection to these plants.
So we hope to see you at the first two days of the Cadillac’s Farmers Market, located in downtown Cadillac.
Tiffany Jones is the District Manager for the Wexford Conservation District. For more information and for assistance in local conservation matters contact Tiffany by phone at (231) 775-7681, ext. 3, by email at wexford@macd.org, or stop by the Wexford Conservation District office at 7192 East 34 (Boon) Road, Cadillac.
May 25, 2021 at 11:00AM
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