Essays

Moseying: Outdoor Recreation Activities

Collecting medicinal plants - Nolan County
May 22, 2002

Nolan County -- especially the rough terrain of the Callahan Divide that parallels Interstate 20 from Roscoe east -- is ranch country. The Callahan Divide is the northernmost extension of the Edward's Plateau. Maryneal is south of Roscoe, and yet further south is the town of Blackwell. Both are tiny little burgs. Maryneal is home to the Lone Star Cement Plant, and Blackwell is near Oak Creek Reservoir. Maryneal does not even have a store.

At the western end of the Callahan Divide is a range of rugged limestone mesas. Fossils are easy to find there. Sandstone layers add color to the grayish white of the limestone. Creeks trickle down in all directions: Big Silver Creek runs into the Colorado to the west; Wilson Creek water can end up in the Colorado River to the south; and Sweetwater Creek flows down to the Clear Fork of the Brazos River far to the north. Bouncing down caliche gravel roads, a day-tripper can be thoroughly enveloped by the gestalt of the region.

The area is "downright purty." The rocky soil provides the perfect springboard for wonderful and varied vegetation. Juniper and shrubby Mohr oak cover the slopes, and hackberry, Bigelow oak, cottonwood, American elm, and willow line the watercourses. The occasional Texas red oak gives some fall color, and in the spring, redbuds are spotted here and there across the hills.

The wildflowers, though, are the glory of the region. Red Indian Blanket, mealy blue sage, and yellow Navajo Tea carpet the hillsides in the spring. During the month of May for over a decade several ranchers of the area have asked me to survey the flora and fauna on their property. I have catalogued over five hundred species of plants in an area twenty miles across.

One of the folks that I have met in Maryneal is Sandy Light. Temple and Kathy Dickson of the 69 Ranch introduced her to Deborah and me several years ago. Sandy and Kathy put together heritage quilts for their grandkids, embroidering their respective family genealogies onto the panels. They also go flower-hunting, digging up special wildflowers to beautify the areas around their homes. Sandy has one of the few houses in Maryneal, which also has a post office and a church. When the school kids get off the bus from Sweetwater they head to Sandy's house for cookies if their parents are have not yet made it home. Her zest for life is infectious, and she is full of stories and lore of growing up on the Callahan Divide.

One of Sandy’s stories is about gathering horehound for making old-fashioned candy. A few years ago, Deborah apprenticed with the well-known medical herbalist, Shatoiya de la Tour, at the Dry Creek Herb Farm in Auburn, California. In western folk herbalism, horehound (a member of the mint family) is known to have properties that can quell a hacking cough and soothe a sore throat. When Sandy started talking about making horehound candy, Deborah was inspired to make a batch of cough drops and cough syrup to tide us over this winter. Horehound has a definite bitter whang to it that is softened by the addition of brown sugar or molasses. Once upon a time, every rural kid knew it well.

Making herbal medicines from the plants of one's own bioregion is a marvelous way to deepen a "sense of place." By utilizing such plant medicines a person partakes of the living earth of home in a very real and basic way. It is as if one is ingesting the sun and rain and soil that make the plant grow, and in return, a one feels as if roots sprout from the toes to dig deep into the land. Such a thing cannot be proven scientifically, but the belief is very healthy for the psyche.

On a recent trip to the area, Deborah and I stopped a number of places along the road and harvested several other medicinal herbs (skullcap, yarrow, and mock pennyroyal), as well as a fresh supply of horehound. When wildcrafting herbs for internal use, it is wise to hike a little way away from the roadside, since the presence of pollutants (such as the byproducts of internal combustion) can settle on the plants and nullify their beneficial effects. We only harvested the tops of plants, and left more than fifty percent of the blooms to ensure later seed production.

Birds were singing, big ol' puffy clouds floated overhead, and the sweet smell of the flowers filled the air. As we harvested the plant material, a zillion insects buzzed about. A cool breeze swept up from the Gulf of Mexico, bringing such good cheer that we found ourselves laughing and giggling. Deborah started singing happy songs, making up silly verses about me.

Back, at home, Deborah dried the plant material in the big flat baskets she uses just for this purpose. We then spent the better part of two days “processing” the plant material: trimming the usable parts from the stems, removing grass that accidentally got mixed in, etc. Deborah made two batches of horehound cough drops and a skullcap tincture, and put the remaining herbs into big glass jars to be used this coming fall and winter for teas and the like when we are feeling croupy. Skullcap will relax us and soothe our achy heads, horehound will relieve our sore throats, and yarrow will help to dry up our drippy noses. Perhaps we will add from our own garden some sumac berries for a lemony taste, and rosehips for vitamin C. We will sit back and remember the joy of the day when we gathered our medicine, and by golly, we will feel so much better.