INDIANAPOLIS —
Looking for the cure for what ails you?
Many people who practice natural medicine might tell you that healing power grows all around us in plants that many other people dismiss as stinky or invasive weeds.
Take dandelions, for instance. Dreaded by lawn manicurists, dandelions can be a beneficial plant with culinary and possible medicinal uses. The leaves are high in vitamins and minerals. When picked in early spring before they become tough, the leaves can be used in salads or as greens for cooking. The flower heads can be fried in butter or egg batter, or used to make wine. The roots can be dried and ground to be used as a liver-cleansing tea or a coffee, much like chicory.
For Coalmont resident Jerry Bolinger, using herbs and plants to make natural cures has become a passion.
“I’ve been doing this as long as I can remember,” Bolinger said recently while working in the garage of his home, where gallon jars of dried herbs line shelves along the walls. “I seriously got started about 25 years ago, using it as part of my ministry to help other people.”
Bolinger has been a preacher for 49 years, and he said many of the people he pastors in the rural areas of southern Clay, northwestern Greene and Sullivan counties have limited incomes. Many also recall that natural cures were once a staple of country living on which their parents and grandparents relied.
One of the salves he makes takes the itch and irritation out of poison ivy. Using four types of herbs found commonly growing in the woods and along roadsides, Bolinger soaks the leaves and stems in extra virgin olive oil to draw out the nutrients and minerals. The mixture goes into an herb press that strains the liquid through clean muslin cloth. The resulting liquid then goes into a pan on the stovetop to be heated, with beeswax added as a thickener to create the salve.
“It’s almost as fun as making maple syrup,” Bolinger said, as he cranked down the press and watched the liquid slowly enter a pan.
Knowing the correct amounts to add to a salve or tea mixture is essential. Too much of a good thing can definitely be a bad thing, such as in the case of polk root. Polk grows wild, and its leaves are good to add into a pot of mixed greens. The dried roots, however, must be used carefully and sparingly. They can alter a person’s mood, and not for the better.
One common “weed” that most people can see growing on their lawns is plantain. Its long flat leaves spread out in sidewalk cracks and in areas where grass has a hard time taking hold. For a bee sting, the juice of a bruised plantain leaf can be rubbed on the sore area to ease the pain and swelling.
Monarda is a common herb that Bolinger said works well for stomachaches. Its minty leaves dry to make a good tea, and it was commonly used by northern native people to make “Indian tea” or “Oswego tea.”
Yarrow makes a good tea for the flu, he said, because drinking a cup of it will cause a person to sweat out the poison of the virus.
Raspberry leaves can make a tea that helps women with pregnancy problems, he said. And blood root has been used for years to make cancer salves that help with skin cancers and other skin ailments, he said. Burdock root also is a powerful ingredient in many natural cures.
Bolinger takes care to point out that the alternative remedies he offers are not a replacement for a physician’s treatment. Through the years, some makers of natural medicines have been jailed as quacks for pedaling fake cures. Bolinger said one herbalist from the area went to prison in the 1940s for selling his curatives.
Many of the recipes that Bolinger uses come from books commonly available in natural food stores and bookstores. One book titled “School of Natural Healing” by Dr. John R. Christopher has many formulas for herbal therapy.
A book written in long-hand by Luke Simpson, an herbalist from Kentucky who moved to nearby Jasonville in Indiana, has page after page of remedies. Simpson was in his 80s when he wrote out his notes and formulas, which were compiled and published in a limited number of books.
Another book called “Herbally Yours” by Penny C. Royal features many herbal teas that Bolinger says produce good results in people.
Bolinger and Wilma, his wife of 21 years, enjoy the natural cures and folk remedies, as well as sharing their knowledge of herbal medicine with others. Both partake of many homeopathic foods for healthier living.
“We haven’t used a coffee pot for coffee in about 10 years,” Wilma said. “He has jars sitting around in the kitchen and he adds a little of this and a little of that to make herb tea.”
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
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