The Big Herbs

An awesome read, this is the remarkable story of a farmer, a farm, and a piece of land loved back to life. With simple words and powerful imagery, all true and straight from the heart, Paul shares his deeply personal story of living life fully, taking risks, standing tall for what you believe in, and loving the earth passionately. Reading The Big Herbs is as close as one can get to hiking through the woodlands with Paul, trying to keep up with a man who can teach, dig, weed, plant, and story-tell all in one big breath.

Between this book and the film made about his life’s work, Sanctity of Sanctuary, Paul’s message is preserved for future generations. I’m imagining one day that people will be looking up Paul Strauss in the Smithsonian or Museum of Appalachian Folklore, or at the Jim Duke Welcoming Center at Golden Seal Sanctuary, and find archived there these stories of his life and life work.

Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and author

I need nothing more than a forest to know divinity.

Paul Strauss, 2020

Some rights reserved

Species illustrations courtesy BHL, Biodiversity Heritage Library;

Forest Trees of Illinois—How to Know Them by Fuller George D.,

Nuuttila E. E., Mattoon W. R., Miller R. B.; and Project Gutenberg.

Photomontage illustrations by Wendy Minor Viny

Photographs by Alana Galt-theis and Paul Strauss, p.49 by Marsea Ilio

Book design by Jerry Kelly

ISBN 978-1-880977-36-1

ISBN 978-1-880977-53-8 (e-book)

Second Edition

This book and the information referenced and herein does not constitute an attempt to practice medicine. Use of this book does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. Individuals should consult a qualified health care provider for medical advice and answers to personal health questions. The information presented in this book and any accompanying website is not intended to take the place of your personal physician’s advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Discuss this information with your own physician or healthcare provider to determine what is right for you. All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions.

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

Strauss, Paul, 1950-

The big herbs: the use and abuse, natural history and identification of major tree and shrub species in the Midwest and Eastern U.S. with stories and insights of a life married to farm and forest / Paul Strauss. -- 2nd ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-880977-36-1 (alk. paper)

1. Medicinal plants--Ohio--Meigs County. 2. Trees--Ohio--Meigs County. 3. Trees--Therapeutic use. 4. Organic farmers--Ohio--Meigs County--Biography. 5. Herbalists--Ohio--Meigs County--Biography. 6. Strauss, Paul, 1950- I. Title.

QK99.U6S77 2013

581.6’340977199--dc23

2013030221

My Thanks

Carl, I never ran into you again after time spent around Taos. Did you ever make it back to Canada and settle on your peoples’ land? I wonder about your good life often. Thanks and big respect, you opened the door—Love and deep gratitude to Bill Clonch for his teaching and friendship and energy, and his suggestion that maybe I should buy that farm on McCumber Hill Road with the big cave on it—The Wood family, who made me feel loved and welcome as a very young man in this foreign land and gave me a chance to work on their farm—These friends who became my family gave me the tools I needed to find the right road and navigate this earthly life—Deep thanks to Alana Galt-Theis, who has taken my words from pencil to computer and filled my life with love—I was going to self-publish this book, but then I met Jerry Kelly, who shared the task gratefully—Thanks Rosi for the tears in the Goldenseal—To Wendy Minor Viny for the photo-montages herein, a talented & devoted artist whom I’m lucky to know as a neighbor. To all those herbalists and friends who gave their time and money to raise a sanctuary—and of course to my main mule Jerry who had the patience to put up with me ‘til my skills caught up with his. I think of you every day—And all the dogs, so many of you, who kept me company walking these hills in our own heaven—We wear no stinking leashes. All thanks and amazement at the deep knowledge of our First Nation People and their thousands of years living with the plants and animals with respect, the only way—Gratitude to all those friends who were brave enough to buy land here, to live a green life, and help create an amazing community, a sane place in these times.

P.S., Rutland Ohio, August 2013

A life centered on the earth is the most rewarding, giving you opportunities to be responsible for yourself and those around you, to view the interconnection of all things and the dancing circles of life and death, to be endlessly humbled and amazed as you reap what you sow.

Contents

Prologue

Part I: Conceiving Sanctuary

Wood Musings

Month of Moon in Flat Tire

Leaving Apache Junction

Meeting Bill

Two Appalachian Species

The Cave of the Fallen Cow

Indian Summer 2003

Harvest Gallery

Part II: The Big Herbs

White Ash

Big-Toothed Aspen

Basswood

Beech

Sweet Birch

Black Haw

Yellow Buckeye

Butternut

Eastern Red Cedar

Black or Wild Cherry

Eastern Cottonwood

Propolis, Pollen, Honey

Flowering Dogwood

American Elm

Slippery Elm

Hackberry

Hawthorn

Shagbark Hickory

Honey Locust

American Hornbeam

Eastern Hops Hornbeam

Cucumber Magnolia

Red Maple

Silver Maple

Snakes, Hummingbirds, Bees

Sugar Maple

Black Oak

Chestnut Oak

White Oak

Red Oak

Haircut

Osage Orange

Pawpaw

Persimmon

Virginia Pine

White Pine

Native American Plum

Eastern Redbud

April

Sassafras

Sourwood

Spicebush

Sycamore

Tulip Poplar

Tupelo

Bees

Black Walnut

Willows

Red Mulberry

Witch Hazel

Part III: Maintaining Sanctuary

Sweet Corn Obsession

Jerry, Friend to the End

Adam, The Mighty Mite

Some Really Good Shit Happens in Hawaii

Death Comes Knocking

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

Heart Pond

Postscript: Creating Botanical Sanctuaries

by Christopher Hobbs, L.Ac, A.H.G. and Rosemary Gladstar

Bibliography

Contacts

Index

Paul and Kiya, who was three-quarters wolf, 1986. Note the handful of Calendula for Golden Salve.

—Prologue—

What I know as the Divine Science and Holy Scripture I learnt in the woods and fields. I have no other master than the Beeches and Oaks. Listen to a man of experience, thou wilt learn more in the woods than books. Trees and stones will teach thee more than thou canst acquire from the mouth of a Magister.—Saint Bernard

Being a lazy student, having always had an impossible time with indoor classrooms and studies, reports and tests—indoor-about-anything—I am a devotee of the Saint’s words. Some may find a balance between the academic interior world and outdoor activities… I never have. I am not a natural writer but so admire those who have the discipline to study, research, and write for long hours and days. I find it arduous and would rather be working in the woods or gardens, even building fence. I just have to get dirty to feel my connection to this life.

My writing beach

The majority of the content of this book was written in pencil on a hard-to-reach Hawaiian beach under the shade of a Kiawe tree, over a period of seven years. In this place my daily work would be kayaking or surfing, hiking, shelling, snorkeling and swimming, often with humpback whales, spinner dolphins and green sea turtles. These are some important things my farm does not provide. Except for pond swimming, I do not have close access to the water bounty that helps balance my intense farm life. But I do get to this beach some winters for a month or so, and stuff myself with ocean. It is then easy to eat, relax, read, write, think, and take a break from my 11-month job on the farm while it’s in Ohio’s winter dormancy. It’s here I’ve written most of The Big Herbs (including the new material for this Second Edition) while connecting the dots of this amazing earth and this good life.

Being able to write this book has been a long but enjoyable way to pass on the Green Spark and reach others, especially the young—to let them know that there is a different way to live and think than the current model. The earth could use you now. It is good to share all that our multi-species forests provide, and advocate for their sane use and protection. I hope these words, experiences, and insights of a life married to a farm and forest might be thought-provoking enough to change lives. I would love to have found such a book at a young age. Living the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing did inspire me in my early teenage years and I am grateful to them for that.

In the scheme of things, the last 50 years on this farm are barely a drop in the bucket of time and history, but in the scale of a human life they are a large chunk. The farm is my classroom and my teacher, and I never graduate. It also happens to be my business, my food and water supply, my heat source, my drugstore, and my inspiration, all in one.

Over the past years there have been big changes for the good here, and of course, some for the bad. The 80 acres I originally bought had never been strip-mined but some of the surrounding farms were in the early 1950s. Human greed, carelessness and short sightedness seem to play a major part of our shared human history. These areas were not reclaimed for 40 years. You know the human pattern of take/take, profit being a major life motive at all costs for so many. It’s a pattern that does not value the sanctity and protection of our earth.

Strip mining scars

acid mine runoff slime

When I moved here in 1970/1971, not an insect—let alone a fish, frog, turtle, or mink—lived in the creek. Acid mine runoff had killed all life in it. Surrounding parts of the old farms looked like the moon with garbage. Back then, to see a deer was a wondrous event; it is common now. Bobcats were not even a thought back then, but they’re back, as are bear sightings. Turkey did not even exist here then, they are everywhere now. Raccoons, squirrels, groundhogs, and opossum populations, though noticeable back in the seventies, are far more numerous now. We did have a songbird population then, but now it has doubled, maybe more.

But even then, down in the deep hollers there were the herbs, large populations of hundreds of species, a veritable botanical ark. The big old timber was selectively cut over the past 150 years, but there are still some old ones left, along with thousands of acres of mature forest. Next to me and the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary, on Joe and Wendy Viny’s property, there is still some old growth that is protected and will never be cut. And those herbs down in all our hollers are absolutely going crazy, taking over the place. Our creeks are again full of insects, turtles, frogs, fish, and mink.

It’s a good story. Finally reclamation took place in the 1980s by the government and also by me on the acres of land I bought to protect the forest and watershed. We now have a young, like-minded community who have bought up many of the local farms around me, thousands of acres. And of course there is the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary (aka The Goldenseal Sanctuary), the first sanctuary in the United States dedicated to at-risk medicinal plants. Hard to believe in Meigs County, Ohio, known more for the extractive industries of coal mining and logging, along with deer hunting, tomato farming, and marijuana cultivation, we now have something that has always been here to be very proud of, a herbal botanical ark worth protecting and promoting.

As a means of simple, local conservation, for there is more land to protect than I can handle, I have encouraged many friends, interns, and students to purchase land when it comes up for sale in the neighborhood. I have also sold a few parcels from my farm. It is nice to know that herbology and farm life—besides being simply self-sustaining and self-fulfilling—have the ability to protect land and build community. At the same time, because of my relationship with botany professors at Ohio University in Athens, I have allowed and encouraged many students to access this land for their Masters theses. Oh, and in no way am I the leader of this community. Every one of these families has The Green Spark and has figured out their own way to live green on the land. I was only here first and it was evident to me that conservation of this bountiful herbal land was of prime importance.

Lonnie with a Fringe Tree in full flower

I have always been a truly spoiled herbalist. I’ve taken my good luck—having access to so many important medicinal plants—for granted. As I have our plethora of food and survival herbs. It’s just the way it is. I know Bill Clonch took it for granted. Being spoiled is good when it can do good for all.

My understanding about just how spoiled I was took place about twenty years ago while teaching with herbalist Rosemary Gladstar. Rosie has served as a conduit for herbalists everywhere for a long time. Her teachings have taken her far and wide and have positively impacted so many. I also have been doing this plant work for a long time, but more localized because it took a long and concentrated effort to acquire the skills I needed to rebuild this particular farm and forest. Rosie and I were taking a long hike through the land that would become the UpS Botanical Sanctuary, walking through the area now called Hydrastis Heaven because of its abundance of the miraculous plant Goldenseal, not to mention big populations of Black and Blue Cohosh, Trillium, Virginia Snakeroot, Hepatica, Wild Ginger, and Bloodroot, all so thick and high it was impossible not to step on some of them. I noticed Rosemary was missing. I knew she was loving and appreciating the walk on this beautiful early summer day and I couldn’t imagine where she was. So I took the time to backtrack and found Rosie kneeling and weeping in the thickest stands of Goldenseal. It truly was a beautiful sight, this amazing herbalist totally surrounded by Goldenseal. The stand is so thick I could only see her head, as if Rosemary was being swallowed up by Goldenseal. How perfect! But I can admit I copped an attitude and said What’s going on, Rosemary? Rosemary looked up at me with her large tear-filled dark eyes and says, Do you know what you have here? My comment back was short, something like, Yeah, a lot of freaking Goldenseal. And Rosemary’s response leading to my needed lesson was, This is soooo rare. In that moment I knew just how terribly spoiled I was. I’ve been laughing at myself ever since.

Goldenseal leaves and berries

Later on it became obvious that we needed to turn this land into a botanical sanctuary. Rosemary had just formed the organization United Plant Savers, which is dedicated to protecting at-risk native medicinal plants. I became a member of the board of directors of UpS and my dear friend and Naturopath Richard Liebmann became its first director.

It is one thing to think about making a piece of land a botanical sanctuary but it is a much bigger task to purchase it and make it happen. Talk is cheap. One of the methods we used to accomplish this goal was to hold an herb conference on this land in September of that year. Many people attended the conference that day, including all of the UpS board members who gave so much time and effort to make it possible. Our ultimate goal was to figure out a way to purchase the property.

The conference was a great success,every person who attended it was totally floored by the monstrous herbal bounty of this special property. Richard had gotten in touch with Michael and Judy Funk, who owned a large and very successful natural foods distributorship in California. At the end of the day, I remember it clearly, it was a very dry September, Richard, Michael, Rosemary, and myself were taking a walk right down the rock bottom of Main Holler Creek, which was mostly dry. Rosemary and I were twenty yards ahead of Richard and Michael and totally engaged in talking about the abundance of plants around us and the success of the conference. We were walking to the West and there were clouds in the sky. Near the end of our walk the sun broke through the cloud cover and illuminated the area all around us in a ball of golden light. I turned around to make sure Michael and Richard were aware of the beauty of being surrounded by light, a phenomena I call light holes. I could see that Richard and Michael were engaged in deep conversation and right above their heads, maybe four feet above Michael’s head, was a group of perfectly ripe Pawpaws, a perfect picture shimmering glow in the light. Earlier that day, when talking to Michael, I had mentioned the abundance of Pawpaws on the property and he told me that being a Westerner he had never tasted a fresh Pawpaw and always wanted to try one. The moment was set. I broke into their conversation and alerted Michael that right above his head were large, ripe Pawpaws, at which point we of course picked them and give Michael his first taste of this unique and delicious native fruit. As Michael ate his first taste of this sweet soft custard-like fruit a smile formed on the corners of his Pawpaw covered mouth. I have always felt that these light holes are temporary transformational moments and whenever I see them I immediately stop what I’m doing and get in them to be bathed by the light. An hour later, Michael generously gave us the money we needed to finish purchasing the UpS Botanical Sanctuary. Magic does happen, I was there. This event is forever apart of the UpS history and is referred to as The Magic