While taking care of her grandmother, Dena Ristau utilized her creativity to blend various herbs grown from her garden with their daily tea.
The Dunes Learning Center (DLC) educator felt there was a need to let others know the ins and outs of gardening benefits.
To that end, she joined DLC outreach coordinator Alisha Zick, as they discussed the procedure to grow herbs and plants, as well as their healing benefits, during a “Farm to Tea” program at Chellberg Farm.
“My grandmother was a ‘tea lady’,” Ristau said, as she set up jars of eight different dried herbs. “She truly enjoyed the different combinations.”
Zick added that the additives that they would be discussing are some of the more common ones enjoyed by tea-drinkers.
“There are so many benefits to tea itself; and the additives have many medicinal properties as well,” she said. “These herbals are hardy plants that you can grow at home.”
Twenty-five workshop participants were more than eager to listen to the two ladies, as many were not aware of the distinction — and benefits — of these plants they could produce in their own backyard.
As the ladies introduced the eight popular herbs and plants displayed — lavender, peppermint, lemon balm, echinacea, lemongrass, chamomile, dandelion and ginger root — they passed around a sample of each.
“After the plants have grown, you can dry them and store upside down,” Zick said.
Friends Nicole Finney of Valparaiso, Cynthia Toth of LaPorte and Sheena Bartelmey of Hebron participated in the workshop.
“I’m glad to hear that it isn’t difficult to grow so many of these in our own yards,” Bartelmey said, as she sniffed a stem of lemongrass that was passed among the participants “I’ve been wanting to try new things.”
Cousins Elisabeth Gardner of Dyer and Elena Douglas of Merrillville are both beginning gardeners.
“I was intrigued with the topic of this workshop,” Gardner said. “I wanted to see what grows in this area. This class has proven to be very informative.”
After the workshop concluded, participants had the opportunity to take home some of the dried herbs on display in the eight jars.
“This is going to be fun, now that I know a little more about what I’m doing,” said Marie Sandford of Chesterton, as she scooped up a teaspoon of ginger root. “We were just told that this ginger may help with arthritis pain and inflammation — I definitely need that.”
According to the Dunes Learning Center website, they are one of 17 nonprofit National Park Service education partners that provides year-round, standards-based, environmental education programs for learners of all ages.
The campus is located within Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and occupies 63 acres of woodland at the southern tip of Lake Michigan. For more information, visit DunesLearningCenter.org.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
