"Herbal Renewal: Growers Find Many Uses for Herbs"

by Heather MacDonald
The Union Newspaper, 1994

Registered nurse Kathleen Kerrigan tried every cure the medical community had to offer. Nothing worked. She figured back pain would be part of her life forever. With nothing to lose, she began experimenting with herbal therapy.

"St. John's wort grows around here," she said from her San Juan Ridge home. "It's a special herb for nerve dam age. After taking that for two months I haven't had sciatica for two years."

Herbs are the most versatile of plants, used for flavor, scent, garden color, crafts and medicines.

Kerrigan, a nursing supervisor at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, owns Irish Rose Herb Farm. She grows and dries most of her herbs on the 18-acre ridge property near Malakoff Diggins State Park.

She doesn't treat people, but does offer herbal tinctures such as catnip for colic and dandelion root as a diuretic. Kerrigan also whips her herbs into salves, bath oils, potpourri and flavored vinegars. She hopes someday the traditional medical community will be more accepting of these ancient cures.

"A lot of people are turning to alternative medicine," Kerrigan said, "because they're not getting the results they want from traditional medicine."

Her biggest medicinal seller is American ginseng, a product she buys wholesale.

"It's the No. I herb for stress," she said.

Stress is one reason gardening expert Carolyn Singer was drawn to Grass Valley from the Bay Area 18 years ago. Her son had cystic fibrosis, a debilitating and often fatal disease. She figured the move would help him live. He is now 26 years old and married.

"I'm such a firm believer in a loving environment that's stress-free," she said.

Once transplanted to the foothills, Singer started puttering in the garden. The hobby soon turned into a business and Foothill Cottage Gardens was born. She soon will appear for a second time in "Fine Home Gardening" magazine, and is a consultant to Time-Life Books.

"Probably herbs, more than any group of plants, have been grown for centuries," she said.

A favorite is thyme, which grows in 12 varieties at her nursery. Besides perking up a spicy dish and making good ground cover, the herb has a quality all foothill growers love.

"The deer don't touch any of them," she said.

"The harder they grow the more flavorful they are," she said.

Although Singer said she has not experimented much with herbal medicines, she does believe that moving to Grass Valley and growing them had psychological benefits.

"It gave me a lot of peace," she said.

When growing herbs, the expert reminds foothill dwellers they must add phosphorus to the soil. And keep herbs in the sun and the soil on the dry side.