Long before we had hospitals or the kinds of doctors many of us visit today, humans relied on plants, and a keen understanding of their properties, to treat many of our maladies and discomforts. This week we explored some of the plants that we grow and that grow wild around our town that have healing properties - in other words, plants that we can use as medicine! We looked at plants that don't grow wild, but that we can grow in gardens, such as chamomile, calendula, oats, and lavender, as well as plants that grow wild in Maine (even though none of these are native to our state): St. John's wort, mullein, mint, plantain, and stinging nettles. The wild card of the day was cinnamon: did you know that it comes from the bark of a tree that grows in Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh? And it's not only for flavoring apple pie; it's also said to help lower blood sugar. Once we got to know the medicinal plants laid out on the table, we started processing t
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