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| October 23, 2024 |
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People: Marguerite Dunne and Her Healing Herbs
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| Comfrey, catnip and chocolate mint |
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| Lemon balm and echinacea |
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| Marguerite Dunne |
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| Rue from Jefferson's garden |
If you’ve ever had trouble sleeping at night, you may be happy to learn about a woman living in Cornwall-on-Hudson who can prepare an herbal tea that will allow you to drift pleasantly into dreamland.
Marguerite Dunne is an herbalist and the creator of Herbs-on-Hudson, which she operates out of her home in the village. She has studied herbs and their healing powers for 33 years and offers herbal solutions to a variety of health woes. Her practice follows in the wise woman tradition of healers dating back hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
The Healing Power of Herbs
A tour through her herbal garden suggests how easily one can find a simple remedy growing right outside your door. Coltsfoot will clear congested lungs, she says, while pennyroyal can help irregular menses in women and help men with depression. Marguerite says that chocolate mint is good for digestion and stinging nettles can help cure rheumatoid arthritis.
“The use of herbs is nothing new,” Marguerite points out, noting that the rue plant she grows came from Thomas Jefferson’s garden at Monticello. “Jefferson wrote a lot about herbs in his diaries and he was very aware of the importance of eating vegetables and herbs.”
Herbs in History
George Washington also promoted the healing power of herbs and his troops survived the winter at Valley Forge in part by eating slippery elm, she says. He also ordered his army doctors to write a materia medica, a list of all available herbs to use in the field.
Marguerite’s knowledge of herbs comes from three decades of research and she lectures frequently, including talks about herbs in American history. She also has a weekly, hour-long radio program on WTBQ-AM.
Three Decades of Herbal Research
When Marguerite started researching herbs in the early 1970s, she had a difficult time finding information in New York City, where she grew up. She was motivated by her own health problems, which, after three years of failing to cure through western medicine, she finally cured through chiropracty and herbs.
“I used to go to Kiehl’s, an herbal apothecary in lower Manhattan that sold herbs in big barrels,” remembers Marguerite, “and as I stood in line I would ask other people about the different herbs.”
Getting Out the Word
From Manhattan, she moved to California where she continued studying and practicing herbology. In 1990, she moved back east, to Orange County, where she lived on the side of Schunnemunk Mountain and continued practicing her craft. In 2000 she moved to Cornwall-on-Hudson, where she lives today with her husband and two cats.
“My business is largely word-of-mouth,” Marguerite says. “When one person gets well, they tell three other people who may then contact me.” She works out of two locations in the area and will also do consultations by phone.
Pure Herbs vs. Herbal Extracts
Her home garden is her workshop, filled with lemon balm, comfrey, goldenseal, burdock root and stinging nettles –plants whose curative powers are just waiting to be unleashed. Marguerite believes that it is important to go straight to the source and warns that there is a difference between herbal extracts, often sold in drugstores, and the herbs in a pure form.
“Every herb has 200 to 300 chemicals in it,” she explains, “and when you extract some of the chemicals, that processing changes the curing power of the herb.”
Plants Take Care of You
Each plant in her garden is treated with special attention. “You take care of the plants, “ Marguerite says, “and they will take care of you.”
You can visit Herbs-on-Hudson at www.herbs-on-hudson.com and listen to her radio show. The Urban Herbalist, on Mondays from 6 to 7 p,m. on 1110 AM radio WTBQ, or online at WTBQ.com.
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