Just down the road at the Gallup Flea Market, greenthread native herbal tea can often be bought in traditional small bundles. Native American wildcrafters from the nearby Navajo and Zuni lands harvest their favorite wild herbal tea along with others knowledgeable of the rich gifts of the wild. They gather the herb on mesa tops, roadsides, and sandy canyons, collecting the new growth that sprouts in the early spring after even the driest winter and again in the fall after late summer rains.
Tradition of the Plateau Peoples
Before the flower buds open, wildcrafters cut the stems at the base, fold them, and deftly tie the bundle with a lithe stem of the same plant. These bundles are strung in a series and hung on the wall at home to dry. Dry bundles may then be snipped from the line and dropped in a pot to simmer.
Cultivating greenthread sustainably on the Colorado Plateau is a new way of keeping in good supply. I know of only two other herb growers attempting to put in a field of greenthread. But it makes sense to grow it. Here’s why:
- More sustainable: The plant is perfectly adapated to cultivation on the Colorado Plateau. It is a native perennial thriving in seasonal drought, winter hardy and frost tolerant. Cultivation also contributes to species success.
- Tastier: When grown in compost-enriched native soil the flavorful leaf of the plant is more plentiful than in the wild.
- More abundant: A harvest from the garden serves more people, just as maize, once a wild grass, benefits families and whole communities when cultivated on a small-scale across generations.
- Cleaner: A harvest may be handled, dried and stored more cleanly when harvested from a garden than when transported from the wildlands.
The tradition of drinking greenthread native herbal tea continues and extends with conscientiously grown and carefuly dried and packaged greenthread.
