My family—in my preschool years still intact with both mother and father—had a friend called Billy Flanagan. Tall, skinny and wiry, Billy chain smoked—even while hovering over a frying pan scrambling eggs and bacon (daily breakfast in the 1970s)—and wore skinny jeans. He had long black hair and a beard and, for a city boy from Alphabet City, wielded—rather well, I might add—all sorts of carpentry implements. This helped greatly when he and my parents partnered in 36 acres of land north of Oneonta and decided to build their own house. One particularly hot summer afternoon, Dad and Billy were orchestrating the usual racket sawing and hammering so Mum decided we’d go pick blackberries. Somehow, in the tangle of low shrubs and bracken, I inadvertently (who ever advertently seeks these things out?) walked over a hornet’s nest. Memories after this are staccato: blue Tupperware containing the blackberries fell to the ground, Dad found me, swung me over his shoulder and ran like hell for the cabin, general shouting, blur of the ground as I bumped along on Dad’s shoulder and then, once inside the cabin, a swirling, buzzing mass of blackness mercifully blockaded by the screen door. I had something like twenty bee stings and it was Billy Flanagan who knew how to make a soothing salve out of baking soda and water and covered me with the stuff. This sort of natural healing wisdom was still, in the 1970s, common knowledge. What would happen these days? No doubt a panicked cell phone call to 911 or a fast journey to the nearest emergency room.

Sage Rose Herbs
Vashti Snyder of Sage Rose Herbs in Margaretville recalls her father, Eric Misner, as being the inspiration behind her mid-life career change, from nutritionist and chef to co-owner with Marine Putman of an herbal boutique. Vashti, a Delaware County daughter, received a culinary degree from SUNY Delhi and worked for many years as a Nutrition Teaching Assistant for the Delaware County Cooperative Extension. Vashti’s knowledge of culinary herbs is extensive but her interest in healing or medicinal herbs was sparked only several years ago when she assisted Cheryl Starcher of Olive Tree Herbs in Treadwell. “Working with Cheryl and having my hands in the soil revived so many memories of my Dad and my Aunt Edith and my grandmother. Aunt Edie was known as the best wine maker in Delaware County. She’d make strawberry, dandelion, blackberry, red clover and elderberry wines. My Dad was a real wilderness man. When I got stung by a bee once, he pulled a leaf off a plant, chewed it up for a bit and then put it on my sting.” The plant was Plantago lanceolata or Plantain, a plant that contains powerful antitoxins and can aid in neutralizing poisons. In salve form it is helpful in healing stings, cuts, burns and other skin problems. “My mom, Janet Misner, cooked on our wood stove. She worked for 30 years cooking at Kass Inn: that’s my love of cooking. She took pheasant my dad shot and the wild greens, things from our garden and made it taste like heaven. I haven’t had roasted wild rabbit since I was 17 and she cooked it with turnip, tomatoes and herbs. What a meal! Homemade bread with homemade butter. Dad had many ginseng patches, hunted, fished and would keep peanuts in his shirt pockets so the chipmunks would have lunch with him. And my grandmother won the blue ribbon for butter making at the 1898 Chicago World’s Fair.” Vashti is now applying for her Mixing License through Ag and Markets and is in the process of completing an herbalist course with Rosemary Gladstar.

Sage Rose Herbs hopes to fill an herbal void in the Margaretville area by offering numerous culinary and medicinal herbs, classes on such topics as making herbal liquors, and “Going Green When You Clean” by incorporating baking soda, lemon juice, vinegars and scents like lavender instead of chemical cleaners. The first herbal class met in December. Part of the reason for hosting herbal classes is for people in the community to reconnect and form a network—to bring back a community tradition of right dependence on one another—who can do what and perhaps barter for goods or services.

Marine Putman is the other lady behind Sage Rose Herbs. In Marine’s own words: “Three years ago my husband and I came to Catskills to visit friends and we loved it so much we both wanted this beautiful area to be part of our lives. We had a six-month old daughter and we wanted her to have the experience of real nature, not Central Park. When we bought a house, Vashti turned out to be our next door neighbor to one side. A beaver is our neighbor on the other side.” A Frenchwoman who grew up gardening—especially with herbs—in the south of France and who has lived in New York City for ten years, Marine soon realized that there is a vast difference between growing things in Catskills and growing things in south of France. “Vashti and I became friends over gardening and herbs. She showed me what herbs and plants will grow in the Catskills and we often exchanged seeds. My daughter, who is now three, calls her Aunt Vashti.”

Peppermint is one of Marine’s favorite herbs to work with. “I love peppermint since it has so many possible ways of being used. The first thing we experienced was mice in our house and we got rid of mice with peppermint essential oil, by soaking cotton balls in peppermint essential oil. Mice hate peppermint oil. Once they were driven out, we filled the holes with steel wool to keep them out. Most French houses have bunches of peppermint right around the entrance to the basement so mice won’t even enter the house. When I visited John Burroughs’ Woodchuck Lodge in Roxbury, I noticed peppermint around the entrance to the basement so it seems this is not just a French tradition. I also love peppermint as a tea.”

Peppermint, or Mentha x piperata, “ranks among the world’s most popular flavorings—since ancient Greece and Rome—and is the world’s most extensively used essential oil added to everything from antacids to ice cream to after dinner mints…” and “in modern herbal medicine is respected as a soothing aid for stomach and intestinal complaints that is also employed to relieve pain and headaches and treat symptoms of the common cold.” (Foster, Stephen & Johnson, Rebecca, L. Desk Reference to Nature’s Medicine. Washington DC: National Geographic.)

And the wonders don’t just stop at peppermint. Marine adds, “The front of our deck is surrounded by lemon balm, which acts as a natural mosquito repellent, plus it gives off a nice lemony scent and has beautiful flowers. I also love lavender but haven’t been successful. I cook with a lot of herbs, especially bay leaves which I put into every soup I make. Bay leaves contain two essential oils, Myrcene and Eugenol. Myrcene is a component of many essential oils used in perfumery, can be extracted from the bay leaf. The flavor and aroma of bay leaves owes in large part to the essential oil, eugenol—also present in cloves. Eugenol is used in perfumeries as well, for flavorings, and in medicine as a local antiseptic and anesthetic. In fact, it is a routine analgesic agent in dentistry for those reasons. In other words, my bouquet garni simmering in my stews for hours has the multiple purpose of being delicious, prevent bacterial infections in the mouth all the way down the digestive track, as well as a light numbing effect as well. Some things were taught to me by parents and grandparents. I was taught that ‘this was how things are’ and only now—with a background in biology—I am learning the why of things. For example, cilantro relieves gas pain. Cilantro is often put together with bean dishes—which makes sense.”

As the friendship between Marine and Vashti grew, Vashti mentioned in passing she that was looking for a partner in Sage Rose Herbs. Marine, always a lover of herbs, and knowing—and sharing—many of Vashti’s philosophies, became her partner. Both Vashti and Marine source local products for their store, and in the happenstance where a local source isn’t available, especially for herbs, they source from organic and sustainable companies.

Vashti hand makes the Eye Pillows (flaxseed and lavender), Comfort Bags and Custom Bath Blends in two scents: Relaxing with chamomile, lavender, comfry and roses, and Tired Body with Epsom and Dead Sea salts, arnica and calendula. Marine is developing a line of natural beauty products based on products that she grew up with in France. “Lip balms are needed and useful in the Catskills’ dry winters. For the French green clay masks, I am importing green clay from France (it is available in the woods) but am looking for a local sources of green clay.” Marine is also working on a natural bug spray using essential oils and natural scrubs that utilize an exfoliating powder made from the pits of apricots. Until Marine’s natural beauty line is finished, Sage Rose herbs carries Alabu Goat Milk Soaps—made in Mechanicville, New York—in Grapefruit & Sage, Musk, Cucumber Melon, Tahitian Vanilla, Oat & Honey, Rose and Stress. Sage Rose herbs also carries yarn made from wool from sheep in Halcottsville and a French line of jewelry called Alena Creations that utilizes fresh water pearls, silver and Swarovski crystals.

The culinary and medicinal herbs are a tour de force, and include over 100 herbs and spices; everything from the familiar Cinnamon, Echinacea, Garlic, Ginseng and Parsley to the more exotic Bladderwrack and Devil’s Claw.

Sage Rose Herbs also carries an impressive list of loose leaf teas, including Apple Spice, Bella Coola, Belgian Chocolate, Black Tea, Black Tea Decaf, Blue Lady, Bourbon Street Vanilla, Buttered Rum, Ceylon, Chai, Cranagranite, Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Earl Grey Decaf, English Breakfast, Genmaicha, Georgia Peach, Grand Marnier, Green Tea, Green Tea decaf, Irish Breakfast, Jasmine, Le Marche Spice, Long Island Strawberry, King Tut Lemonade, Oolong, Provence, Rooibos and Young Hyson.

“People are so happy to find the nettle tea that has been missing for 30 years or the slippery elm tea,” says Marine. “People know what they are coming for. We hope to provide something that people wouldn’t otherwise have access to in this area.”

Sage Rose Herbs is located at 746 Main Street, The Binnekill Square, Margaretville, New York. For more information, phone them at 607 588 6830.

Vegetable Herb Stew*

2 chopped carrots
2 chopped turnips
2 chopped leeks
2 chopped sweet onions
2 chopped peppers (green or red)
3 chopped celery sticks
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 whole large tomatoes or 1-8 oz. can organic crushed tomatoes
4 medium potatoes, cubed
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1 cup fresh mushrooms, any variety
olive oil
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Drizzle olive oil in a large soup pan or Dutch oven. Add all the vegetables and sauté them over a low heat while stirring. If you like a dark stew let the vegetables brown a bit. Add the broth, salt and pepper. Wash or wipe dry the mushrooms, chop and add them to the pot. Cook the mixture for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and add the fresh herbs. Serve with peasant bread. Dried herbs can be used instead of fresh, just use ½ of what you would fresh.

* Courtesy of Vashti Synder