Wild Women are making healing salve in Minnesota’s “Garden of Eden”

There’s wildness in Minnesota! Wild Women are making Wild Salve in Winona to help keep their community from ” scratching like a monkey” lol. Carol Jacobs & Trina Barrett are starting a traditional pantry to offer herbal remedies made with local ingredients. Check out their story below….. Lets send them a wild cheer from NYC!

Winona Minnesota Daily News reports…

Women hope Community Supported Traditional Pantry finds an audience

By Jessica Larsen jessica.larsen@lee.net | Posted: Saturday, March 27, 2010 12:05 am | No Comments Posted

Carol Jacobs spooned the hot green liquid into the small tin on the counter. Her friend Trina Barrett stood close by, just in case the spoon slipped.
It was the first order they made together — eight tins of Wild Women Salve.
And it’s up to Winona whether they will make any more. The pair recently started the Community Supported Traditional Pantry to explore whether there is an interest for their remedies.
The concept works like this: Residents who seek specialty elixirs, syrups, salves and teas made with locally grown products can place orders with Jacobs and Barrett. The duo will create the product and deliver it for a price.
The price depends on the types of ingredients and how much is needed.
They will also put together special-need foods, like gluten-free treats, probiotic dips and healthy chocolates.
Jacobs and Barrett see the need, but will residents?
They aren’t quite sure.
“In Rochester they have a lot of gluten-free and special mixes, but not here,” Jacobs said. “A lot of people needing special diets aren’t finding much in the Winona area — so they can turn here.”
Jacobs, 60, and Barrett, 29, have been experimenting with herbs for as long as each can remember. Jacobs started making salve and other products for friends. Barrett was the go-to person when her college dormmates wanted to soothe a cough. It was at a “herb group” in December that they decided to combine their powers.

For the past two weeks, Jacobs has been soaking bee balm in infused oil to prepare for the salve. She mixed in beeswax and a few other herbs, and brought the mixture to Barrett’s house on Friday to finish their first order.
Long-time customer of Jacobs, Walken Ratajczyk, 65, swears by the salve. About five years ago, he noticed a rash on his finger and torso. The salve made the itch go away.
“It makes life so I’m not walking around like a monkey scratching,” he said.
Ratajczyk said that when he lived in the Siskiyou Mountains in Oregon, the natives showed him the same types of mixtures. These work just as well, he said.
Barrett knows some people are afraid to try new foods and ideas, but she thinks people are slowly opening their minds to it.
“Until you try it, you don’t know how great it can be,” she said.
Barrett and Jacobs don’t want their member circle to grow too much — just a dozen people or so. That way, the pair can better teach their members recipes and classes on how to grow their own herbs. Or, if the members prefer, just order their favorite foods.
For the amount of resources Winona has, more people should be doing this, Jacobs said.

“Southeast Minnesota is like the Garden of Eden,” she said. “It’s very abundant and we need to appreciate what we have here.”

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_dd1217c8-394d-11df-b751-001cc4c002e0.html