Plains woman goes to Alabama to talk herbs

A Plains resident had the chance to talk to a group of people in Alabama about something she believes in — herbs.

Sandi Lane gave a 15-minute speech about herbs to about 400 people at the 2007 Bonnie Plants Convention in Auburn, Ala., in mid December. Michele Furry, who co-owns Montana Nursery with her husband, Bill, and operates Bonnie Plants Station 53, and Jesse Tuma, a salesperson at Station 53, also attended the conference.

Though Lane was only a little nervous at her first big speech, at one point she said she looked out into the audience and wondered "what the heck am I doing up here." The 35-year-old Lane has talked in front of the Plains Woman's Club and was an instructor at the Women in the Outdoors program in August, when she taught about herbs.

"It was a very popular class and I had a lot of interest." However, she had never spoke to such a large group. She said the audience, which was mostly men, included Bonnie Plants station managers and salesmen, the general manager of Bonnie Plants, and the vice president of Isuzu Motors. One of the speakers was Katie Brown, who has a PBS show about gardening. Lane said that Bonnie Plants is one of the sponsors of Brown's show.

However, herbs are something Lane said she firmly believes in and enjoys talking about. She was asked to speak at the convention in May by Joe Stuart, a Bonnie Plants sales manager during his visit to Bonnie Plants Station 53, where Lane works. "I made copies of some of the herb articles and gave him the information to read on the plane ride home. A few weeks later he called and asked me to attend the Bonnie Plants conference in December to share what I have learned with the audience," said Lane, who's originally from Wisconsin, but has lived in Plains for about 13 years.

Lane has been researching the health impact of herbs for about 10 years. In 2004, she began writing columns about herbs for local newspapers. "It is old school medicine that has been around way before I was here and will be around after I am long gone, and it works," said Lane, who uses herbs on a regular basis.

She began writing to gain more knowledge about herbs and to help educate the public in "fun, easy to read articles," she said. She doesn't sell herbs, but makes laminated cards of about 30 of her favorite herbs. Lane said people are welcome to call her (396-2631) or e-mail her (gh442@yahoo.com) if they'd like to know more about herbs or get her cards.

In Lane's speech, which included a Powerpoint presentation, she talked about chamomile, lavender, fennel, oregano, parsley, peppermint, which are all Bonnie Plant herbs. Her favorite herbs are basil, rosemary and white willow bark.

When sick, Lane takes elderberry, white willow bark, garlic, horseradish root, and thyme, but she also uses ginger, which helps with any digestion system problems and motion sickness. She also uses kelp, which she said has all the major and trace mineral a body needs. Lane said it's a cost effective way to help the body stay healthy.

Lane has worked for the Furrys for about three years. Her duties include seeding, transplanting, watering, answering the telephone, and even loading trucks. She also helps sales people with their Bonnie Plant Third Grade Cabbage Plant Program, which involves distributing cabbage plant seedlings to elementary schools in Montana, northern Idaho and eastern Washington for third-graders to grow. Last year's student winner from Butte took home $1,000. Lane is coordinating the award presentation at Emerson Elementary School in Butte, which will take place in January.

During her three-day stay at the Alabama conference, Lane said that a lot of people had questions about herbs, such as cooking herbs, using them in tea, and the medicinal use of herbs.