Rachel Jackson

Rachel Jackson of Barberville stoops along Woodland Boulevard in DeLand to talk about the nutritional and medicinal value of weeds growing in sidewalk cracks.At age 75, Jackson is an active environmentalist and a life member of the National Biology Teachers Association.She's also a member of the National Science Teacher's Association, the Florida Native Plant Society, the Sea Side Herb Society, the Pierson and DeLeon Springs garden clubs, the DeLand Herb Society, Seed Saver's Exchange, the National Geographic Society and the Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts in Barberville.
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Barberville resident Rachel Jackson is a bona-fide nature girl.She is an active herbalist with a master's degree in biology from Stetson University and, at age 75, is an avid environmentalist.

Born in New Jersey, Jackson moved to DeLand in the middle of her freshman year of high school.After graduating from DeLand High School, Jackson entered Stetson University, where she minored in chemistry.

In the late 1940s, sciences, especially chemistry, were not subjects women often took.

"I've always done things men have done," Jackson said.

There were three girls, including her, in the chemistry classes.One was in the class to meet a smart husband, the other was enrolled to be close to her boyfriend, Jackson said.

Jackson completed her biology degree, and entered Stetson's law program.She spent a year and a half pursuing a law degree, then left to help college to help take care of her mother, who was wheelchair-bound.

Instead of becoming a lawyer, Jackson became a teacher.She taught biology, chemistry, botany and premedical and pre-nursing classes in middle school, high school and college.

After she retired, her fervor for botany and natural preservation only grew.

"I had an interest in botany before I could walk," she said.
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"You poison the water, you poison the environment when you do that," Jackson said.

Jackson also wants to see the roadsides and medians mowed less often, or to have the mover blades raised to 6 inches to give native plants the chance to bud and reproduce.

To Jackson, every plant has value, and that value should not be wasted.

"Every plant has a different chemistry; some are edible, some are inedible," she said."Socrates said, 'Don't speak to me of poison, speak to me of dosage.'"

Jackson doesn't allow visitors to her Barberville farm.So, while she was in DeLand, she demonstrated the health benefits of weeds by taking The Beacon on a wild-flora tour of Downtown.Dressed in a flowing blouse, skirt and pair of rubber work boots, Jackson would stop in the middle of the sidewalk, hunker down, point out weeds and describe their nutritional or medicinal value.

In a patch of grass on the corner of Howry Avenue and Woodland Boulevard, she pointed to a plant overgrowing the grass.It has flat, shiny leaves.

"That's dollar weed," she said."It's related to parsley.
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Jackson believes in a holistic approach to medicine.Heavily influenced by Native American ways, Jackson said the key to good health is to live in a balanced, unaltered environment, and to use the native flora the environment provides.

"Doctors have no cure for rheumatoid or osteo arthritis, but the Indians had a cure," she said.

Jackson is currently working on a project to recognize residents whose yards are natural Florida landscaping.

To find out more, or to assist in the recognition project, e-mail Rachel Jackson at rachelranchera@hotmail.com