We are heading to the village of Juodkaimiai, which has a couple of hundred residents. Here we are welcomed by members of the community center that has been active for several decades.
“We settled in and started thinking about what to do. They gave us this little park – a plot for public use. It took some time to tidy it up.
At first, we carried out activities just outdoors, later we thought that a small house was needed to meet the community’s needs. The house kept getting nicer, activities expanded and improved, and three years ago we established the ‘Herb House,’ where three educational programs are conducted.
Community members gather herbs, make hydrolates, jams, syrups, teas, scents, incense, and ferment cucumbers from the collected herbs. It’s a fun fellowship. People are united by similar hobbies, ours – herbs, healthy living,” explained Virginija Cukanovienė, who became the community chairwoman back in 2009, describing how it all started.
You won’t be a prophet in your own land, so Juodkaimiai attracts more curious people from other cities. Many groups come for educational activities from Vilnius, and so far only Latvians have appeared from abroad.
“We are the older generation here. Most of us are involved in other activities. I am a social worker, working at the Josvainiai eldership and the Kėdainiai Family Support Center. One colleague is a former social worker, another is a senior,” Virginija introduced.
Gathering herbs along the rivers
As assured by the members of the Juodkaimiai village community, all herbs are interesting. The educational leaders gather herbs in Pašušvys, Panevėžys – everywhere there are organic meadows.
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“Definitely not by some road. We planted a spice garden near the house and created a fairy tale meadow. We inherited a golden legacy from the elders, but we are quite trendy – interested in spices from all over the world,” Virginija assured.
According to her, Pašušvys has always been famous for herbs, and the women living here constantly prepared various supplies for their homes – gathering herbs all the way to the Nevėžis valley, the place where the Šušvė flows into the Nevėžis. The valley is a true herb oasis with unmown meadows.
We dive into the experiences of the educational program “Spice Detective.” It is an introduction to medicinal herbs, spices, and the world of scents. The program combines tasting, scent recognition tasks, and stories about the use of herbs in cooking and everyday life.
“One herb gatherer once said: my children, students, came back for summer vacation – the son was pale, the daughter had all sorts of coughs and rashes, what to do? We advised: give them teas, it will pass. ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘young people don’t recognize herbs, give them all sorts of supplements – they just lie all day in front of the TV, eating bread with butter and watching detective shows. Maybe we need to play detective with them?
A colleague herb gatherer suggested: add something to the butter the children eat and let them taste it – they won’t guess, give them more, if they guess – give a different, harder task. That’s how it all started. Later we played detectives with men, neighbors, and friends who dropped by. Now – with the participants of the educational programs,” the interlocutor smiled.
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