Early in the nineteenth century, the medical profession had a theory about health which held that blood was of four kinds: high, low, thick and thin. High blood referred volume rather than pressure. It resulted in headaches and nosebleeds. Low volume of blood in the body was thought to contribute to fatigue and a poor complexion. Thick blood was viscous and contained too many waste products. Thin blood meant that an individual might feel cold and be frail.

Blood was thought to thicken during the winter when the less affluent were forced to stay indoors most of the time. Their diet was limited to salt pork, beans and root vegetables such as potatoes, rutabagas and carrots as well as cabbage.

Just as the sap in trees began to rise in the spring, humans needed to promote health by drinking a spring tonic. Early growing plants such as dandelions, rhubarb and various weeds were sources of vitality and blood cleansing. Dandelion leaves were made into salads, cooked like spinach or dried for making tea. Rhubarb stalks were cooked into a sauce or baked in pies and cakes. (The leaves of rhubarb were not eaten as they were thought, correctly, to be poisonous. Now we know they contain oxalic acid.)

A variety of spices such as ginger, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom, were made into tea. Sassafras, a weedy tree, was used by people in the Appalachian Mountains and Midwest. The roots were brewed into a tea which had purgative effects. No one was allowed to drink it for more than a week. Modern scientific analysis has found some cancer causing characteristics.

The fresh foods helped people overcome the malnutrition of the winter months and improved their vitality. With the heavy work of the summer before them, individuals needed every bit of the fresh food available to mend their bodies.

August Sandburg surely grew rhubarb in his garden, as did almost every other family in Galesburg.. In the spring, Mrs. Sandburg probably sent her boys out to the garden to pick some rhubarb. She then made a simple sauce to serve at supper time.

Rhubarb Sauce

1 pound fresh rhubarb stalks, about 3 ½ cups cut into ½ inch pieces
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 tablespoon butter

Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Stir and bring to boiling over medium heat. Lower heat and simmer, with occasional stirring, about 10 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.