October Medicine

October beauty and magic.

 

October brings shorter days, longer nights and a soft chill creeps onto the wind. I begin to search for warm layers of deep reds and browns and concoct warming fireside brews.

 

 

The breeze whispers death, the earth smells of rich decay and the beings all around are dying, preparing to sleep, to dream and rest. There are signs of letting go everywhere I look. The leaves turn into yellows, browns and reds and are thrown onto the wind to dance a beautiful dance before feeding the earth below and around the roots of the soon to be slumbering tree, making nourishment for the seeds to come.

 

 

Plants are putting their energy and magic into their roots.

This is the time to use and eat the bone like roots of the earth. Eating that which comes from the darkness, eating that which has not seen the light, eating that which is of the earth where all our bones will return.

This is the time to dig up the bone like roots of Dandelion, Burdock and Nettle and to receive their nourishment.

 

 

Winter and death are stirring in everyone’s bones and it seems only the human species struggle with the feeling that lies in the air of letting go, of resting, of allowing a part of themselves to die and repair.

Working day in day out in the same environment, often eating the same foods and sitting under electric lights people forget that they are animals, they are beings of this earth.

People struggle at this time of year as they ignore their bodies yearning for more sleep and darker times. People struggle with the need to let go and shed what is no longer needed within their lives. People are given Halloween sweets and gorge on sugar and wonder why their immune system can not fight off bugs. This should be a time of drawing in the medicine, feeding the body with what it needs with nourishing infusions, good healthy food and rest.

 

 

If you look around you will see the earth is having a last love affair above the ground, a wonderful departing farewell of kisses to bees, medicine to animals and colour to the eyes. If you know how to use this medicine, how to see it and feel it you will become richer and more rested for the winter.

The last harvest is upon us, sweet chestnuts are strewn across forest pathways cocooned in their spiky jackets that squirrels can manage with expert fingers and noses. Conkers reddy and beautiful fill children’s pockets on walks through parks and countryside, hazelnuts and acorns are there to be gathered and turned into wonderful potions. Hawthorn berries red like drops of blood still hold on to thorny branches, giving strong yet gentle heart medicine for the winter months. Rose-hips soft and shiny, sloes deep and dark. New growth of greens have pushed out of the earth, Nettles in abundance which will strengthen and enliven many a lagging winter soul. Roses are opening themselves to tenderly kiss the bees one more time, calendula and dandelions are shining big yellow faces up at the Autumn sun so they can sleep remembering the warmth to come.

 

 

As I walk through the forest, my garden, next to hedgerows or the meadow I can see brown seed heads of Yarrow, Wild Carrot, Ox-Eye Daisy, Mallow, Nettle, Fennel and many more.

Once I would have looked upon those brown heads and thought of them as ugly dead plants forgetting that held within are the treasures of next year. The strength the medicine and the food of the lightening days. Now I smile when I see them excited for next year, excited at the hope and the possibilities that will come along with planning medicines and new recipes in my heart and head.

 

 

 

A tree that is linked closely with this time is the beautiful and powerful Elder tree. Which is known as the witches tree and the wise woman elder of the woods, this tree represents the crone, the wise one and the voice of the ancient feminine.

This tree is also known as the tree of regeneration due to its ability of growing easily from broken limbs and so this tree mirrors what is happening at this time of year. From death brings new life, new growth and new wisdom. From death is birth and from birth is death.

 

 

Elder is the gateway of endings and beginnings and greatly honoured was this tree along with the wise old woman of the village or the elder of the tribe.

But as christian authority took hold this tree was made into a sign of bad luck and seen as an evil omen as was the wisdom of the crone. Many people now believe it is a curse to have Elder growing near them and are often scared of the idea of old wise witches and strong older women.

Whereas once the elder wise woman could heal many, she was most often a witch, a healer, a herbalist, a midwife/doula of the community. They were the link and the thread that tied and rooted people to their natural environment, to the land around them. Christian authority spurned and cast out the idea of the wise feminine crone and spread word of evil hags, death and satan worshipers. The persecution, torture and murder of millions happened because of their beliefs, their wisdom and their connection. And so people feared the elder, the wise one, death, letting go and everything that represented it.

 

This time of year was originally a time to honour that which has died or is dying. Before Halloween the ancient festival named Samhain was celebrated and honoured. This was an incredibly sacred time of fire and holding in sacredness the end and the beginning of all things. A time to give thanks to all of those who have been before us and all those who will come after.

 

 

These dead who have left us, our ancestors who are no longer with us are medicine for our souls, we learn from them and grow from them. We came from them and we go to where they have gone. They are the fertile ground, the compost, the dead seed heads and rotting leaves.

It is a time not to fear the dead but to celebrate them, to honour the beauty and strength and gifts that their blood has given, the life force that is within us was within them.

 

 

Later people believed that the spirits roamed the pathways and lights were lit and soul cakes made and left on the doorsteps to feed the dead and light their way back to their own realm. People started to dress up and knock on doors for soul cakes and each soul cake given would receive a song. 

The whole festival of Samhain became demonised and people were taught of evil hags, ghouls and ghosts.  And now people do not seem to be able to give themselves time to remember their ancestors and honour lost children, parents and family members and to also honour or give space to the many deaths and lettings go that each person has within them.

 

 

This time is a good time to remember to face the deaths you experience with love and space in which to heal. To honour and make room for grieving. Death inner and outer can be hard but if you can hold it in love rather than fear it can be a whole lot easier.

This time which is seen as the threshold time teaches that you can never know what is beyond or round the corner but the little signs of old seed heads are a beautiful reminder that new beginnings bring much medicine and needed growth.

Find a little space for yourself in this month to love yourself and to honour the times of death and personal growth you have been through and achieved. Take time to honour the passing of a loved one that made a mark on your life and the strength within you that keeps you sowing seeds for the bright days to come. Light a fire or candle to remind you of the fire within yourself, the life force you still hold and the reminder that you have strength, power and beauty within you, that you have been through much, that you will go through much, and that you will receive many gifts along the way.

 

 

Pictures by my beloved Jon Howell. Email-  joneh@hotmail.com

 

Red Clover

(Trifolium pratense)

I think of it as the herb of fertility, rising from the earth in glorious shaped leaves with a bird in flight printed on each leaf. When in bloom many little bright pink trumpet like flowers erupt in a glorious pom pom that reminds me of ovaries bursting into sweet life on top of the green stems.

 

Most often seen in fields, parks, meadows and along roadsides, its bright pink blossoms lasting from mid-summer into the the misty autumn days of early October. Bees, butterflies and wonderful bumble bees love to be around its blooms drinking in its sweet nectar.

Clover is a member of the Pea family and has three leaves. As with many three leaved plants in pre Christian times Clover was seen as sacred; the leaves representing the triple goddess aspect (mother, maiden, crone) and once christianity took hold the meaning was then changed to represent the holy trinity.

Clover is often grown to fix nitrogen in the soil and feed cattle, keeping both the earth, its animals and creatures healthy wherever it grows.

 

Red Clover as food and medicine

Food-

Many an adult has told me how as a child they would suck the beautiful sweet flowers often called little clover trumpets or just delicately hold them on their tongue to get a little drop of sweet flavour from them.

The blossoms when eaten raw have a gentle and sweet taste that can sometimes be a little beany too. They are lovely in salads as are the leaves, when cooked the flowers often work well with rice, but I find they lose their flavour dramatically when cooked and so work when paired with more flavourful plants and herbs. I find that the flavour and sweetness does not last when preserving or drying.

I have seen many a herbal plant person smoke Red Clover mixed with Coltsfoot but I haven’t looked into what it is good for but I still hold the memory of old vervain sitting amongst the hedgerow smoking sweet herbs and telling tales of her wild youth and medicine making.

Eating Red Clover will bring you a rich source of many wonderful nutrients such as calcium, chromium, phosphorus, magnesium, niacin, thiamine, potassium, and vitamin C. It is also considered to be one of the most potent sources of isoflavones (water-soluble chemicals that act like estrogens and are found in many plants).

 

Medicine-

Red Clover is a nourishing blood purifying herb that when used as a strong infusion can bring back a glow to the skin and feelings of improved and enlivened well being.

 

One of the most sweet and good working fertility-increasing plants is red clover. Working as a good ally for women through all aspects of the female journey. For those who are wanting to conceive, for the menstrual / moon time cycle, or who are going through peri menopause and the menopause.

Susun Weed successfully uses Red Clover to treat unexplained infertility in women, women and women with an unbalanced cycle. She recommends using 29 grams of dried Red Clover blossoms put into a jar with a lid. Cover with boiling water, put a lid onto the jar and leave for 4h-8hrs (overnight is a good idea) strain and drink throughout the day. This works well mixed with Spearmint to lighten the flavour. Because Red Clover works in a food based way as a nourishing herb it can take many months to start to notice the difference and it is used as a daily tonic.  Red Clover is best used for 3-6 months when preparing for pregnancy and to help detoxify the body of environmental pollutants before conception.

During the menopause Red Clover decreases uncomfortable symptoms, keeping women flexible and juicy while decreasing feelings of depression and anxiety, it slows down bone loss and it even boosts bone mineral density while often bringing a welcome reduction in hot flashes.

Energetically it is sweet, salty and cool with alterative (likely or able to produce alteration), an antispasmodic (used to relieve spasm of involuntary muscle) and an expectorant (a medicine which promotes the secretion of sputum by the air passages, used to treat coughs)

As an expectorant and antispasmodic, red clover is used to calm fevers, sooth inflamed lungs, and works well with coughs as it has a mild sedative quality too. For this I like to make a tea which you can add raw honey to.

Red Clover can be used to help remove waste products from the body due its blood purifying qualities and works well with eczema, psoriasis and other skin irritations especially when mixed with Nettle both internally and externally.

This is a wonderful pom pom ovary looking bee attracting plant that I would encourage you to get to know, its firework pink trumpet flowers are a joy to humans and bees, looking beautiful in the lawn, in the teapot and in the body.

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTES:  Some concern over mixing with hormone treatments.

 

*CREDIT photographs by Jon Howell- Website coming soon, Contact joneh@hotmail.com

Rose

Sensual, alluring, soft, strong, enticing Rose is linked with love, forgiveness, sex and femininity.

I love Rose but in the past I had discarded it thinking it belonged in stuffy gardens that I couldn’t crawl around in, I preferred the nettles and the mugwort, the dandelions and the plantain. But over the years I have realised that Rose is much more than an ornamental flower crammed into paved pathways to be looked at and never touched. Rose is a deep healer and a wonderful food, her medicine is strong, potent and deeply moving, healing on the physical, emotional, spiritual and energetic levels.

The medicine of Rose was first brought to me by my Granny Mary. I always remember filling my grannies well used magical kitchen with the sweet scent of pink, yellow, rich red, white and peachy rose petals. We would go out and find roses; wild ones and gardened ones and infuse them in water, the petals turning from velvety, crisp, cool, bright petals to soft and fleshy. We would then bottle it drinking in the smell as the cool calm liquid filled its vessel. There was a lovely gentle scent and a soft soothing feeling to the water that I would use as perfume or a hair and face wash.

There are many many different varieties of Rose and every kind holds some deep medicine and therapeutic value. The stronger scented roses usually work best and the Roses you use can be from the rose growing in a garden, an old style rose to the  beautiful wild rose making sure that they are grown organically or not near areas where chemical spraying happens.  I personally love to use the wilder Roses but I do also use others as I love getting lost in the soft folds of the velvety petals. I feel deeply suspicious of the ones with their thorns bred and wont use them as this to me is changing the personality of the rose and making her more easy and more asleep, I like my roses to be beautiful, wild and fierce teaching those who go near her that beauty and softness can be held alongside fierceness and boundaries.

All of Rose can be used as food and medicine including the leaves, petals, hips, roots, thorns and root bark.

As medicine –

Beautiful heart opening Rose is an awe inspiring beauty who is a tender hearted medicine woman that soothes and calms the nerves and whispers soft and safe feelings in your heart touching your soul with fingers that are cooling and soft. You only have to deeply inhale the scent from the soft velvety folds of the flower to feel its affects on the body.

The rose has not been given as a sign of love and romantic interest for all these years by mistake, Rose works directly on the heart especially at times of anxiety, being soothing, opening and gentle, helping to bring about a sense of ease when times are difficult. It is a cooling nervine (used to calm the nerves)  being used for depression, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, broken heartedness and grief.

Rose is a blood mover working directly with the reproductive system and a great mover of stagnant energy that can end up in absent periods/bleeds, water retention, cysts and mood swings.  Used as an aphrodisiac for many many years, moving and stirring up both blood and sexual desire as well as opening up the heart, because of this it has been used for centuries to treat impotence and non desire.

When pain in the heart becomes too much of a burden Rose can be a wonderful soothing ally to lift the heart and help with grief. Making an elixir of Rose petals with raw honey or glycerine and alcohol is such an amazing medicine which can be used as a wonderful tool to relieve depression, panic, anxiety, stress, grief and trauma. This elixir can be used in a very similar way to Rescue remedy for child, adult or animal. It is calming but not sedating, heart opening and balancing. Externally Rose works really well on wounds such as burns, taking out the heat and helping pain relief. Rose is an anti-inflammatory, anti bacterial and an astringent, it’s very gentle and safe enough to use on all ages including babies. As a skin tonic Rose works at taking heat out of the skin, tightening, soothing, toning and firming working very well on sunburn. It is a very wonderful ingredient to have in nearly every medicine you may choose to make.

As food-

Roses were often used as food and medicine throughout the world from Persia to the hills of Devon going make hundreds and hundreds of years.  They are part of the large Rosaceae family which includes raspberries, almonds, strawberries, apples, apricots and more.  When eaten Roses are antioxidant, full of vitamin c, an anti-inflammatory, sedative, antiseptic, vulnary, nervine and digestive rich in polyphenols, B vitamins and bioflavanoids with wild Rose containing more antioxidants than green tea. This abundance of nutrition in Rose and especially its hip make it a good blood medicine for those suffering from anxiety, dry skin and hair, fatigue and vertigo. As Rose is a cooling medicine/food it is best to add something warming if the individual is having feelings of cold or is generally a cold person. Warming tonics include cinnamon and blackstrap molasses.

I adore using Rose for many things whether it is adding Rose water to dishes or making the whole dish about the Rose. Things I have made are Rose Petal and Elderflower Panna cotta, Rose petal sugar free and vegan Turkish delight, Rose petal raw cake, Rose Petal and almond cake, Rose hip processed sugar free syrup, rosehip vinegar, rosehip cake and the list goes on. (I plan on sharing some of my recipes in the future) One of Susun Weed’s favourite breakfasts is Rose Petals on wholewheat toast. Making vinegar, honey, an oxymel or oil is another very easy way in which to add Rose to your kitchen or even drying petals to store up and use in teas for future use. You can also make these things with the hips too and even combine them so you have different energies of the same plant in one lovely potion.

To make a honey or a vinegar just fill a jar with Rose petals and then completely cover with honey/vinegar and leave for 4-6 weeks. If making a vinegar make sure the lid you are using is not metal as the vinegar will corrode it. After the allotted time you will have a very lovely honey to add to puddings, toast or teas and/or a vinegar to add to salads, as a daily medicine by the tablespoon, onto greens or as a skin toner.

If time is short and you feel gathering and foraging is too much I would urge you to go out and let the roses meet you, at least put your nose into those rich blooms and breathe in deeply inhaling the relaxing and calming scent, look and gaze into the petals and stuff a few in your bra if you wear one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go outside

 

Bluebell

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Also known as English bluebell, British bluebell, wild hyacinth, wood bell, fairy flower and bell bottle

I know I know, it’s NOT an edible and it is POISONOUS and there isn’t much known on its medicinal properties except that scientists are looking at it as a potential medicine for HIV and some cancers. As a flower essence it is used for those who are feeling weak emotionally or unable to find strength to express those emotions. Bluebell is said to give calm and a sense of peace and groundedness to enable one to speak their truth.

For me though it is not always about the edible or the medicinal properties of a plant. The medicine that comes from this plant (and many others) is to lie amongst it, staring up at the colours of the petals, it is to absorb the energy of it just by lying amongst it, to watch the way the bells sway and move and observe the mystical energy the Bluebell seems to hold.

Bluebells medicine comes to me just from wandering through a forest rich in a carpet of blues and purples mixed together with the white of wild garlic flowers and the buzz of the bumble bee.

It brings to me the memory of hiding in the swathe of violet colours as a child and hoping and praying the fairies, imps or goblins would find me and take me away so that when I put my head up above the sea of blue, life would have changed as I knew it. It takes me to childlike wonder, of remembering a time of being small and sad, muddy kneed and covered in Nettle stings, stumbling upon a forest full of bluebells and I suddenly understood that magic DOES exist here on earth and it is beautiful.

Stories have been told over many many years about Bluebell being a fairy flower, one of the ones that would mark the gateway to the fairy portal and that the fairies would ring the blue bells to call a meeting, any human who heard the call would be lost to fairyland forever.

Bluebells to me have always held a deep rich excitement, a sense of awe and silent wonderment that draws me too them, becoming lost in time, asleep among their vibrant hue, hoping one day to hear the tinkle of their bells.

So often people want to know immediately what a plant does or what it contains without really looking at it, and sometimes I think its best not to know or to be told as this can put a halt on really seeing it and feeling it. You wouldn’t meet a new human and ask “what can you do for me?” you would instead see how you feel about them, how their energy feels, what they look like, how their eyes sparkle and what their hands do when they talk, you would take time getting to know them, getting to know how you feel being next to them and around them. It should be the same with a plant, let go of expectations and needs and just let yourself be taken by them, beguiled and intoxicated. Lie next to them and dream, observe and listen. I don’t need Bluebell explained to me to know that I love her for her magic and mysterious beauty. I don’t care that she is toxic and so I can’t wrap my lips around her and taste her flesh or soak her in oils for my medicine cabinet. I am beguiled by the dark and soft energy she oozes, she has captivated my heart and that is enough for me. Plants don’t always have to hold an edible quality or a known medicinal one for me to love it. They don’t have to be named and categorised and placed into neat scientific boxes and its uses ticked off and explained, they can instead just be gloriously unashamedly who they are, bringing medicine to the heart and food to the soul in abundance just by showing up and oozing them-ness.

IMPORTANT NOTES- This is a POISONOUS plant and should NOT be eaten.

 

Ribwort Plantain

Ribwort Plantain (plantago lanceolata)

Also known as Common Plantain, Narrow Leaf Plantain, Ripple Grass, English plantain, narrowleaf plantain, ribwort plantain, ribleaf and lamb’s tongue, Waybread, Waybroad, Snakeweed, Cuckoo’s Bread, Englishman’s Foot, White Man’s Footprint.

A hardy little helper this one, considered a weed by many. It reminds me of a very worthy, healthy, calloused-handed woman who roams the countryside helping mend and heal, knowing the pathways of fields and  meadows with deep rooted wisdom and countryside lore in her blood.

Despite its many many healing properties this plant is oh so humble, persistent, strong and quiet. Not shouting out its amazingness in thick glossy stems and a shower of flowers, but instead its leaves stay close to the earth in a grounded way with stems that blend easily with its surroundings. It is a plant that can be trodden on and walked over time and time again and still it rises, it thrives on compacted soil and loves appearing in disturbed areas looking healthy and strong. Springing from gaps in the pavement, well worn parks, graveyards, gardens, allotments, fields, meadows and forests paths.

This plant has been named white mans footprint because where white European settlers went this plant came with them and started appearing on the footpaths made by the white mans foot fall. It was thought that European settlers brought the seed and plant with them and the seed dropped off their clothes or boots as they walked or that the seeds traveled in the earth impacted into the bottom of the Europeans’ horses’ hooves. However it happened no one knows but I love hearing all the different stories about it.

Before all this though it was it was one of the nine sacred herbs in ancient Saxon lore and often called way bread which is apparently where Tolkien got the idea for the Elven way bread in Lord of the Rings.

When lying on my belly watching Plantain sway in the breeze I noticed that the heads are very very beautiful, especially before they have flowered, they have a lilac colour to them with a pattern of what looks like dragon scales or a grand birds chest feathers or what I could imagine a giant lizards toe to look like.

I love the way the leaves are heavily ribbed, if you pick a leaf you will see the strong strings hanging out, they are sometimes whitey and sometimes luminous green. Later Plantain gets long stems with seed heads at the end that wave and nod in the breeze, it is and was very common for children to fire these at friends when playing in the fields and parks. You may have even done this yourself.

As a medicine –

Plantain is the healer of wounds, dry skin, sunburn, splinters, bee stings, nettle rashes, swollen joints and irritated skin; a must for every medicine bag.

Its has anti-inflammatory properties along with being antibacterial which  aids in quick healing.

A poultice works well on wounds when the leaves have been heated in hot boiled water and placed onto a wound. If you find yourself in need of this plant while out a great way to use it is by making a spit poultice.

Find some good leaves and chew until the potent green juice starts to come out and then spit the juice along with the mushed up leaf onto the wound or sting. If you don’t fancy using spit you can vigorously rub the leaf between two hands and the juice will start to come out, but this is not as good as the lovely old spit way.

Another way is to make a salve or an oil with it, that you can then carry round with you. To do this almost fill a very dry jar with the plant and then cover with your oil of choice such as sunflower, olive, almond, hemp etc. Make sure there is no plant material sticking out of the oil as this will create mould. Every day push the plant material down with a wooden spoon releasing any trapped air bubbles as these too can create mould. After 4-6 weeks take the plant material out and you have wonderful Plantain oil which you can heat to body temp and grate in some beeswax, you can add lavender oil or vitamin E oil to help extend the life of the salve, then pour into a jar and you have a wonderful salve to whip out in emergencies or in case the skin needs some nourishment.

Plantain tea can be taken internally for coughs, weakened lungs and respiratory congestion. I find to make an infusion of the leaves and then add raw honey or Manuka honey makes a lovely cough remedy that not only soothes a sore throat, coughing and fights bacteria but also acts as a gentle expectorant to help clear phlegm from the lungs and nasal passages.  The tea is also a good treatment for hay fever especially mixed with Nettle.

The wonderful seed heads of Plantain on the bobbly lance shaped head are mucilaginous and high in fiber and are often used to treat constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. Pour a cup of boiling water over 1 teaspoon of plantain seeds. Cool and drink before bed.

Plantain as a food –

All plantain varieties are high in protein, vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, iron and potassium.

The spring leaves of Plantain are soft in flavour with a slight astringent and subtle bitter quality. They are chewy which many people may not like, especially in this culture where food is often bland, pappy and easily mushed in the mouth. The leaves can be chopped into salads, steamed, put into smoothies, added to soups and stews, stirred into risotto and also lightly panfried in olive oil and sea salt is a rather delicious way to have them.

I adore eating the seed heads for their wonderful mushroom flavour. I love to gather them and throw them on top of my meals, you can steam them or put them into stir fries with Tamari sauce.

 

This is really a very lovely and ancient medicine herb that is literally underneath our feet. When you are out walking take note if you can, look for the hardy medicine woman dressed up as ribbed leaves and wearing a mushroom flavoured hat, you would do well to get to know her.

Loving my body

I’m naked in the mossy woods.

The huge tree behind is holding me and everything feels so peaceful, outside me and inside me.

I realised when sitting here that I love my body and I love me. I don’t mean I love my body because I have reached what’s seen as the perfect waist hip boob ratio or that I am sexy and ready to shake my ass in a bikini body. But I mean that I love every strand of hair, every scar, every line, curve, bone, pore and shade of skin. I love it all with a gentle tenderness and protective quality given to the mightiest of warriors.

This body, this flesh suit that I’m so lucky to have, this me has been there every step of the way even when I hated it , even when I repeatedly pored so much booze down the throat, filled it with shameful feelings, filled it with hate, filled it with shit food and terrible men. Even when I was so disconnected from it that I couldn’t bare to look in the mirror or see a photo of myself. This body has been cut open, abused, raped, unloved, scared, diseased, toxic and shamed. Through finding me, through finding my soft heart and protecting who I am, by connecting to the land and saying yes to me, yes to life and yes to health, I have been rewarded with the ability to hear what I need, the senses to understand the language of my heart and gut. This body is amazing!

This body enables me to hear, touch, taste, see and feel this beautiful world around me and inside me. I might not be what the mainstream media considers perfect but I’m what I consider perfect; scarred, worn, glowing, alive, fierce, imperfectly perfect, fleshy, boney honey filled beauty that has journeyed through shadows to find the perfect balance.

We have journeyed together my soul and this vessel, we have been pulled apart and now we are together as one with a feeling of “wow! What was all that about!” I now protect, honour, nourish and love my body like a wild wolf and a tender medicine woman.

Herb Robert

Herb Robert (Geranium Robertian)

Also known as Red Robin, stinking bob, Death come quickly, Storksbill, Dove’s Foot, Crow’s Foot, Fox Geranium, felonwort, bloodwort or Robert Geranium. Is a geranium in the Cranesbill family.

This plant always draws me to its being by the way it so often grows from the cracks in cement, in walls, amongst rocks and in transitional areas. Hope forms when I see these green and red stems, beautiful shaped leaves and its daring pink flower showing its strength and will and bloody mindedness to not only grow but to thrive and shine where many couldn’t.

I call this plant the Marmite plant due to the fact many (like me) love its strong Parsley-like flavour while others find it musty, bitter, drying and overpowering, but the reaction to it is nearly always a strong love or a strong dislike separating my foraging groups instantly. It has a distinctive smell a bit like parsley and celery combined (but your nose may pick up something I haven’t) again some people hate this smell and describe it as very stinky and offensive where as for me I quite like it.

Herb Robert is abundant in forests, garden walls, hedgerows and wilder edges and other types of plants like to grow next to it, probably down to the fact it is a natural insect repellant among other things.

As a food Herb Robert is much loved by me as a beautiful edible. Full of vitamin B and C and a good source of minerals such as calcium, magnesium and iron. I love to use it much like other wild greens; in salads, pestos, sauces, pates etc.

When I first discovered this plant in Spring I was delighted and amazed that I could eat something so abundant and literally coming out of every crack I looked at in my garden. This green healing herb is lovely mixed with Sorrel, Wild Garlic, Jack by the Hedge, Pink Purslane and Horseradish leaves in a punchy flavoursome salad with a wild herbal vingar, salt and a glug of oil.

As a medicine this plant has many many wonderful benefits to really help the body.

It’s a free radical scavenger with strong antioxidant properties, boosting the immune system. It is full of a component that is called Germanium which is an oxygen carrier and catalyst, stimulating the body at a cellular level, making oxygen more readily available to the cells in your body.

Having oxygen in the body plays a very important part in cell health and for a healthy functioning immune system, giving the body more opportunity to fight disease, repair, be well, feel alive and wholesome. If you have a lack of oxygen available to the cells, which can be caused by many things in the body such as free radicals and toxins, this then causes the cells to not have enough nutrients to regenerate, repair and heal.

This humble and abundant herb is a great one to have regularly in your diet as a practical way to help general wellbeing and will enhance the body and really really help your immune system.

I have read and have been told first hand of many cases in which Herb Robert has resulted in helping many with serious illnesses such as cancer, especially bowel cancer. It has been shown that cancer cells cannot survive in oxygenated environments so finding these kind of herbs that can help your body strengthen on a cell level is an important part of staying healthy, but I would get them in your diet now, dont wait until trouble knocks at the door, prevention is the greatest cure.

A wonderful way to have this plant is in a foot bath to help rid your system of toxins, heavy metals. This would be of benefit to those who use computers, mobile phones, microwaves or are having x-rays which is a vast majority of people! To have a foot bath with this herb put a handful of the plant into a bowl that your feet can fit into, boil about a litre of water and then add it to the bowl stirring the herb with the water. After a small time of  infusing (about 20mins) check temperature and add cold if needed or more hot if its cooled too much. Sit back relax and let your feet be loved for 20 mins or so, enjoy, pamper, relax and read, or sit outside doing this under the stars!

I also Love to have a tea/infusion with this herb using a teaspoon of fresh herb per cup having about three cups a day. Put the herb into a container with a lid, let it infuse over night with the lid on, in the morning take the plant material out and drink throughout the day. I like to add Nettle, Cleavers or Mint to it. I also like to add this musty one to my seasonal vinegars.

This is definitely a plant to get to know, but be careful because the leaves can look a little like hemlock (deadly poisonous). I myself very often find Hemlock and Herb Robert to be intwined together as very happy bedfellows.

If you are unsure find the plant when it has its little pink flower, but like all foraging take your time, get to know plants one at a time and don’t pick it and use it until you are absolutely 100% sure of what it is. Get to know them slowly, know them like you would a lover; by their smell, their feel, where they hang out, the energy they carry, the colour of their flesh and who their friends are.

 IMPORTANT NOTES

Best not to be used if you are on blood thinning medication, consult a professional first

Primrose

What does this plant say to me? – Spring spring spring!

Primrose is a flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. Also known as Primula Vulgaris, Common Primrose and English Primrose, Butter Rose, Jack in Box and Jack-in-the-Green.

The Primrose is one of the first flowers to appear after what feels like a long dark winter.

The name comes from the Latin Prima Rosa meaning first rose, although it is not related to the rose. They start appearing in the middle of February (sometimes as early as January) and last until the end of May.

These Spring beauties that appear at the transitional moment between Winter and Spring also like to grow in transitional places such as edges of grassland and woodland, grassy banks, shady glades and nooks.

I’m alway happy when Primrose shows her face, as this really means Spring is here or just around the corner. I love that at this time of year my boys and me suddenly have our mouths full of Primroses and the subtle taste of honey is upon our tongues. There is an excitement in us all when the little shoots and flowers of Spring start to appear.

If you look deeply into the centre of a Primrose flower you will find that there are two types of flower but only one type is on each plant. In one you will see a very delightful little pin head that looks like a tiny yellow / green ball on the end of a stem, this is the end of the stigma and is called the pin-eyed flower which is female. In the other type which is called the the thrum-eyed flower it has five anthers which look like yellow stems in a ring around the tube but no central pin, this is male. (as with most nature stories, there’s more to it than this but from a bee’s perspective and for this article this is deep enough)

Fertilisation can only take place between pin and thrum plants. Pin to pin and thrum to thrum pollination does not work. I found it very lovely when I noticed the two differences, the female one I especially love to look at.

Primroses have been associated with fairies and fairy gateways.  It was said to eat a Primrose would give you the ability to see the nature spirits, maybe this explains why I am the way I am! 😉

Primroses as food-

These lovely open faced flowers were one of the first things I think I ate when learning to forage. Most of them taste subtly sweet, delightful, with a whiff of Spring air that gently strokes the mouth as you eat it, whereas some others taste of barely anything and are just a texture of soft butterfly wings on the tongue (Not that I have ever eaten butterflies!)

I was very happy when I learnt that you can also eat the heavily wrinkled tongue like leaves which although a little furry and chewy are nice in the usual favourites:- smoothies, salads, pestos, hummus, soups and pates.  They have a subtle taste which I discovered more about a couple of days ago when I found myself in the woods sitting in a grassy, tangled bank slowly and mindfully eating the leaves, taking tiny nibbles and leaving it on the tip of my tongue and wafting the taste round my mouth by making funny facial expressions akin to French wine tasters.  I think if anyone had seen me they would have called an ambulance…..BUT…….. I discovered that the leaves which I have usually eaten in gusto and not taken time to explore their flavour fully, actually taste very very gently of peach skin and apricots, a beautiful discovery that really made me giggle and gave me a nice surprise.

Primroses were once very important in the rural farming areas especially during the butter making season that began in May. In order to encourage cows to produce a lot of milk, primroses were rubbed on their udders at Beltaine. This makes me wonder whether they would be any good topically for breast feeding mothers??

Things I have made with Primroses are: Primrose and lemon curd, Vegan and sugar free Primrose Ice cream (see picture below), Primrose honey, primrose wine, Primrose cheese, thrown into salads, and used the leaves for pesto.

To make this delicious and wonderfully easy vegan and  sugar free Ice ‘cream’ just freeze some bananas for an hour or two, and then whizz them up with a handful of Primroses and serve. You can add honey, dates, cherry blossom, rose petals, cacao, coconut, almonds or anything that takes your fancy.

Primrose as medicine-

I rarely hear of Primrose being used as a medicine these days but I have read about them being used as medicine a lot many years ago.

Now Primula vulgaris root is often used to help muscular cramps, headaches and as a sedative, although it is most often the root which is used in herbal medicine, the flowers contain very similar compounds and make a lovely tea. It is also used as an anti-cough tea specifically as an anti-spasmodic and expectorant.

I also think the medicine they hold is their Spring like quality, the happiness they bring me as they shine their pale yellow faces up into the sun is medicine enough.

So enjoy Spring if you can, enjoy the fleeting moments of Cherry blossom on the wind, primroses on banks and woodland edges, the smell of wild garlic on the earth and cleavers sticking to your trousers.

For me foraging is such a way of linking into the earth and reconnecting to its seasonal abundance and really being able to appreciate each season for what it is and what it brings both physically and emotionally.

I often feel that in this culture nothing is allowed to be absent.  Consumerism has given us “on demand” and now we expect it from nature, and because of this many people want everything everyday of the year even if it isn’t in season or from the country they are in,  totally ignoring nature’s cycles.  The stodgy underbelly of this is a failing to enjoy the ecstasy of the moment.  Nothing is special anymore and the ability to let go is weakened.  Many people need to remember that nature’s cycles have to include the winters as well as the springs, the nights as well as the days, the darks as well as the lights and deaths as well as births.  Foraging and gathering is about learning what is abundant at what time, how long you have until it is gone and really appreciating those fleeting moments of sweet flowers, gentle young leaves, potent roots, strange mushrooms and juicy berries.  I love each season for what it brings and although there is a sadness as each thing dies and disappears I know I will be seeing them again the following year. It means that each moment is more special, more exciting and more vulnerable. This way of being has also taught me to be able to let go of things and people more easily when the time comes, to really enjoy what I have in the moment.  For foraging and eating it makes each plant, each mouthful and each experience incredibly special.

IMPORTANT NOTES-

Primrose contains saponins which is beneficial in small doses but in large amounts is toxic. Eating Common Primrose is far healthier than many commercially produced processed foods and drink, the benefits far away the negatives unless over consumed.

Not recommended for pregnant women, or those taking anti-coagulant drugs. The leaves could be mistaken for foxgloves leaves which are highly poisonous so make sure you really know, without any doubts about what it is you are picking. Primula Obconica also known as poison primrose is a garden cultivar and can cause skin irritations.

Picking wild flowers, as with all wild food foraging should be limited to taking only those plants with which you are familiar and which you know are widespread and plentiful in the area.  A good rule of thumb is that if a plant looks unusual, or if there is very little of it, resist the temptation to pick it.

Magnolia

Ancient Magnolia you truly are stunning, feminine and breathtaking.

At this time of year ( in late March and through April ) when the Magnolia trees are blooming, their huge flowers that can be as big as my face are reaching into the sky like white, pink and purple flames, stroking the air with beauty and dazzling my senses.

I have been sitting and watching some of the Magnolia trees that I know, and seen them  developing their little furry pods that are then, over time, gently pushed open by the pink and white bud that is within, the hairy grey pods are then cast aside onto the earth. This to me is deeply sensual, feminine and delightful, like a baby being pushed from the womb out of the vulva and into the air. These furry pods then look like bats ears on the ground, which can be deeply confusing for many passers by.

Magnolia is Native to East and Southeast Asia, particularly China which makes sense to my eyes when I see the shape and unique beauty of the flowers. This is a hardy tree and is one of the oldest flowering trees going back 100 million years!

I think it is amazing that this beautiful being has survived and thrived all of the extreme weather conditions over so much time and grown to be so beautiful and strong. This to me is a great tree to remember at times that need perseverance and strength, the times when I’m feeling like I just cant grow through something with grace and beauty, I remember these strong hardy branches and breathtaking flowers.

 

 

I was first taught about this tree by a group of women who sent me to pick its blossom in the full moon. This was their traditional way to do it and it had been done like this for many many many moons, as this is when it scent is at its strongest and its feminine energy at its peak.

Barefoot I followed the track they set me on with bats swooping and an owl hooting in the night air and came out in an opening where Magnolia lifted its blossoms up to the moon, rising in a soft and clear fragrant smell. In a way I hardly dared touched the blossoms and yet all of me ached to. This little journey of gathering these blossoms under the moon felt deeply womanly and deeply ancient.

I was then taught a preparation using the gathered flowers and some of the bark; turning them into an oil for the womb and a potion to help calm anxiety.

 

Magnolia as Medicine-

The medicinal properties of Magnolia are many,  for me some of the medicine just comes from looking at the magnificent blooms and spending time outside under their branches occasionally nibbling a petal here and there.

Chinese medicine has been using extract of Magnolia bark and flowers for many many years, as an agent that helps promote flow of Qi

(the circulating life force whose existence and properties are the basis of much Chinese philosophy and medicine)

and eliminates dampness from a persons middle and so treating stagnation and indigestion. By increasing the circulation of Qi it also helps coughing and asthma and also liver stagnation really anything that is stuck in its energy.

The main qualities that I know this tree for is its wonderful and potent calming ability by reducing tension and anxiety and improving our adaptation to stress through the endocrine system. Small doses of tincture made from Magnolia bark helps with anxiety and depression as it contains Honokiol which is often compared with Vallium but holds none of the negative side effects.

Magnolia is a gorgeous friend for women, it works well with cramping associated with monthly bleeds and will help to bring on a missing bleed. This beautiful tree also works with the woman going through the menopause working well at calming hot flashes, irritability, insomnia, depression, anxiety, loss of libido and vaginal dryness.

As I mentioned I love making a womb oil from the flowers and bark that is applied warm onto the skin. It is such a nourishing act that really helps to get things moving or calmed.

Magnolia as food

The flowers of Magnolia trees are edible and medicinal. They are thick and crunchy, tasting highly fragrant, soapy, spicy and floral. I will always remember being fed gently cooked Magnolia flowers that were stuffed with crushed pistachios and almonds and then drizzled with a rose petal syrup, it was heady and intoxicating and fit for a goddess.

I have eaten some beautifully wondrous Magnolia dishes, from divine creations involving puddings, roses, honeys, figs and nuts, and I have had some really dodgy ones that were bitter or flavourless. So it is worth experimenting and tasting the petals before diving in. Although just thrown into a salad is a lovely and easy way to have them.

I love to make honey with magnolia by infusing the petals in raw honey for 4 or more weeks. I then use this honey in teas, on bananas, stewed apples, smoothies or anything you can imagine having honey on 😉 I have put it all over my face and used it as an ingredient for face masks too which feels very decadent and exotic.

It is traditional in the UK to pickle Magnolia flowers and my dear friend Robin Harford has a good recipe for this on his website. I also have it in mind to ferment some this year as I found a Sandor Ellix Katz recipe for this and I will be making my usual magnolia vinegar to go with salad dressings. I haven’t yet tried to replicate my goddess meal but maybe this is the year to give it a go.

So enjoy the sensual goddess that is Magnolia, stick your face in her blooms, breathe in her scent, find her in a full moon and nibble on her petals; she is ancient and she is wise and much can be learnt from her.

 

Contraindications:  

This is definitely an herb that can be toxic in high doses so one must be careful. Avoid taking bark and tincture if pregnant, breast feeding, avoid giving to small children, elderly, those with respiratory conditions.  Avoid taking with painkillers, sedatives.  May cause vertigo in some.