Secrets From A Herbalist's Garden: A Magical Year of Plant Remedies

INTRODUCTION

Breathing hard as I climb the steep side of the wooded slope, it is a relief to reach the contour path, and catch my breath as I walk under the yew boughs. Prisms of sunlight piercing the dark forest, light captured in spider’s webs, I walk silently on soft needle-covered clay, then through a tunnel of prickly brambles with wild roses catching on my clothes, and suddenly, I burst, blinking, out of the forest and into the sunlight, high up in the hills.

Up here are ancient meadows, yellow with St John’s wort, sweet-smelling lady’s bedstraw, lofty agrimony and wispy dandelions. Mounds of wild purple thyme, the hot summer air fragrant with origanum. Flying creatures whip past my ears as wild roses tear at my jeans and spiders creep under my shirt. Lonely winds blow, butterflies spiral around each other, birds cry and the ghosts of ancient chiefs buried in the tumuli above watch me perform the other oldest profession in the world: gathering herbs for medicine.

Down from the hills and back in the village which I call home is my herb garden, alive with birds, a few voles, a grass snake and raised beds of herbs. A small kitchen is hung with more herbs, scented with boiling berries and the sharp tang of thyme. I am making medicine for the winter.

There is no greater alchemy than collecting healing plants from your garden or the wild, transforming them into medicine through a simple method of extraction, giving that medicine to someone in need and letting the herbs do their healing work by the grace of Mother Nature.

The entire process is magical: the collecting, alone amongst the hills on warm sunny days with only the buzzards swirling above in clear azure skies as your witness. Here I walk, high on the hills above a flock of swifts, where the lonely winds blow with echoes of past herbalists doing the same as I am now. Even on cold, bracing days with a wild wind battering your face, or gently caressing your garden plants as you harvest them – it is almost ethereal, like stepping into another dimension.

Then the hammering of conkers, shaving of roots, chopping of soft herbage, the stirring, boiling, straining, and finally – the healing. It is a beautiful way of life. Much forgotten, but now a great remembering is stirring. People want to reconnect with the land again. They want to tap into the wisdom of it, and they want to use plants in their homes for medicine.

Herbal medicine is traditionally women’s work. Although there have been plenty of excellent and famous male herbalists, by and large, it has always been women’s work. They used what was available. Not that long ago, doctors were far too expensive for most folk, plus their medicine was as likely to kill as to cure. Like organic farming, plants do not dominate the body, but work with it to restore health. The plants which grow on these lands have powerful healing qualities and are perfectly disposed to being used for home herbal remedies. This is how the women of old would heal – not with expensive exotic herbs, but just the plants which they grew in their gardens, which grew in the fields, and we can do the same. They also used some rather gruesome and bizarre recipes, but we won’t go into snail-oil cough mixture or earthworm love potions here.

This is a book of plant remedies, born of over 22 years of my personal experience as a medical herbalist. I have chosen to write only about herbs which you can either grow or collect, or find in your kitchen cupboard, and so we save air miles, carbon and money. These remedies work.

CHAPTER 1

The Winter Solstice

The silence of the Winter Solstice. A time when the sun appears to pause, as if taking a great shuddering breath before its apparent rebirth. For us down here on this beautiful planet, it is as if the Earth Mother stops to listen for a call from somewhere far away in the darkness of our solar system. A cry from the Sun Child, for on the Winter Solstice, the Sun God is reborn. All over Europe and the British Isles lie ancient monuments marking this great time of the year. Stonehenge, Newgrange, Maeshowe – all honouring the rebirth of the Sun God.

People have gathered for thousands of years at these and other monuments on solstice morning, to witness the sun piercing the darkness, penetrating the Earth. At solstice sunrise, a light is ignited in the dark half of the year, and the waltz of the seasons strikes up once again as we begin our stately dance through the turning of the year. Out of the darkest days, the sun will very slowly begin to grow in strength once again. Without that light, all life ceases.

On the edge of the forested hill opposite my home grows a beautiful beech tree. The leaves of this tree form a face, and I call him my Green Man. Every day I look out the window and have a little chat, and I have even fancied that I can divine what my day will be like by the expression on his face. For the most part, he is jolly, but sometimes he looks worried. In the late autumn, I notice that as the leaves start falling, his face turns upside down as if he is diving back into the Earth for the winter.

So, it is thus that the energies of the plants descend deep down into the Earth Mother, where they lie quietly, resting and recuperating from the busyness of the growing season. Over the winter, within the dark nourishment of the earth, they gather their resources for the spring to come. So too should we.

Now, in our own lives, we can withdraw into the quiet of the dark nights, and take out some of the herbs which we have gathered and stored over the past year, to make the tonics and potions which are going to keep us strong throughout the cold, dark months. On a winter’s night, I love to close my curtains against the black winds and rain, light a fire, and start brewing and stewing in my kitchen.

IMMUNITY, COLDS AND FLU

ELDERBERRIES TURMERIC OLIVE GARLIC BLACKBERRIES LEMON BALM SAGE ROWAN BERRY HORSERADISH ELECAMPANE ONIONS WILD GARLIC JACK-BY-THE-HEDGE THYME GOOSEGRASS ANGELICA WILD LETTUCE SLOES

Early December is only the beginning of winter. Although we still carry the warmth and strength from summer, by the end of a long year, already, our inner resources are fading. Now we need to boost up our immune systems and keep them strong in preparation for the coming cold, dark months.

At this time, our resources are outside of our bodies, in the form of herbs which we have harvested, or swapped with our friends, or if necessary, purchased. All of these are common herbs and spices and are easily available to everybody. They are also very safe, and very effective.

After over 22 years as a medical herbalist, I have come to the opinion that there are two aspects of our lives which form the foundation of robust health, and those are good food and a good mood. So, bearing in mind Hippocrates, who advised us to Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food, I often consider what our grandmothers might have cooked during the dark cold months. Well, it certainly wasn’t hummus and avocado salads. At this time of year, they would have been stirring hearty pottages, made with chicken stock (great for loosening mucus and reducing the inflammation caused by infection) or bone broth with root vegetables full of hearty nourishment. No doubt they would have retrieved from their pantries a handful of immune-boosting dried mushrooms and one or two strong antibacterial onions and garlic, some cabbage from the garden, and possibly added thyme, winter savory or parsley too. All of these ingredients are bursting with nutrients and antibacterial properties.

Assuming you, dear reader, like most modern citizens, are leading a very busy life, possibly teaching a classroom full of children, working in an open office or using public transport to get to and from the office, you cannot help but pick up the various viruses flying around at this time of the year. You are probably feeling cold and weary, with your resources much depleted. Let’s consider how you can strengthen yourself and your family.

The first step is to begin by nourishing yourself with a cauldron of chicken soup, or if you are vegan or vegetarian, then leave out the chicken and make a mushroom and root vegetable stock instead as your base.

COUGHS, COLDS AND FLU

Antibiotics may kill bacteria but not viruses; however, they also kill the trillions of friendly immune-boosting bacteria which live in our intestines. Herbal antibacterials and antivirals do not appear to compromise our gut flora. They are also able to strengthen our immune system to fight the bugs from within.

There are some home remedies which are very effective at boosting our immune system, killing bronchial infections and helping us to feel much better. Some of the herbs, such as elderberries, you would have harvested earlier in the year, and either made into a cordial, or dried and stored, are now ready to turn into something magical! And it is magical. Picking a weed, stirring it into a medicine and then getting well from your remedy was the first magic, and it is empowering to protect and heal your family with what we now call a weed. For what is a weed? Why, it is a plant whose benevolence has been forgotten.

IMMUNE-BOOSTING SOUP

Start with 1 organic chicken, slowly simmering in a large saucepan of water.

Add to the water 2 strong onions, some organic celery and carrots, immune-boosting shiitake mushrooms, grated fresh turmeric (which is famous for its anti-inflammatory properties), a handful of antibacterial thyme and a few cloves of garlic.

Cover the pot and simmer for about 2 hours, then switch off the heat but leave the lid on, and leave overnight. In the morning, you should have a jelly-like collagen-rich stock to work with.

Carefully lift out the chicken; pull off the meat, throw away the bones and give the skins to the dogs, cats or foxes.

Strain the stock, and then you can add the root vegetables of your choice. Personally, I love to add potatoes and butternut squash, or legumes such as brown lentils or kidney beans, and some leeks and mushrooms for flavour.

Cook these vegetables in your stock until they are soft, then either blend smooth or leave as is for a chunky soup. You can return the chicken meat to the soup at this point, if you want to.

You should now have a lovely thick broth, full of nutrients, which is easy to digest and very comforting. Just before you serve, you might like to add a handful of freshly chopped chives for extra flavour and antibacterial qualities.

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food

IMMUNE-BOOSTING HERBS

Elderberries (Sambucus nigra)

The elder tree is one of nature’s great medicine chests. It is one of my great joys in late summer to wander down long hedges of elder trees with my lovely partner, Adrian, collecting baskets of the dark juicy berries whilst outraged sheep glower and yell at us for trespassing on their field.

Over and over, I am amazed at the wisdom and generosity of nature. This tree produces flowers at the height of the hay-fever season in May. The blossoms have exceptional anti-inflammatory effects on our mucous membranes, making them excellent for the immediate home treatment of hay fever (see page 133).

By the end of summer, just before the cold and flu season strikes, the flowers swell into clusters of blue-black berries, bursting with vitamin C, as well as having significant antiviral properties!

Elderberries have been used since at least medieval times for the prevention and treatment of colds and flu, but with science, we now have a clearer understanding as to how they work. As an antiviral, elderberry is as clever in its mechanism of protection as the virus’s mechanism of attack.

As everyone learned from Covid-19, viruses cannot reproduce themselves, but need to penetrate our cell walls in order to access our genetic RNA. The virus has spikes on its outer membrane, which bind to our own cells, then penetrate our cell walls to gain entry, where it hijacks our RNA to multiply within our body. The cell then explodes, releasing thousands of replica viruses into the bloodstream, which then repeat the dreadful deed. They work like a stealth bomber.

To counter this, elderberries are rich in certain flavonoids, which are able to bind to the virus and block its entry into our cells.¹

The berries are rich in vitamin C, and are able to stimulate our immune system to produce antibodies against the virus. Studies have repeatedly shown that people who have taken an elderberry preparation within 48 hours of starting a cold or flu have a reduction in their symptoms within 2 days, as compared to the normal 6 days.²

With some flu viruses, there is a concern that the immune system might become overstimulated, and promote a massive inflammatory reaction which can ultimately kill the victim. This is called a cytokine storm. Elderberry modulates the immune system so that it stimulates it whilst at the same time dampening an overreaction, and thereby alleviating a cytokine storm.

In addition to its antiviral properties, elderberry is also effective against pathogenic bacteria. Under laboratory conditions in Germany, elderberry was shown to be very effective against several bacteria that are responsible for pneumonia during flu-like infections, and against influenza viruses.³

Elderberries are like gold growing on trees. In fact, they are better than gold, because gold cannot help you against a virus, whereas elderberries can. During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, when my stocks of elderberries quickly ran out, you could not buy elderberries for money, but you could with love, if your supplier liked you enough to send you the last of their supplies.

But for you, dear reader, there are few nicer tasks than to go out into the gentle late summer afternoons, and collect a basketful of elderberries, absolutely free, thanks to nature’s bounty. In times gone by, the berries were used to produce a rather excellent fake port! So, they can taste pretty good. Bring them home to brew into a spicy cordial, to be stored away for the cold winter days.

ELDERBERRY GLYCERITE

Alcohol and vinegar are not appropriate for children, but I find that the sweet softness of glycerine appeals to young palates. Elderberry glycerite is one of my favourite immune tonics for children.

Using dried elderberries: Place a cup of dried elderberries in a saucepan and then add a cup of boiling water. Leave overnight with the lid on to absorb the moisture. You may need to add a little more water, until you have a consistency which enables you to blend finely with an immersion blender into a rich purple pulp. Using a sieve and a piece of muslin, strain the fluid from the berry pulp, and retain the juice. Pour the juice into a jug and add the same amount of vegetable glycerite as there is fluid. Shake and label carefully.

Using fresh elderberries: If you are using fresh berries, then add half a cup of boiling water to two cups of berries, bring to the boil, then switch off the heat. When cool, you can either use a potato crusher or an immersion blender to release the juice from the berries. Strain through muslin into a jug and then measure the juice, and add to this the same amount of vegetable glycerine. Mix thoroughly and bottle.

Tip: It is always useful to label all ingredients, and the date. If you have wild-harvested, it can be helpful to make a note of where you found your herbs, so that you can collect next year.

Dosage: Adults can take 1 teaspoon 4 times a day if they have a virus, or just 1 tablespoon daily as a preventative. Children under 10 years old can take 1 teaspoon twice a day if they have a virus, or 1 teaspoon daily as a preventative.

ELDERBERRY ROB

This is a favourite of mine, and brewing it is a wonderful way to stir away a chilly evening – filling your home with the aroma of berries and spices. Elderberry rob was noted as a remedy in the ancient manuscripts which I had the privilege to read some years ago. So, this is as old as time itself. In those days, they would have used honey, so if you want to substitute the sugar for honey, that will be a more expensive but much better product. However, it might ferment more easily.

Once you have got your berry hoard back home to your kitchen, start to boil a pot of water, and with a fork, pull the berries off the stalks into the water. Throw away the green stalks. Fill your pot with a good amount of berries because you want a rich syrup.

Now gently simmer until the berries soften, then crush them with a potato masher. Switch off the heat and allow the water to extract from the berries. Once cooled, strain off the pulp, but keep the precious ruby-red liquid.

Now reheat, and stir in as much sugar as you can until it will no longer dissolve, roughly the same weight as the berries. This is your preservative. Then, add a good amount of cinnamon, crushed cloves, lemon peel, quite a lot of fresh ginger, and a few star anise pods.

Cover the pot, switch off the heat and leave overnight to cool, then strain off the spices and bottle.

Dosage: This delicious elixir can be taken every night over winter as an antiviral hot toddy. Because it is so sweet, it is best taken in a mug of boiling water with about 2 tablespoons of the rob in a mug.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

These days it is quite easy to find fresh turmeric in supermarkets and greengrocers. This warming golden spice is a very useful root because it both inhibits the entry of the virus into our lung cells, as well as the replication of the virus within. But it does something else which is very important: it inhibits fibrosis (scarring). With a Covid-19 or SARS chest infection, the lung tissue becomes inflamed; this is why breathing is so laboured and difficult. But then, the inflammation hardens into scar tissue, and this is one of the aspects of the illness which leaves long-term damage. This is therefore crucial to avoid, and one of the best herbs for it is turmeric.⁴ ⁵

TURMERIC HOT TODDY

This is a delicious, cosy bedtime drink. In winter, when our resources are at their lowest ebb, you will find this deeply warming and comforting. Ginger and turmeric have strong antiviral properties, and warm our cold bodies during the last soggy days of winter. Both roots are strongly anti-inflammatory, which is great for aching joints, especially for those who feel creaky during cold, wet months.

Finely grate a small knob each of fresh turmeric (if you can’t get fresh turmeric, then use ½ teaspoon of dried powder) and ginger root.

Add to this a cup of warm coconut, oat, almond or dairy milk, and add a grind of black pepper to release the active constituents of the turmeric.

Keep the milk on a low heat for a few minutes, with a lid covering it, to allow the antiviral constituents to infuse into your milk. It will then turn a lovely golden colour.

Now strain the milk, add a dash of cinnamon powder, and a little stevia or honey for sweetness.

Enjoy snuggled in bed!

REFRESHING ANTIVIRAL TEA

This herbal tea is stuffed with powerful antiviral kitchen herbs and spices. You will find it an invigorating infusion to begin your day with.

½ tsp cinnamon powder

a sprig of fresh rosemary

1 clove, crushed

1 star anise

6 slices of ginger

½ tsp grated turmeric

a grind of black pepper

1 slice of lemon

Put