You Don’t Have to be a ‘Proper’ Herbalist

Herbs are plants. Just Grow ’em, and Use ’em…

I have just spent several days in Germany staying with a middle-aged couple who live in a small village surrounded by sheep and bounded by a river. Their kids used to swim in the river when they still lived at home, and there is a considerately marked cross on the main bridge over the river to indicate the best place to jump in because it is nice and deep.

These people own sheep, and we took a stroll past several fields on a tarmacked ‘farmers’ track’ to reach the field which housed their flock and a large barn, While our host fed his sheep, his wife and daughter pointed out a huge man-made nest on the top of a wooden pole that soared up into the sky. The local council had the nest constructed for migrating stalks.

I couldn’t help but notice how much more they were aware of the natural cycle of the countryside. Part of this awareness was a confident use of what grew around them, and an appreciation of efficacy of medicinal plants.

The host’s wife and I had an energetic conversation about Artemisia annua, or Sweet Annie. She was growing it in pots on her terrace in full sun, and had planted some in her back garden where it was more shady. She told me that she grew some every year. Apparently it is an annual which is something that I didn’t know; I just buy the tincture ready-made from professional suppliers. I have studied for years to be a Medical Herbalist, I run a herbal practice, and I teach herbal medicine – it was humbling to be taught facts about medicinal herbs by an ex-professional baker.

How refreshing it was to be with someone who had experienced the satisfaction of growing and using herbs effectively. She hadn’t ‘done a course’ or gone to University to get a degree. She had just followed her interest one plant at a time.

And she was so enthusiastic. She showed me her herb patch with Ladies Mantle, Lemon Balm, Peppermint and others. She knew how and when to use them. She used them fresh, she dried them, she brewed infusions. And she made capsules!

I had to see her capsule machine…

So she rummaged about and brought out her kit describing how she went about making her capsules. It was the same machine that I used to have so we were able to swap stories. Well, as much as we could – I don’t speak German and she had very little English. We did find an effective, though laborious, way to communicate using Google Translate. We would type in a comment in our phones and hit the translate button, so her comments appeared to me in English, and my comments to her appeared in German.

However, this didn’t always work and it pays to be cautious. One evening when we were settling down with the family to have some supper, she noticed that I looked a bit uncomfortable on their sofa. She typed in a message in her usual way, which should have said ‘would you like some cushions?’.

She was very surprised when I burst out laughing, and then showed the phone to my son who speaks some German. The message had been translated as;

‘Would you like some kisses?’

Thanks to our joint love of herbs we have become good friends [but not that friendly], and I know I will go back and visit her again. In the meantime, I am parcelling up some of my dried teas that I grew in my herb garden to send to her as a present. The process is continuing of growing my own herbs to use in the medicines I make, so that I am not completely reliant on buying in ready-made tinctures from a variety of manufacturers.

I may even have a go at growing Sweet Annie…