And, can anybody do it?
Why bother, indeed? When the shelves of your local Pharmacy are bursting with everything you could possibly want need. Remedies for coughs and colds, for muscle strain, high blood pressure and diabetes, for headaches, skin rashes and dry eyes.
Herbal medicine is labour intensive and requires some level of competency and knowledge. At the most basic level you need to know what plant can help with what problem, you need also to know how to prepare and take it for the best results, and importantly – is it safe to do so?
Way before one qualifies professionally as a herbalist it is possible to get a certain amount of useful herbal remedies in your cupboard. This will satisfy the inner alchemist, and one may well find that home-made remedies work.
So, if one has the time, the physical capacity, and a sensible head on one’s shoulders, where would I suggest starting?
It is always easiest to start with teas. There is no alcohol to buy from preserving [as in tinctures], no boiling and adding sugars [as in syrups] and no rolling [as in pills]. All you have to do is collect leaves and/or flowers [usually] and either use them straight away, or dry thoroughly to keep and use through the whole year.
And now in the UK [April] it is Spring, and lots of leaves are at their best and flowers and blossom are emerging. I have spoken about Nettles in the past [they are my first go-to Spring herb], but what else is there? There are two leaves I would pick now:
- Cleavers! [Sticky Willy/Goosegrass]. I think this is almost everywhere. It can be picked fresh, washed, and snipped into smaller bits and popped into a cafetiere, then steeped in boiled water for 10 minutes. [No, don’t do it for your usual 3 minutes, leave it for 10 – it doesn’t get stewed.] Drink a cup a day because it is an effective and mild lymphatic. That means it gently stimulates your lymphatic system which helps the body get rid of waste, and it also helps support the immune system by toning the lymph glands. This is a herb really best used fresh, but you can dry it and use in a tea all year round. If when I open my dried Cleavers container in the Autumn a fresh-mown-hay smell drifts out that tells me that it is still usable.
- Dandelion leaves. Apart from the minerals contained in dandelion leaves they have a very useful effect as a diuretic. Diuretics can be used if there is a tendency for high blood pressure, or oedema. These leaves work so well as a tea. My sister took over my Mum’s dandelion tea bag collection to try them out and suffice it to say she found it a very effective diuretic. I would say that if you have swollen ankles and feel fatigued most of the time have a check up with a qualified practitioner. Use with caution if you are already on prescribed diuretics, or any other antihypertensive medication. Yes, you can buy dandelion tea in neat bags from the supermarket or from Amazon, but surely you have some in your garden. Just pick, wash and snip into the cafetiere with your cleavers.
When you get a bit more practise, and if you have the interest and energy, you can progress to more adventurous herbal concoctions. One of my favourites is gathering fresh Whortleberries [Bilberries] from the local hills. I make an absolutely wonderful Vaccinium tincture with these which has the ability to strengthen fragile capillaries over time. It is also anti-PAF, which means it thins the blood, so mustn’t be taken by people on blood thinners, or those who have a bleeding disorder.
Making your own medicine is fun, even on a small scale. It is such a pity that it is a skill that we have lost as a society, but it is possible to claim back this knowledge so if you can’t get to see your GP, and least you can do something….
For a very thorough and interesting exploration of local medicinal weeds then try Julie Bruton-Seals book, which she wrote with her husband Matthew: Hedgerow Medicine: Harvest and Make your own Herbal Remedies £15.99 from World of Books
And if you already make your own medicines, what is your favourite?
