I’ve just found out that the Passionflower I have growing in my garden [Passiflora caerulea], can be used interchangeably with the Passionflower that I buy in at great expense [Passiflora incarnata]… So I have been harvesting lots of the herb in the warm September sun, just as several of the fruits have ripened as the books […]
Category Archives: Herbal Medicine
I love these old books: All of them describe a way of living and looking at plants, that is, for the most part, disappearing from our modern way of life. It is very, very rare that the ordinary housewife would go out into the country-side or even her own garden, and pick greenery […]
It’s cold – it’s very cold and I don’t want to go to the allotment. The wind is icy and it cuts right through me, and the hail stings sharply every time I walk from my office to the house. No, I’m not going to my allotment today – I have harvested everything and all […]
There are many reasons for joint pain, but whatever the cause it was stopping my husband sleeping. His fingers hurt; it was the joints in the middle of his fingers specifically. I would watch him bending and unbending them as he stood by the bed, wondering if the pain would ease so he could sleep. […]
This time of year is definitely busy. Stuff keeps growing and needing picking… Not only do you get in the habit of carrying bags around you wherever you go, but the garden and allotment are bursting. This lovely weather is great for bringing on the […]
L-R: Jonas Brab, Lisa Poynton, Julie Bruggemann, Susan Vassar, Tim Carter, Maggie Pope, Joe Nasr. Easter School went well. The second residential study week at the School of Herbal Medicine was busy, informative and fun. All the students were in the same place at the same time, and we enjoyed teaching them Pharmacy, Herbal Therapeutics, […]
After the weekend I will be teaching in our school’s second residential Easter School. Four days of seminars when the different year groups are in the building at the same time and we teach back to back. Usually we keep the year groups separate and teach them on different days just because it’s easier […]
From time to time I run a series of linked 4-6 hands-on days called Herbworks. You spend these days with me picking, making, learning stuff about herbs and how herbal medicine works. Very occasionally I do a one-off Herbworks session if it is requested, especially if it is for a birthday treat. Yes, some people […]
I went to a village on the edge of the Quantock Hills last night to give a talk on all the weeds in their garden that they could just use for medicine, if they were so inclined. I was given the option of not coming as half of their members phoned in to say they wouldn’t venture […]
So, I’m half way through my teaching diploma at Bridgwater College; and it’s fun. I did think that if you had a degree in a subject and practical experience then you could just teach it. But no. There is so much more to teaching than getting up the front and telling students what they […]