In September we looked at "Preparing for winter" by evaluating what we had achieved with our herbs during the past nine months and what we still hoped to accomplish before the end of the year. We also talked about layering woody herbs such as lavender and rosemary to make new plants in the Spring and bringing roots of culinary herbs, such as mint, parsley, marjoram and basil inside to grow and use throughout the winter.

Seasonal affected disorder was something several participants had difficulty with. We talked about using summer herbs such as calendula in dried form to make helpful teas to help us through the dark times of the year, as well as David Winston’s recipe of lemon balm and St John’s wort to counteract the lack of sunlight. This can be taken as a tea, tincture or syrup. We also tried syrups which help to fight viral infections such as Echinacea, elderberry and ginger.

Recipe: Cough Syrups -link