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July 2008
Despite the wet
summer, July 12 was dry enough for everyone to enjoy the profusion of herbal
flowers and make their own flower essences. Gillian chose Goats rue,
Melanie, Himalayan Balsam, Sandra Bergamot, Katy borage, Mike All-heal,
Sally Dyers Greenweed and Louisa Calendula.
Although we had a brief shower of rain, there was plenty of time for people
to wander around the sanctuary and discover herbs they had not met before.
Katy picked a basketful of St John’s Wort flowers, pouring them carefully
into a glass jar before filling it with sunflower oil to take home with her.
She also took part in a herbal flower hunt, having to find calendula,
apothecaries rose, burdock, plantain and meadowsweet, discover what the
leaves felt like and draw a picture of the plant.
Sally demonstrated how to make a tincture and then several people made
either a tincture or vinegar with the herb of their choice.
While everyone else was busy, I picked a basket of young nettles and put
them to dry in the summerhouse.
The following day I picked agrimony, skullcap, motherwort, fennel, goats
rue, bergamot, mint, rose petals, borage, thyme, betony, white horehound,
greater and ribwort plantain and SJW. The latter were put into more oil and
I left the horehound, chamomile, mint thyme, half the skullcap, rose petals
and nettle seeds to dry. I took the rest of the herbs home to make tincture,
vinegar or syrup.
As I journeyed from Gloucestershire to Warwickshire I wild crafted some
yarrow and meadowsweet from quiet roadsides.
It was very busy in my kitchen that evening and for the next few evenings
after work as I made a double infused plantain oil, yarrow oil, some
meadowsweet and fennel syrup, put up tinctures of motherwort, nettle seed,
agrimony, betony and skullcap. Other quantities of motherwort and borage
were made up into vinegars. |
