Hedgerow Medicine day with Woodland Ways

Last weekend I went on a day course on Hedgerow Medicine & Medicinal Wild Plants with Woodland Ways who run great bushcraft courses in Oxfordshire and Leicestershire http://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/buy-online-hedgerow-medicine-and-medicinal-wild-plants-758.html

Our friendly and knowledgeable course instructor Danny led the group on a plant identification and foraging walk along the verges of a quiet rural lane, along woodland rides and along the edges of fields adjoining woodland.  He then led us to the base camp in Appleton woods where we ate a packed lunch while he got the fire going for tea for which some of us used fresh herbs we had picked along the way, in my case a pleasant tasting sprig of wild mint.

Danny showing us Cleavers

 Ground Ivy

 Burdock

Plantain flowers

 Ribwort Plantain leaf

Comfrey leaf

Cutting a Willow branch

 Wild Mint

 Base Camp

After lunch it was all hands on deck making various preparations with the herbs we had gathered.  We made Cleavers ointment, Burdock & Comfrey liniment, Plantain Cream, Elderflower, Ground Ivy & Bramble shoot tea blend, dried Hedge Woundwort for wounds & stripped Willow bark to make natural painkillers.   During the afternoon tea break Danny went through the law on foraging and showed us some useful reference books on plant identification and use to encourage us to go away from the course and carry on finding and making our own hedgerow medicines.  We finished the afternoon by dividing everything we had made into jars & packets to take home our own hedgerow medicine kits.

Making remedies on the outdoor work surface

Burdock & Comfrey liniment

The Burdock Comfrey leaves were chopped up and divided in two lots.  One lot was put in a billy can with distilled Witch Hazel and set by the fire to make a decocted water extract.  The other lot was put in a bowl with surgical spirit to make a strong alcohol extract.  Surgical spirit is used rather than vodka as it does not evaporate as quickly when applied to the skin.  These were left for about 2 hours then strained and mixed together to make a liniment.   This is for external use for bumps, bruises, breaks & sprains.  

Comfrey leaves for chopping

Chopped Burdock & Comfrey leaves decoction with distilled Witch Hazel

Chopped Burdock & Comfrey leaves steeping in surgical spirit

 Straining the steeped surgical spirit

The Burdock & Comfrey decoction & tincture mixed together

Burdock & Comfrey liniment in jars 

Cleavers ointment

Large quantities of Cleavers were gathered.  These were pounded and then wrung to extract juice.  The juice was added to lanolin and worked in till it combined to make an ointment.  This was hard work at first but got easier as the juice was absorbed.  It made a nice pale green ointment for chapped skin, eczema and similar irritated skin conditions.  Caution some people are lanolin sensitive.

Squeezing Cleavers juice

Mixing Cleavers juice with lanolin

 The mixed Cleavers ointment

Filling jars with Cleavers ointment using improvised piping bag

Jars of Cleavers ointment

Plantain cream

The Plantain leaves were chopped up.  Half of these were put in a pan and covered with olive oil and left near the fire to extract fat soluble constituents.  The other half was put in pans with hot water and left by the fire to steep to extract water soluble constituents.  The infused oil and water were strained into a bowl into which grated beeswax was added.  The mix was whisked to make a cream which was poured into jars and left to set.   The cream is good for inflamed skin such as stings, bites & thorns as Plantain has a drawing action.  

 Chopping Plantain leaves

 Plantain leaves ready for decoction

 Straining the Plantain infused oil

Whisking Plantain decoction & infused oil with beeswax 

 Plantain cream in jars

Elderflower, Ground Ivy & Bramble shoot tea blend

We stripped off the dried leaves & flowers from Elderflower heads, Ground Ivy stems & Bramble shoots Danny had collected previously and left to dry.  These were mixed together to make a tea blend which will be useful for colds & flu.

Fresh & dried Ground Ivy

 Elderflower, Ground Ivy & Bramble shoot tea blend

Willow bark pain killer

Danny cut a branch from a Willow tree along the route.  The outer grey bark was scraped off with the back of a knife then the inner green bark was cut and peeled in sections which can be cut into 1 centimetre squares which can be chewed as a natural painkiller or added to tea blends for colds & flu.  Willow bark contains Salicylic acid which is the active ingredient in aspirin.  Caution don't use if allergic to aspirin.

Stripping Willow bark

Hedge Woundwort for wounds

Hedge Woundwort has a coagulating agent in it so is very good for wounds.  The plant can be used fresh, crushed or chewed and put on wounds or used dried to make a decoction to put on wounds to stop bleeding.  The plant can be laid out on sheets of newspaper to dry over a few days and crumbled into powder for use when fully dry.

 Hedge Woundwort for drying

For more photos of the day see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153484273967938.1073741900.657002937&type=1&l=2aa3ec9cdd

Harvesting the fruits of Spring & cooking with Dandelion flowers

Things have really taken off in a big way over the past month, plants are growing at a phenomenal rate, the outside world is turning green and gold.  I visited Springfield Herb Sanctuary for a workshop day on 9th May.  We had a tour round the herb plots to see the growing herbs, some of which have grown massively since just a month previously.  The meadow adjoining the Herb Sanctuary was full of Ribwort Plantain and Dandelions.  We harvested some Plantain leaves to make a double-infused oil which will be great for skin inflammation as an oil or made into a salve.  I picked some Dandelion flower-heads to take home to dry, to use in an infused oil which should be good for sore muscles.  I also picked some medicinal Comfrey leaves to take home to dry to make into infused oil for a wound salve.  Future workshop dates and details can be found at http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.co.uk/p/springfield-sanctuary-workshop-dates.html

View over the meadow

 Solomon's Seal

 Elecampane

 Hops

 Comfrey

 Ribwort Plantain

 Dandelion flowers

Baskets of Dandelion flowers & Ground Ivy

For more photos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153326190842938.1073741893.657002937&type=1&l=99624989ce

Last weekend I bought some herb plants to plant up in pots for the patio at the back of my house.  The patio is sheltered and gets lots of sun which aromatic Mediterranean herbs such as Rosemary love.  Most of the herb plants available at the garden centre I visited were herbs mainly used for culinary use such as Chives, Mint, Oregano & Thyme, though I did manage to find some St John's Wort plants which have been added to the medicinal herb bed at the allotment.  

I harvested a big bag of Nettles as they are beginning to develop flowers and the leaves will be too tough and irritant to use after they have flowered.  I put some of the Nettles in a big jar with some egg shells and cider vinegar to make a mineral-rich vinegar to be left to steep for 3-6 weeks then strained for use in liver-stimulating salad dressings, see recipes at http://herbalacademyofne.com/2014/03/stinging-nettle-recipes/  I also put some Nettles in a jar with vodka to make a tincture which will be left to steep for about a month then strained through a jelly bag.  This can be used internally as an iron tonic and to promote urine flow or externally to help stop bleeding and to soothe burns & other skin problems.  The remaining Nettles have been loaded into the dehydrator to dry for teas & infusions for external use and to add to food in powdered form.  

I picked a selection of fresh leaves & flowers to use in salad, including Wild Garlic, Sweet Cicely, Salad Burnet, Ground Elder, Sorrel which are all growing in the allotment at the moment.  I also picked a bag of Dandelion flower heads to catch the goodness of the flower petals before they all turn into Dandelion clock seed-heads.  I made Dandelion flower cookies, pakoras and burgers with the flower-heads I harvested, which are tasty and nutritious ways to get the benefit of these sun-like flowers.  Recipes and pictures below.

Patio herb pots

 The allotment in May

  St John's Wort plants

 Nettles beginning to develop flowers

Sweet Cicely

 Wild Garlic in flower

 Nettle leaf Vinegar

 Nettle leaf Tincture

Dandelion flower recipes

Some of the recipes call for just the Dandelion flower petals without the green parts of the flower heads.  The easiest way to prepare these is to hold the washed flower tip with the fingers of one hand and pinch the green flower base hard with the other and twist to release the flower petals from their attachment, the required volume of flower petals can then be put into a bowl for use in recipes.  

 Prepared Dandelion flower petals

Dandelion Flower Cookies

1/2 cup oil - I used sunflower which has a nice mild flavour

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup plain flour

1 cup oats

1/2 cup Dandelion flower petals

Pre-heat oven to 375C.

Blend oil & honey, beat in the eggs & vanilla essence.

Stir in the flour, oats & Dandelion flowers.

Drop tablespoons of batter onto at lightly oiled baking tray.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until browned and cooked through.

Recipe from http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/dandelion-flower-cookies 

  

 Dandelion flower cookies

Dandelion pakoras

2-3 handfuls of Dandelion flowers with stems

Sunflower oil

150g gram (chickpea) flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 heaped teaspoons ground cumin

2 heaped teapoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon baking powder

cold water

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Slowly add water to the dry ingredients whilst stirring until the batter reaches the consistency of thick custard.

Pull the flower heads off their stalks and add to the batter, including the green parts.

Chop the stalks into 1/2 inch segments and add to the batter.

Stir the flowers & stalks into the batter until evenly coated.

Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a small pan over a medium heat.

When the oil is hot add dollops of batter with a tablespoon, fry for about a minute or so until browned.

Remove cooked pakoras and put on a plate covered with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Sprinkle salt on the cooked pakoras for serving.

Serve hot or cold.

Recipe from http://www.eatherenow.org/dandelion-blossom-pakoras/

Dandelion flower pakoras

Dandelion flower burgers

1 cup packed Dandelion flower petals, green parts removed (as above)

1 cup plain flour & extra flour for coating burgers

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

1 garlic clove finely minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Ground black pepper to taste

Sunflower oil

Mix all the ingredients, add more milk if needed.

Divide the mix into 4 to make round patties, toss in flour to coat.

Pan fry in a little oil, turn until browned on both sides.

Serve with desired accompaniments.

Recipe adapted from http://www.eattheweeds.com/dandelions-hear-them-roar/ There are loads of other recipes using Dandelions on the same page

Dandelion flower burgers with potato wedges, spring green salad & plum chutney

Bon Appetit!

References

'Hedgerow Medicine' Julie Bruton-Seal & Matthew Seal
'Letting in the Wild Edges' Glennie Kindred