Regaining our heritage

Regaining our heritage - courses in home herbal medicine making and traditional folk medicine.

For generations we have used plant based medicines to protect, strengthen and heal. Using home crafted herbal remedies the village 'wise woman' managed everything from the common cold to medical emergencies.

Today that knowledge is quickly being lost or it's use barred from us. In our hedgerows, meadows, and along the riverbank the tools remain.

Preparing our remedies at home is an ecologically sound practice, nurturing our environment with no commercial harvesting, industrial process, chemical interventions, or mechanised transport necessary. It is a lot of fun and will return to you the responsibility for your own healthcare.

Acknowledging our debt to the village wise women and traditional healers of old whose skills and experience preserved our valuable herb lore, you will become a custodian of valuable knowledge for the next generation.

A continuing adventure - The journey starts where the course finishes. I have attended courses that have inspired, but days or weeks later the momentum is lost. To help you put your new skills into practice I will send you regular updates introducing plants that are growing near you at that time with information on how to identify, select, prepare, and use it. My hope is that you will integrate your new found herbal allies into your life.

Why?

I found my way into herbal medicine making by watching traditional healers in remote parts of the world blend plant spirit and plant chemicals into effective folk medicines. Shaman in rain forests, Witch Doctors in the bush, and nomadic tribeswomen in the steppes. Later it surprised me when I realised that we had the same depth and diversity of medicinal herb lore in Britain. The only difference is that we have lost contact with it and forgotten how to use it.

In conducting our courses my inspiration is in trying to regain our herbal heritage. To retrieve and use again the 'common knowledge' that our great-grandparents used so easily to manage their own healthcare.

In rediscovering our herb lore we will also be nurturing a respect for our environment and an appreciation of the interdependant and sustainable nature of our countrysides eco-system.

Where?

I am so excited about this! In the past I have been asked to take groups to the Amazon to seek out medicinal plants and knowledge. I have also been asked to run courses in herbal medicine in wonderfully equipped teaching rooms. Right now though I find it difficult to justify the environmental toxicity in flying thousands of miles to borrow herb lore that we already own here. Also, I feel disconnected trying to talk with good people about plants when the plants aren't within sight or touching distance.

So, from here on we have a classroom that doesn't burn thousands of tons of aviation fuel and will also keep us within touching distance of wonderfully vibrant plants - a traditional canal boat!

During our adventures we will meander along a tranquil river through the beautiful English countryside. If we want to meet meadow herbs we will stop at a meadow - if we want to find woodland herbs we will drift a mile or two and moor up again - and we will have riverside herbs all the way.

The perfect classroom for a herbal course and a fun, relaxing weekend break at the same time.

What?

These are not academic courses about phytochemicals and molecules - but we will incorporate scientific justification for all the remedies we will encounter. It is not a 'New Age' course either but our inspiration will be found in the spirit of the village wise-woman and traditional healers. This is a practical course celebrating a synergy of ancient and modern plant wisdom. Practical. Learn how to identify, harvest, and prepare herbs to transform into your own herbal remedies. Take them home with you, store them in an honoured place, and use them as required.

We will have fun with -

• Recognition - Like us plants all have their own identifying characteristics. Learn a few and you will be able to greet them by name when you spot them in the hedgerow.
• Harvesting - An essential skill. We need to collect the right herbs at the right time at the peak of their vitality, in a manner that is sustainable and balanced.
• Drying and storing - Life in the plant community changes at an exciting pace. Blossoms, flowers, fruits and berries come and go and herbal characters pop in and out of the scene as their individual seasons peak and cool. We need to gather our herbs when they put in an appearance and store them so we can play with them again later in the year.
• Herbal preparations - The clever strategies we have developed to get whats in herbs into us. We will be ceating infusions, decoctions, and many types of tincture, as well as magical creams, salves, lotions, and syrups. This is also a joyous introduction to the wonderful world of beeswax.
• Wines, beers and cordials - Villagers developed extremely palatable and sociable ways of taking their health giving herbs. To this day we often say "Good health" when taking drinks. We will be using old village and Romany recipes to recreate preparations such as Dandelion and Burdock cordial, Nettle beer, and Goosegrass wine.
• Your herbs - Introductions to the herbs that will form the basis of your home medicine store season by season. Each herb is presented both with its colourful folk lore and modern supporting scientific evidence.
• Using your herbs - Learn how to use your herbs singly or cleverly combine them into preparations that you can use to treat a wide range of common ailments.
• Anything else? It is your course so bring along your own questions and topics of interest. Where we can we will throw them into the herbal ferment and see where it goes.

Booking your place

Our next voyages depart from Odiham on -

• FOUNDATION - Choose from31st May or 19th July 2008
• ADVANCED - Choose from 1st June or 20th July 2008

Just choose the date that suits you best and book on-line or e-mail us to secure your place. Course fees are £75 for each day with a special discounted rate of £130 should you book for both the Foundation and Advanced at the same time.

Please come and play!

Herbal medicine making - Advanced day - 1st June

Herbal medicine making - Advanced day - 20th July

Herbal medicine making - Foundation + Advanced day - 1st June

You can choose to complete the days consecutively or with a break in between - just let us know your preferences.

Comments

[Liz]

This was the very first time that I had been onboard a canal boat and I must say that I did enjoy it.
The scenery was beautiful and we were very lucky with the weather.
Course content was very interesting and well presented.
I must say you certainly know your stuff. I don't think that I've learnt anything quite so enjoyably.

I have dabbled a little in making herbal preparations but this has certainly renewed my enthusiasm, and I've been 'eyeing-up' prospective harvesting sites for later in the year. I'll let you know how I get on.

[Tony]

I did your Herbal course in April along with my wife, Lesley. We both had a really good time and learnt a lot. The only down side was the 2 day course ended too soon ( so much to learn in so little time ). This has inspired me to enrol on a herbalist course. I am looking forward to learning even more about herbs and their uses in medicine and general wellbeing. Thanks again for passing on your enthusiasm and giving me an insight into this fascinating subject