We have been busy potting on of baby seedlings over the last weeks. One little beauty I enjoyed potting on was Ruta graveolens – Rue. It was commonly known as the Herb of Grace and is woven into the histories of many early civilizations including the Aztec cultures and the ancient Greeks.
The well-known Greek physician Dioscorides described Rue as a contraceptive agent. Other cultures refer to Rue an anaphrodisiac
This valuable medicinal plant is one of the reasons we relocated to this magical forest. For many years we grew woodland medicinal herbs under shade tunnels on our old farm. One of the reasons we knew this woodland would be perfect as our new home is because we could allow our woodland plants to thrive in their natural environment. Many of these precious plants are endangered in their native countries as they are over harvested in the wild.
I’m finally getting around to the task of garbling our Burdock seed harvest. I have a basketful of Burdock (Arctium spp.) seed heads so this will be a painstaking task! Ross was laughing at me earlier all decked out in my gloves, mask and heavy apron for the job.
Dog and cat owners may recognise the seeds heads from having to pull them from a tangled mess of hair! Our wee puppy Yogi often comes in with these sticky seed balls attached to his ears and hates us having to remove them.
It has been lovely taking up roots over the last weeks. Even though root harvesting is messy and takes more preparation before processing than plant material, I find it very exciting unearthing roots for medicine.
Inula helenium (Elecampagne) has gained a lot of popularity over the last year as it is an excellent respiratory herb. It is a very large plant with thick stalks, broad leaves and bright yellow flowers that are easily recognisable as Asteraceae family.
We have been digging up various roots at Ivywood these last few weeks for drying, tincturing, and oil and vinegar making.
Comfrey is one of the roots we harvest every year. We decided to uproot some comfrey from a patch we planted 2 years ago, and we were surprised to find some of the root unusable. In general, herbal roots are harvested from early winter to early Spring.
