... say that fast after a couple of Christmas tipples!
The girls and I have decided to post each day about a relationship we've built with a plant - 21 in total, taking us up to Winter Solstice. A kind of advent calendar. Short, sharp and sweet. As quick as flipping the little flap in those calendars we had as kids way back in the eighties.
The idea is that it's simple to implement in your own home. Plus, the folklore and facts might also be interesting enough to share with friends. And so the word spreads :) The whole thing is also linked to Fairytrails on my website. This is essentially a menu that connects plants and trees to wilderness skill / ethnobotany activities, folklore and stories. All totally free and there to be enjoyed by all :)
#15: Ground Ivy or Ale Hoof for our ethnobotanical advent this Sunday!
I've got a sore throat. So this is the herb for me. Alehoof tea can help with throat and chest problems, including congestion and inflammation of the mucous membranes. It can also help with colds, hay fever, and allergic rhinitis. Also, it's reputedly good for spells and magic!
So I've popped it into a tea and I'll gargle and drink it. Probably add some honey and mint to sweeten. Nice to be able to collect medicine on a short walk around the farm. Thank you #hedgerowpharmacy
Story: How about a horse story in honour of the folkname 'ale-hoof': https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Czechoslovak_folktale_3.html#gsc.tab=0
#14: Plantain for today's ethnobotanical advent!
Please excuse my filthy fingernails. Working on a fantastic film project recently, I had an extra job on set in addition to the fiddling about doing bushcrafty bits...I was the first aider. And pleasingly, all the first aid I ended up administering was plant based. Smug, was I! This little herb - Greater Plantain in the case of the picture, Ribwort in the majority of cases when we interact with it in the meadow, is one of our No1 first aid herbs.
I'll leave you to do the research if you want the science stats (it's interesting), but essentially we use this plant at home for stings, grazes and to flick at people. All pleasing in equal measure.
So you can imagine how happy I was when one of the script writers had an unfortunate experience with a nettle and I was able to crouch down at the edge of the hedgerow and grab the perfect medicine.
Bless it. Plantain doesn't look all that special, but to us - it's brilliant!
Story: Here's the link to Demeter that plantain apparently has! https://susanalbert.com/plant-lore-garden-mysteries-and-herbal-magic/
#13: Meadowsweet for our ethnobotanical advent this Friday 13th!
Seeing as this is the day that things are supposed to go wrong, I figured it made sense to pop a plant on the advent that helps a body that is stressed.
Stressed bodies get poorly. Many of us will have wrestled with the hideous affliction that is cystitis - a really painful experience often triggered when our bodies get stressed. Nasty.
So, to help everyone when the dreaded cystitis strikes, I've made a tea.
It contains two herbs. First, meadowsweet which contains tannins that reduce inflammation and salicylates (similar to aspirin) that relieve pain. Second, I've also popped in some rosebay willowherb, another cooling, astringent herb that is useful for inflammation and has been used historically for problems with the urinary tract.
Our use of meadowsweet doesn't end here though - we also tincture it for indigestion and my littlest has it in a balm to ease growing pains.
It's such an awesome little herb. So pretty and pollen-y (check out the dust in the picture!) They used to sweeten mead with it (genius as it can also then alleviate hangover headaches), strew it on the floor to make rooms smell sweet, and folklore-wise it is very useful if you want to see fairies!
Right now, with several days still to go until Winter Solstice, I'm dreaming of banks of heady meadowsweet in high summer...
Story recommendation has to be about fairies, of course - try out The Tale of Tam Lin :) https://issuu.com/publishingscotland/docs/tale_of_tam_linn
#12: Hydrangea as our wild card ethnobotanical advent today.
It's too grey today. I feel like I'm limping into the latter end of the year. Solstice can't come quick enough. I need more light. Which is why I find myself thinking of this plant. I never liked it growing up - thought it belonged only in the gardens of grannies. Native to North America, it wasn't a hedgerow friend, and I shunned it. How wrong this was! During my bushcraft training, it revealed itself as a bit of a secret weapon when experimenting with bow drill sets. It's actually got everything you could ever want when it comes to creating the perfect tinder bundle. It's a very special seed head that you can happily entrust with your hard won little ember. Dried hydrangea allow just the right amount of oxygen into the bundle, hold the heat with their compact flower heads, provide fuel for the fire and contain natural oils that act as accelerants to speed up the process of transforming that ember to a full blown flame!
Needless to say...I'm bothering lots of grannies in their gardens now. You ought to try it :)
Story: Check out this article that explores fire origin stories across the world! https://www.sacredhearthfrictionfire.com/blog/legends-and-myths-of-the-origins-of-fire
#11: Comfrey for our ethnobotanical advent today!
...because this year, we set out to test the reputation of this bone knitting bit of ethnobotanical kit.
We made a poultice that we popped into a jar and then stuck our friend's broken wrist into. And we made a balm for the same friend to take home and continue the healing. We also offered some of this balm to a tree surgeon mate after one of his trees got a little bit too friendly and went in for a full body hug 👀
The result? Here's what they said:
"It seemed to work wonders ! With the added benefit that the making of and applying the balm was a lovley calming mindful thing to do- and smelled gorgeous ! 10/10 would recommend minus the actual breaking of bone part❤️"
"The result was incredible, was in a lot of pain due to some cracked ribs. Three days later had full mobility and eased the pain. Magical substance!"
So, you see, the proof's in the xmas pudding!
Story recommendation: It has to be about bones! So, follow this link to hear this Grimm's story of 'The Singing Bones' on one of my favourite podcasts: https://soundcloud.com/singingbonespodcast/the-singing-bone?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
#10: Self-heal for our ethnobotanical advent this Tuesday!
Clue's in the name. And I'm kicking myself for not picking more than I did this summer. It's INCREDIBLE. 5ml of this and the sniffing, aching, coughing all stops. Just blows it away, like some kind of instant miracle. I shouldn't be surprised. It's mentioned in the Han dynasty's literature (206BC to AD23) and western folk use of the plant is similarly ancient - used to staunch bleeding, knit wounds together, treat fevers, diarrhoea and internal bleeding. Here at home, we use it for the following as it's massively antiviral, immune stimulating, and anti inflammatory:
1. As a tincture to get rid of colds
2. As a tea to gargle for sore throats and to apply to coldsores
Our meadows brim with this little super herb in late summer! I'm thinking I might actually have a self-heal celebration day next year where I invite everyone over who fancies to come and collect some self heal to tincture... what do you think?
Folklore tells us that the devil will whisk you away if you set about picking it... but I reckon I'd say the same thing if the flowers were few one year!
Happy tenth day of advent!
Story: It has to be one about a healing herb! https://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/New/The_Healing_Herb.html#gsc.tab=0
#9: Ash for today's ethnobotanical advent.
Today, I've been thinking about trees. We lost only one elderly alder here at home, finally felled by the strong north winds of this last storm. This tree will be left to return to the land, providing dead wood habitat for hundreds of busy little invertebrates. Some of the other trees that fell in last year's winter - Ash, that time - are now in our wood store. They've warmed us three times so far in the processing (cutting, splitting, stacking) and will warm us a fourth time when we pop them into the burner. Ash is just the best firewood.
Do you know this poem by Celia Congreve (1930)?
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold
Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.
Happy ninth day of advent
#8: Blackberry for Sunday's ethnobotanical advent!
This is what Christmas drinks should look like. I'm not a massive fan of whisky, but I am most definitely a fan of THIS! Whiskey stuffed with fat blackberries from the hedge and a little bit of sugar to sweeten the experience AND whiskey stuffed with tayberries from the garden because it looked like it needed to be done! The bummer is that we can't possibly drink them this Christmas. The potential for next is just too great! Maybe I'll just test they aren't toxic...
My favourite bit of folklore about brambles is that if you crawl through the tunnels they are so excellent at making, you will be triumphant over your enemies. (Enemies being whatever you like - the dodgy washing machine/anxiety/weather/the neighbour who keeps pinching your dustbin etc...)
Story - a Scottish one best suits this whiskey, of course. Molly Whuppie perhaps? She strikes me as a lass who deserves a wee dram while busy outwitting a giant and saving all her sisters!
Happy eighth day of advent!
Story: Have you heard the one about how a bramble bush blinded Bellerophon? Read this article by Madeline Miller: https://madelinemiller.com/myth-of-the-week-pegasus-and-bellerophon/
#7: Hazel for our ethnobotanical advent this weekend!
We went Christmas shopping this morning... but not quite like you'd expect. We were after curtain rails for the farm, and the furthest we went was just up the bridleway. Meet our hedgerow hardware store! It's almost like Baz Luhrmann's fish tank scene, except James is hiding behind the hazel staves 😆 It feels really important to incorporate the outside world into our inside home. This is a lovely way to do it. Quirky and possibly a bit crazy looking... I'll pop some photos on of our homemade bed as well as the curtain rails... you can call us proper nutters then (no hazel-linked pun intended, of course 😉)
The story recommendation today comes in the form of FinnMacCoull and his band of warriors. Daniel Allison's book is brilliant - you'll slip quickly into a world of feasting, fighting and wild wood-born women. Just like Christmas here at home.
Happy seventh day of advent everyone!
#6: Hawthorn for our ethnobotanical advent ahead of the weekend!
This tincture of hawthorn scotch was created for the other half after a chat about the need to balance out the blood pressure. I've always been taught that hawthorn was a powerful heart medicine and shared as such, but it's a bit freaky when someone on your foraging walk fesses up to being an actual heart surgeon. Brilliantly, this usually means that they pop off home to research the folklore and herbal practice further and ping me back an email to tell me everything they'd found out. I love it when a tree really piques an interest and even better when further research gifts us all with new knowledge. In this case, the doctor confirmed that hawthorn is indeed a good vasodilator - so good for lowering blood pressure - but also went on to teach me how many other heart diseases it is proving to be fantastic in treating.
There's so much folklore about the hawthorn, but I want to share this... the belief that this tree is a protector of those who feel alone, bullied, or disheartened, and a healer soothing the heart, calming anxiety, and helping people trust, forgive, and love again. I mean... it's almost like this whisky is infused with real-life Christmas spirit.
Story: search up Dr Martin Shaw's telling of Prince Lindworm - it's not about hawthorn per se, but it ends with a beautifully loving line about a 'woman with an educated heart'
Happy sixth day of advent, everyone!
#5: Calendula (Marigold) for our ethnobotanical advent today!
I thought a little bit of sunshine inside might be nice when outside the air is heavy with the threat of yet another storm...
Plants have a habit of getting a human to introduce me to them. In the case of this fabulous first aid herb, it was a local neighbour and friend who said that she swore by it. Seeds were slipped until my hand and I was sent home with another open secret to share with the kids.
One of the best.
Practical interaction: The balm in this picture was made by my eldest. A simple mix of sunflower oil, calendula flowers that now grow in the garden, mallow flowers that grow by the front gate, and nettle seeds. She made it to calm a rash on her shin caused by an uncomfortable wetsuit rub. Skin loves this herb - marigold hydrates, increases blood, and speeds up repair. It's like sunshine in flower form - magic!
Story: The myth to look up for this one is Greek...Caltha and her love for Apollo (although not a great ending - burnt up by her unrequited passion and adoration she ends up turning into a marigold.)
Happy fifth day of advent everyone!
#4: Elder for my birthday and our fourth ethnobotanical advent!
(Elder is the tree associated with Nov 25th - Dec 22nd in the Ogham Tree Alphabet)
I've told myself that when I've gained enough wisdom (and that might never be ever) I'll have an elder tree tattooed across my back - in celebration of the Crone, the Hag, the Hyldemoer.
I'm not there yet.
Practical interaction: But I AM obsessed with this medicine she enables us to make - the immune boosting, tongue-tinglingly delicious elixir that Elderberry Rob. I swear to you - this stuff is black riboflavin rich magic. If you haven't made it this year to take for your coughs and colds... do it next year! We've also used her leaves in balms for bruising this autumn, and Diana Beresford-Kruger recently taught me that I might stave off the obligatory aging by making a face wash with her flowers this coming spring (it's nature's anti-wrinkle herb!)
The folktale I love to tell - with lots of drama and screaming after the failed shooting with a silver sixpence... is The Elder Witch. You'll find it in Katherine Briggs' collection of folktales (and you can watch me tell it at part of our lockdown story project on the blog)
#3: Holly is our third star of ethnobotanical advent!
It's apt that the dog is demonstrating what she does best in this picture - sniffing! Because it links neatly to this particular plant.
Lots of us bring in the green at Christmas. Stuffing the holes in the old stone walls with these trees and plants helps to hold back the bare bleak winter feeling that can creep up on you at this time of year. The custom may well be a survival of the Roman use of Holly in Saturnalia (a festival that sounds like a proper blast), but we just love seeing the bright red berries on the walls like we ourselves are living in the wood! There's loads of folklore about Holly. One of my favourites is that it was planted in hedgerows to stop witches from running along the top of them...
Practical interaction & Book Recommendation: My No1. best bit of information about Holly is that when brought into a warm house it releases aerosols (like all plants do... and we always forget) that act as an expectorant and help ease those coughs and colds that at common at Christmas!
Thus comes my book recommendation - To Speak for the Trees, by Diana Beresford-Krugar. It's Diana we have to thank for this little nugget of knowledge! It's a beautiful book and brilliant to hear such things from a botanist, medical biochemist and woman with a rich Celtic ancestry.
Happy third day of advent everyone!
#2: Lemon Balm tea is second plant to chat about on our ethnobotanical advent!
Why? Because today is grey. And miserable. And I feel cross about being old. (Which is not something I often feel cross about, but today I just do. ) But this little herb helps with all that... because since ancient times, it's been prescribed to being comfort, cheer, and energy for life (much like the newest addition to the farm!) In southern Europe, its folk name is Heart's Delight and Elixir of Life. Look it up - adored by bees and people - it 'drives away melancholy' and promotes happiness. Lemon Balm also contains eugenol that has both anesthetic and antiseptic qualities - it's often stuffed in pillows to help people sleep. I didn't know this little lemony mate of mint, until a friend advised that it had been key in her recovery from breast cancer. She gifted the tip to me when I asked about how to help another friend who had just begun the same frightening journey. s soon as I'd been introduced, I found myself tripping over it at home! I hadn't even seen it growing outside the front of the house! It's brilliant how plants choose their time to wave, smile and introduce themselves. Try it. It's smoky like a luxurious lemony lapsang. It lifts the heart, for sure.
Practical interaction: Tea. I've got a great book to recommend - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52894764-wild-tea
Greek Myth: https://milk-magazine.co.uk/the-story-of-the-honeybee-could-be-myths-greatest-forgotten-lesson/
Happy second day of advent, everyone!
#1: Rosehip Syrup kickstarts our ethnobotanical advent!
Why? Cos it's RED! And fills us with Christmas cheer, quite literally... because they boost the immune system and help fight off those pesky winter bugs 😁
Practical interaction: I'm always after the secret elixir when it comes to kids taking medicine. This. Is. It. They'll tolerate Elderberry Rob as a hot toddy, and just about manage a Self Heal tincture with a grimace and a nose pinch, but THIS is the magic medicine we should all be making. And not just for the kids - it's delicious. And we're so lazy. Making raw syrup is right up our street. Stick a load of haws in a sterilised jar and fill it with sugar. All that's left to do is watch the extraction happen and you'll soon be sieving off syrup that's magic in its purest form ❤️Wild rose supports immunity, eliminates toxins in the body and reduces skin inflammation. It's a superb natural reliever of colds, sore throats, runny noses and blocked chests. It also makes you incredibly happy when you take it. Perhaps because of its 'softening action on the heart' that encourages us to love ourselves and be open to the love of others. That's the Christmas spirit, right there! My kids love it. We all love it. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/07/raw-rosehip-syrup/
German Fairytale to read: Snow White and Rose Red. If you don't know it, look it up. It's a tale of two sisters and the wild wood. Audio version for kids: https://www.storynory.com/snow-white-and-rose-red/ Grimm's version: https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/snow-white_and_rose-red
Final random fact.. it's called 'Dog Rose' because it used to be thought that the root could cure rabies...
Happy first day of advent, everyone! 😘
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