CONNECTING WITH THE NATURAL WORLD

This is a book for anyone with an interest in using plants in the home – for herbalists and kitchen herbalists, for conservationists, for anyone with even a passing interest in herbs. It’s a book for those looking to live a more natural life, to welcome the spirit and usefulness of the plant world into their lives and to connect with the natural world – whether you live in a semi-rural location (as I do) or a city apartment.

The 501 recipes in this book have been gathered by myself over many years as a herbalist, and include contributions from experts across the United States, Canada, the UK and Europe. They range from teas to meads, from toothpastes to face masks, from laundry detergent to air freshener. Some are very simple, requiring almost no equipment; others are complex, such as cream blending, soap making or distilling aromatic waters. My hope is that as your confidence grows, you will begin to experiment and create your own variations. The next few pages of this book are dedicated to showing you all that you need to start your plant-based preparations at home. They include equipment that you will require, information on sourcing and storing herbs and some key techniques for preserving herbs.

Plants are truly life-enhancing, and herbalism, and the love and appreciation of nature that it fosters, is for everyone. I hope this book helps to lead you on a rich journey of discovery.

Chapter Two

Sourcing Herbs

SOURCING HERBS NEEDS A LITTLE THOUGHT. Whether you choose to pick herbs in the wild, grow your own or buy them in, you will need a certain amount of background knowledge. The following pages are dedicated to providing a few guidelines, and the Herb Directory (see here) can also be used as a starting point to help identify and source plants.

Even if you begin by buying in all your ingredients, I hope that as your confidence grows you will be inspired to take a step further and discover living plants in nature. Native wisdom from all over the world states that local herbs are many times more effective than those grown at a distance. It is known that plants adapt their chemistry to their environment.

The feeling of connection that a human can have with the plant world is irreplaceable in its health-giving and balancing propensity. When you get to know living plants, you will begin to see friends everywhere you go.

PICKING HERBS IN THE WILD

Foraging, or wildcrafting, is increasingly popular, and you need not live in the woods to do it. It’s amazing how many useful herbs grow in the nooks and crannies of a city. When gathering from the wild, there are a few important considerations.

Firstly, treat the environment with respect and don’t over-forage. A good guideline is to always take a little under half of what is there – and if the plant is endangered, don’t take any at all. If you are gathering the root of a plant, or a whole plant (as opposed to just some flowers, leaves, stems or bark), then plant some seeds or a new plant. With some plants, you can divide the roots and replant half again.

Secondly, check for contamination. In farming areas, avoid land that has been crop sprayed, especially very recently. In cities, find out the previous use of waste land, making sure it wasn’t used for toxic chemical production, dumping or such like. It’s also important to take care that you are not trespassing on private land, and to check out local laws about gathering plants.

Plant identification is an invaluable skill, and there are excellent books with clear photographs to help the lone learner. If you take this route, you must be extremely careful not to use the wrong plant: if you’re not sure, leave it be. While few plants are seriously poisonous, some can harm and even kill you if taken by mistake. There are useful resources online about foraging; I have included some at the back of this book.

Before I pick, I follow the native tradition of asking the plant’s permission in my heart (respecting a ‘no’ if I feel I hear one), and offering gratitude and something in return. In America, the traditional offering is tobacco; in Europe, it is oats or barley. Even if this seems strange to you, I encourage you to try it. You may be surprised at the warmth it will bring you. The earth is a living treasury, and the more you recognize its offerings, the richer your life will be.

GROWING HERBS

Plants, generally, are easy to please – they like enough (but not too much) light, water and food, and the right kind of earth. They also respond to love: talking to your plants and caring for them actually makes them grow more abundantly. This attitude can be even more important than the quality of the earth in which they are grown, as shown by the famous eco-community of Findhorn, near Forres in Scotland, who have grown impossibly enormous vegetables on soil that is little more than earth-covered rock.

You can grow some herbs anywhere. They are ideal for urban settings and don’t require a lot of space; many thrive in a windowbox or containers as well as planted in the ground. A lot of herbs – ‘herbs’ being the general word for describing plants used in medicine, or to give flavour and texture in cooking – are very easy to grow.

Many plants love a bit of attention. The more you pick the flowers of the marigold, for example, the more it will flower. And most plants prefer a sheltered spot and the company of other plants. Check for any individual requirements of the herbs you grow, and grow them simply, using organic or bio methods, for maximum benefit.

Start growing whatever takes your fancy, and whatever you can easily find. You can sow seeds – try marigold (Calendula officinalis), nasturtium and Californian poppy as a few very easy starters. Or buy small plants to start you off, such as oregano or marjoram, or thyme. I grow a stevia plant (a great natural sweetener) on my bathroom windowsill where it keeps coming year after year; I keep cutting the stems to use in recipes, and more grow back. Every couple of years I re-pot it carefully to give it some fresh earth. I tried to grow this plant in the kitchen for a while, but the steaminess in the bathroom seems to suit her more.

Make inquiries locally to see what grows well in your area, and just have a go. Make friends with local gardeners – they will give you tips, and probably some plants to start you off. Try planting things inside or out: if they are happy, continue as you are; if not, try something else! You are likely to be pleasantly occupied and very satisfied with your home-grown results.

PICKING HERBS

Harvest plants on a fine day, picking leaves and flowers around mid-morning when the dew has dried. Remember to take a small pocketknife. Keep an eye on the plants you want so that you can pick them at their peak. Choose the healthiest plants/parts of plants. If you plan to use them fresh in a recipe, try to pick and use immediately.

DRYING & STORING HERBS

Wash plants if necessary, then remove and compost unhealthy or unnecessary parts. Gather the aerial parts (those above ground) into a bundle and tie up at the bottom of the stems, or put them into a paper bag. Hang the bundle or bag in a warm, well-ventilated place, indoors or out. Herbs take up to several days to dry depending on conditions.

All parts of plants can be spread out in single layers on trays to dry in a warm, well-ventilated place. Use mesh trays or trays lined with fresh tea towels or paper. Turn the plant matter daily to encourage even drying. Roots can be left whole or roughly chopped (it’s easier to cut them fresh). Flowers and leaves are easier to remove from stems when dry. You can also dry plant material in a dehumidifier.

Aim to dry the plant material enough to stop it going mouldy, without taking all the life away. Store your dried plants in paper bags sealed from the air, or in airtight jars, and keep away from direct sunlight. If dried well, herbs will keep with full properties for at least a year. After this, they will not be as beneficial.

Buying In

What cannot be grown or foraged can be bought in, choosing organically grown ingredients as much as possible. Be responsible when buying wildcrafted herbs, and make sure they were properly picked with sustainability in mind. Reputable suppliers of herbs can be found easily online, and you may be lucky and have a good herbal shop near enough to visit. Find a local herbal practitioner and ask his or her advice about local suppliers. This also puts you in touch with a qualified professional to consult when you need to.

When you are buying herbs in a relatively raw state – for example, dried to use in a recipe – you will easily be able to tell the quality by looking, smelling and tasting a little.

Some of the recipes in this book include ingredients you will need to buy in. All of these are readily available.

Chapter Three

Kitchen Set-up

VERY LITTLE SPECIAL EQUIPMENT IS NEEDED to start creating useful, plant-based preparations at home, but you will want to prepare your working area and acquire a few necessary items before you start to gather your herbs. The basic kit on here lists essential pieces of equipment and explains how these are used. The recipes in this book assume you have this basic kit, noting only additional ‘speciality’ items not on this list.

Before you move on to the recipe section, you will need some knowledge of the key techniques herbalists use to extract and preserve a herb’s wonderful properties. The following pages are dedicated to this, and you will be referred back to this section frequently during the course of the book.

KEY PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES

A domestic alchemist can extract and preserve the properties he or she needs from plants in various ways. The materials you choose will affect the quality of the final product. Try to choose organically grown ingredients wherever possible, and use raw (unpasteurized) honey and apple cider vinegar for anything taken inside the body. Water used for making any preparation should be of good quality; unless you have access to pure spring water, filtered is best, being both cleaner than average tap water and more environmentally friendly than bottled water.

HERBAL INFUSIONS

Leaves and flowers as well as ground roots and barks can be made into infusions (also called teas or tisanes). These can be prepared with fresh or dried herbs.

Hot Infusions

Unless instructed otherwise, teas in this book are to be made as follows:

Place 1 tsp dried herb material or 2 tsp fresh in a teapot or pan with a lid. Cover with a mug of boiling water and leave with a lid on to infuse or brew for 10 minutes. Strain before use.

If a stronger tea is required, the traditional dose is 25g/1oz dried herb or double the quantity of fresh steeped in 550ml/2N cups water. Some recipes call for these stronger herbal infusions.

Cold Infusions

Cold infusions are made by steeping herbs in cold water for 2–3 hours. They are usually made with fresh flowers and leaves.

Decoctions

Parts of the plant that are tougher (such as roots and barks) need to be boiled in water. This is known as a ‘decoction’, though it can also be called a tea. Decoctions can be made with similar amounts as the teas above, but a little extra water is added to allow for evaporation while simmering. In making decoctions, the plant matter is put into a saucepan with water, covered with a lid, heated and then simmered for 10–15 minutes.

After the infusion or decoction is made, usually (but not always) the liquid is strained off and the solid plant matter discarded (for composting). If the liquid is being used in an eye bath or a cream, it should be strained through a sieve lined with muslin or thin cotton cloth (see here) to ensure absolutely no bits remain.

Infusions and decoctions can be drunk hot or cold, applied externally as lotions or washes and used in the making of other preparations, such as creams. They keep for 3 days in the fridge. If you bottle them hot into sterilized bottles (see here), you can keep the unopened bottles for up to a month.

Aromatic Waters

It is exciting to turn a tea or decoction from an aromatic herb into a ‘water’, which involves distillation. A simple method using an adapted pressure cooker is described with the recipes. Aromatic waters can keep for anywhere between 3 months and 2 years.

BASIC KIT

RACK, STRING, PAPER BAGS, SELECTION OF GLASS JARS AND STORAGE CONTAINERS, LABELS

Freshly picked herbs can be tied together and hung from a rack to dry. When dried, store in paper bags or glass jars with tightly fitting lids, away from direct sunlight.

Jars are also used to store tinctures, vinegars and infused oils; you may want large ones for this purpose – old sweet jars work well. Small jars are useful for storing creams; bottles for liquid preparations. You may also need old shampoo bottles and so forth, plus spray bottles and dropper bottles. Almost everything you make will need a label.

Whatever you use to store your preparations needs to be very clean. It is absolutely essential to sterilize bottles or jars used for storing syrups, glycerine, tinctures, jellies, creams and ointments (see box, here).

COFFEE GRINDER

For grinding dried herbs and roots. Ground herbs are used in infusions, oil blends, chocolates, snuff, scouring powder, medicines and foods.

TEAPOT OR COVERED PAN (OR A TEA INFUSER IF FOR ONE PERSON)

For brewing infusions (herbal teas).

FUNNELS

For pouring and straining. You need both large and small, to fit the necks of storage bottles.

MUSLINS OR THIN COTTON CLOTH

For straining potions. Use squares of muslin, large cotton handkerchiefs or tea towels.

SIEVES AND STRAINERS

Metal sieves, from tea-strainer size upwards, are useful for straining. (A small wine press, of the kind normally used for home brewing, is good for pressing out tinctures, infused oils, etc.)

COOKING IMPLEMENTS

For brewing up mixtures, use pots, pans, heat-resistant stainless steel or silicone spatulas and spoons, and a potato masher.

DOUBLE BOILER/BAIN-MARIE

For heating potions gently, use a stainless steel double boiler or a ‘bain-marie’ – a baking dish or saucepan half-filled with water on the stove top, with heat-resistant bowls containing your potions inside it.

MEASURING EQUIPMENT

A couple of accurate measuring jugs, cups and spoons for measuring ingredients. For medicinal tincture mixtures, use a 100ml measuring cylinder.

DIGITAL SCALES

Some recipes require accurately weighed ingredients.