A garden medicine cabinet

We all like to relax with a cup of tea to gather our thoughts and gear ourselves up for the next job on the list ….. but if our cup of tea could aid our digestion, support heart and circulation health or ensure a good night’s sleep that would be a real bonus.

Nicola Fenton, a trained herbalist, came along to September’s WI meeting to explain about the hidden qualities of garden plants. So many plants readily available in our gardens have healing properties. Prepared in different ways, they can be taken as a tea, crushed to form a poultice, mixed with beeswax to create an ointment or concentrated in a tincture.

Nicola brought with her samples of thyme, rosemary, sage and plantain to illustrate the benefits and to encourage us to try the flavours. Most found the rosemary tea quite pleasant but sage tea was a bit more of a challenge!

Peppermint and lemon balm are good for digestive troubles; thyme for coughs and colds, rosemary for headaches and anxiety. Try Valerian if your sleep is disturbed, rosehips for the winter vitamin C hit, meadowsweet for heart burn and, if you don’t fancy sage in tea, try it as a toothpaste or mouth freshener.

Most surprising was the news that daisies are our natural source of Arnica and that stinging nettles are a great tonic!!

As always, the advice was to check before you drink that the plant is what you think it is and if you are on medication check with your doctor before indulging!

If you fancy joining one of our meetings, please come along on the second Wednesday of each month to the Village Hall for a 7:30pm start. You will be made very welcome.