As a herbalist I love getting out and sharing my passion for local plant medicines and the National Wildflower Centre is a favourite place to do this.
Today, as part of the ‘Get Active’ day in the Autumn Harvest Celebration Week I led a walk around the grounds looking at the many medicinal weeds that grow there. We talked about using plantain leaves for insect bites, which one of the group will try out on her midge bites; another’s auntie has hay fever and she’ll recommend that she drinks nettle tea to reduce the symptoms.
Other herbal activities included herbal medicine making. 30 children made their own bottle of herbal sage and marigold vinegar to test out on their families! To be used as an antiseptic gargle or healthy mouthwash, most of the children said they would wait until someone in the family had a sore throat to test it out, but one intended to use it every day after brushing her teeth to keep her teeth and gums healthy.
My thanks to the Wildflower Centre for opportunities like this to spread awareness of the health benefits of local plants.
