Just looks like a patch of weeds, doesn’t it? But this self-sown little wilderness holds many magical secrets. In among the rampant forget-me-nots are no less than seven medicinally beneficial herbs – difficult to see because they are still quite small at this stage:
Greater Celandine – good for pain, inflammation, warts
Figwort – good for skin conditions
Broad Leafed Willow Herb – prostate health
Mullein – lungs and membranes
Feverfew – headaches
Dock – a blood cleanser and good for skin conditions
Marigold – good for everything
What a wonderful medicine chest, seeded and grown naturally by nature herself!
It is even more precious as, due to knee joint problems, I have sadly had to let go of my plans to completely remake my little herb plot in the far corner of our back garden where two slate walls meet to provide a warm and sheltered sunny spot. Moreover, due to pressure of so much other work needing doing around the house and grounds, my husband has decided to allow at least half the back garden (usually under cultivation and filled with vegetables) to lie fallow just for this year. (We also rationalised that this might help the ground to recover after a whole year of rain which surely must have washed so much goodness from the land.)
We had planned on turning the soil over and sowing green manure crops, but earlier in the spring I became enchanted by the many wild spring flowers which had begun to spring up between last winter’s veg and decided to leave the land to its own devices. I was fascinated to discover just what it might do next.
And here is my answer! Now I find that a new and different kind of herb garden has established itself and come out to greet me. Nature has listened to the yearnings of my heart and provided me with a selection of wonderful herbs. without me having to lift a finger – or bend an arthritic knee.
Many years ago, I once organised a sale of potted herbs and seedlings to raise money for charity. I was horrified when one elderly lady cast a disparaging glance over my lovingly tended plants and loudly declared, “Why, these are just all weeds!” There is a saying that a weed is only a plant growing in the wrong place.
In a similar sized patch of ground, adjacent to the one in the picture above, we discovered eight more marvellous herbs:
Heartsease – beneficial for skin and also various kinds of cancer
Nettles – a good anti-histamine, blood cleanser and liver herb, (and also a brilliant tonic for soil)
Bloody Dock – another good liver herb
Woodavens – good for dental pain
Evening Primrose – skin, wounds and hormonal uses
Comfrey – bone healing (and for the gardener, makes a marvellous plant food)
Dandelion – diuretic and liver herb
Wild Mustard – not particularly medicinal, but oh, so tasty!
In the past, we have observed that from year to year our valley provides a natural abundance of whatever is going to be medicinally most needed during the following twelve months. (And yes, in 2019 it was all for the lungs and respiratory system.)
I asked my medical herbalist son what this particular selection of herbs – overall – would now be good for. He replied that they would provide a relaxing, soothing, detoxifying mixture – basically good for chilling out with. Oh, how many of us facing difficult challenges and uphill struggles in our day-to-day existence might truly benefit in such a way!
Of course, one doesn’t have to actually mutilate or kill the plants to receive benefit from them. One of the most gently powerful benefits can be simply to go and sit in their company… be within their energetic fields, their auras, if you like.
The natural world is so extraordinarily wise and bountiful. Give her a chance and amazing things can happen. Sowing seeds – even wildflower seeds – is a worthy activity, but sometimes we simply need to step back and allow the earth to express itself in the way she wishes to. We need to be patient, to watch and listen, and take note of what is being given so openhandedly to us.
We are truly blessed!
