As the Summer Solstice approaches, have you thought about the herbs which celebrate midsummer?

The next Herb Workshop at Springfield Sanctuary, 2 miles from Stow on the Wold in the Cotswolds will be looking at the midsummer herbs – calendula, St John’s wort, yarrow and many others. The date is Saturday 23 June 2007

Bring a packed lunch and some vodka if you would like to make a fresh herb tincture to take away with you. We can also sample herb teas and make an infused oil. You will need to bring a small glass jar (1Ib) with a screw top lid if you want to make a tincture. If the sun shines we can also make a flower essence and look at the energetic as well as medicinal and culinary uses of herbs.

Drinks will be provided but bring a packed lunch with you. Aim for sensible footwear as the Sanctuary is reached through two fields and the ground is very uneven thanks to the ever present moles and rabbits!

The workshop is free and donations are welcome to help with the upkeep of the Sanctuary. To find out more about Springfield Sanctuary, take a look at the website at http://www.springfieldsanctuary.co.uk or join Ygrainesherblore email list at yahoo.com

For further information and to book your place please contact me before 22 June 2007 on 0121 707 8269 or email sarah@headology.co.uk.

Best wishes

Sarah

I saw this workshop and decided I just HAD to go!!

Checked with my husband that we didnt have anything on that day...nope, we are free. YAY.

He must have noticed a certain glint in my eye when I talked about it because something caused him to ask...."which country is it in dear?"

uhm....UK?

*laughs* I suppose I should point out that we live in Australia and of course for us it's Midwinter

Hope you guys have a great time......looks like I will have to miss it this time.

regards

Anke

Hi Anke

Let me know when you're next over here so we can visit!

We had a very pleasant day, despite the insistent spells of rain. We made plantain double infused oil using greater plantain and narrow-leafed plantain which my father had collected for me the week before during a dry day. It had been drying spread out on the spare bed and looked almost dry, but it was amazing the large amount of water on the inside of the cookpot lid!

We made some elderflower tea, lemon balm tea and some red clover and rose petal tea made from a mixture of dog rose and apothecary's rose petals. We also nibbled yarrow leaves while we were talking about it's many uses and studied the star flowers of the St John's wort.

Luckily the calendula was just coming into flower, so one of the participants was able to make her calendula tincture from both fresh flower heads and dried petals. The other participant decided on an elderflower tincture and gathered enough to take home to make a cordial as well.

They also wanted to try making infused oil at home, so they went away with fresh comfrey and mugwort.

I'd not been down to my Sanctuary for two months and was horrified by the rise of weeds and plants growing where they shouldn't. The herb beds resembled some kind of tropical jungle with large, structural plants beating everything else for space, light and volume. The patch of ox-eye daisies I planted so carefully never germinated - probably due to the lack of light caused by the enormous angelica leaves. I was really frustrated because I have been wanting to grow them for years and getting the seed was a real palarva. The goats rue had fallen all over the bergamot plants, so that was culled in an attempt to save about £60 worth of plants. I removed all the seed heads from the angelica - which took about an hour in the rain on Sunday morning, did some weeding and removed the woad from the bed by the fence before it all self seeds. The mullein are coming out in flower - beautiful tall yellow spikes, but the leaves are all mildewed and I despair of harvesting the flower stalks for drying. I also planted out the milk thistle seedlings which my mother had heeled into the ground in their polystyrene boxes, which was not helping them!

The constant wet has meant my father could not do his normal mowing either of the path down the fields nor of the "Sanctuary" itself. Walking through two fields of three foot soaking wet long grass several times over two days was not fun and I've pulled some muscles in my right foot arch (or aggravated my Morton's neuroma) so it's now painful.

Such is the price we pay for growing things!

Best wishes

Sarah