Category Archives: Alchemy

Ramsons (Allium ursinum, NL:Daslook)

Bulbs, Food, Foraging, Potions, ,

The woodland floor in Frankendael Park is carpeted with flowering snowdrops and the emerging leaves of Ramsons (wild garlic, Allium ursinum). I’m sure snowdrops have their uses but when you find them, Ramsons are an urban herb forager’s dream.  All parts of the plant are edible and very useful, though the leaves and flowers are all you should use.  The bulbs should be left alone and only pick a leaf or two from any plant.  They taste truly delicious – if you like the taste of garlic!  They taste best, by far, before the pretty white flowers open and can be eaten from early spring, when the first leaves emerge from the soil.

Ramsons have similar properties to Garlic but are milder in all respects.  They are also more tolerable to those you have difficulty digesting other members of the onions family.

  • Ramsons can be eaten raw or cooked and act as a gentle spring tonic.
  • They act as a gentle blood cleanser, stimulating the circulatory system and so benefiting the heart, memory, eye sight and skin.
  • They can be very helpful to those suffering from bowel problems, such as Crohn’s disease, IBS, colic, ulcerative colitis, flatulence, gas and bloating.  They have a mild cleansing and calming effect and are said to balance gut flora.
  • They have mild antibacterial and antifungal properties, making them useful as a poultice for boils and minor cuts.

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Until yesterday I had only eaten Ramsons as a spicy addition to salads and cheese sandwiches.  Michael & Elodie at de Hortus told me about Ramson pesto last week so, after a quick afternoon forage, Ramson pesto and home made pasta was on the menu at my home last night.

The recipes I found for Ramson pesto called for a heap of leaves; fine if you live in the country and have access to huge swathes of Ramsons but I don’t.  The Ramsons in city parks need to be shared by many and have more pressures to endure throughout the year.  So today I picked twelve leaves and made enough pesto for two people – it was delicious and as you an see, the intense colour is striking.

ramson-pesto-003

Urban Ramson Pesto
6 Ramson leaves per person
Olive oil
10 Pine nuts per person (optional)
Pecorino or firm goats cheese (optional)

  1. Gently but thoroughly wash the Ramson leaves. Pat them dry.
  2. Chop as finely as possible, using a sharp knife.
  3. Place chopped leaves in a small bowl and add enough olive oil to loosen them up and create a useful pesto type consistency.
  4. Add finely chopped pine nuts and grated cheese if you like.
  5. Use in salad dressings, as a pasta sauce and generally in cooking in place of garlic.

Willow weaving, pruning (and vinegar making) this weekend

Foraging, Potions, Trees

There is a lovely natural children’s play area in Frankendael Park, made from woven living willows.  As you can see, from the photo taken today, the willow structures have sent out lots of new growth and need some pruning and reweaving.

This Saturday, 19th February, at 10am locals interested in helping to tidy up the structures are invited to meet at the play area.  Warm drinks will be provided by the Friends of Frankendael.  This was posted in Het Parool newspaper yesterday.  I suggest that taking a pair of gardening gloves and secateurs would be useful.

Willow (Salix alba, S. fragilis, NL: Wilgen)
A wonderful pain reliever.

Willow bark contains salicin which is the active ingredient in aspirin, but unlike the isolated ingredient, Willow bark  doesn’t irritate the gut or thin the blood.  A country remedy I can vouch for is to chew the twigs of willow for headache relief.  I have found it works and it is also quite tasty!

Willow tincture or vinegar made in spring, can also be very effective. It can be taken for headaches, muscle pains & cramps, rheumatism, arthritis, period pain, colds, flu.  However Willow should not be used by those allergic to Asprin, pregnant or breastfeeding women.

  • Pack a sterile jam jar full of leaves and young twigs.
  • Cover completely with vodka or apple cider vinegar.
  • Seal the jar with a well fitting lid.
  • Leave for 4 – 6 weeks at room temperature
  • Strain and pour the tincture or vinegar into a sterile bottle
  • Label and store in a coolish dark place
  • Take a few drops of tincture in water or a teaspoonful of vinegar for mild pain relief.

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Seeds For Food

Food, Growing herbs, Plant Swaps

There’s an interesting little article in the spring 2011 issue of Permaculture Magazine about the Seeds For Food project.  It aims to provide saved fruit and vegetable seeds to hungry people in developing nations.   The idea for the project arose in Saharawi refugee camps, in South-East Algeria, where there is a desperate need for fresh food and yet limited resources to purchase seed.  You are invited to save the seeds from fruit, vegetables and herbs which you already eat (simply collect, rinse and air dry them) and then post them to the following address:

Prof. Dr. Willem VAN COTTHEM
Beeweg 36
B-9080 ZAFFELARE (Belgique)

They will be used to help families grow their own food.  This seems to be an excellent initiative, I shall certainly be collecting and sending seeds to Prof. Dr. Willem Van Cotthem from now on.  He began the project after working as a UNICEF advisor at sub-Saharan refugee camps and learning how unaffordable fruit and vegetable seeds are to these needy people.

Herbs for Natural Dyeing

Fibre dying

On the recent Amsterdam Herb Walk, we talked a little about using herbs as natural fibre dyes.  There are a great number of native herbs which can be used to create beautiful colours.  Some are long lasting others tend to fade over time.  I love the idea of dyeing wool for knitting projects and have a lovely book on the subject by Jenny Dean. Previously I have collected bags full of onion skins with the intention of dyeing a skein of wool but have never quite got around to it.  This week, spurred on by the conversation, I have been looking for something a little more colourful to brew up in the dye vat.  There are some very useful blogs online, particularly from the USA.  Woad blues and Madder pinks and reds are, I think, amongst the most beautiful.  Many of the herbs can be found locally and seeds are available from specialist sources for the more unusual.

Here’s a list of colours and plants, to wet the appetite of  those who enjoy creating natural colour. It is adapted from the Blue Castle Fibre Arts website. It is not an exhaustive list and if you hover on the photos I have added, you’ll see some other possibilities.  You’ll also see that many of the dyes come from plant roots (e.g. madder) or protected species (e.g. lichens), so not so practical for the urban forager, unless you can grow your own.  Another very useful site is the Californian Backyard Dyer blog.  There are many more, full of tips about how to set about natural dyeing with herbs. I’d love to hear from anyone who has tried natural dyeing (or wants to) on a small scale and am determined that my next wooly jumper will be hand-dyed from a plant I have grown myself.

NATURAL DYE PLANTS FOR RED

 Birch (Betula alba) Fresh inner bark

Bed-straw (Gallium boreale) Roots

Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) Roots

Dyer’s Woodruff (Asperula tinctoria) Roots

Evergreen Alkanet (Anchusa sempervirens)

Gromwell (Lithospermum arvense)

Lady’s Bedstraw (Gallium verum) Roots

Marsh Potentil (Potentilla Comarum) Roots

Madder (Rubia Tinctorum) Roots

Potentil (Potentilla Tormentilla) Roots

NATURAL DYE PLANTS FOR BLUE

Devil’s Bit (Scabiosa succisa) Leaves prepared like woad

Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis)

Elder (Sambucus nigra) Berries

Indigo (Indigofera tintoria)

Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) Berries with alum and salt

Red bearberry (Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi)

Sloe (Prunus communis) Fruit

Whortleberry or Blaeberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus) Berries

Woad (Isatis tinctoria)

Yellow Iris (Iris Pseudacorus) Roots

PLANTS THAT DYE YELLOW

Agrimony (Agrimonia Eupatoria)

Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) Fresh inner bark

Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) Stem and root

Birch. Leaves

Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum)

Bog Myrtle or Sweet Gale (Myrica Gale)

Bracken (Pteris aquilina) Roots, also young tops

Bramble (Rubus fructicosus)

Broom (Sarothammus Scoparius)

Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula and R. cathartica) Berries and Bark

Common dock (Rumex obtusifolius) Root

Crab Apple (Pyrus Malus) Fresh inner bark

Dyer’s Greenwood (Genista tinctoria) Young shoots and leaves

Gorse (Ulex Europæus) Bark, flowers and young shoots

Heath (Erica vulgaris) With Alum

Hedge stachys (Stachys palustris)

Hop (Humulus lupulus)

Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus) Bark

Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis Vulnararia)

Ling (Caluna vulgaris)

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

Marsh potentil (Potentilla Comarum)

Meadow Rue (Thalictrum flavum)

Nettle (Urtica) With Alum

Pear, Leaves

Plum

Polygonum Hydropiper

Polygonum Persecaria

Poplar, Leaves

Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) Leaves

St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Sawwort (Serratula tinctoria)

Spindle tree (Euonymus Europæus)

Stinking Willy, or Ragweed (Senecio Jacobæa)

Sundew (Drosera)

Teasel (Dipsacus Sylvestris)

Way-faring tree (Viburnum lantana) Leaves

Weld (Reseda luteola)

Willow, Leaves

Yellow Camomile (Anthemis tinctoria)

Yellow Centaury (Chlora perfoliata)

Yellow Corydal (Corydalis lutea)

NATURAL DYE PLANTS FOR GREEN

Elder (Sambucus nigra) Leaves with alum

Flowering reed (Phragmites communis) Flowering tops, with iron

Larch. Bark, with alum

Lily of the valley (Convalaria majalis) Leaves

Nettle (Urtica dioica and U. Urens)

Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) Berries and leaves, with alum

PLANTS THAT DYE BROWN

Alder (Alnus glutinosa) Bark

Birch (Betula alba) Bark

Hop (Humulus lupulus) Stalks give a brownish red colour

Onion, Skins

Larch, Pine needles, collected in Autumn

Oak (Quercus Robur) Bark

Red currants, with alum

Walnut, Root and green husks of nut

Water Lily (Nymphæa alba) Root

Whortleberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus) Young shoots, with nut galls

Dulse (Seaweed)

Lichens

NATURAL DYE PLANTS FOR PURPLE

Byrony (Byronia dioica) Berries

Damson, Fruit, with alum

Dandelion (Taraxacum Dens-leonis) Roots

Danewort (Sambucus Ebulus) Berries

Deadly nightshade (Atropa Belladonna)

Elder (Sambucus nigra) Berries, with alum, a violet; with alum and salt, a lilac colour

Sundew (Drosera)

Whortleberry or blaeberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) It contains a blue or purple dye which will dye wool and silk without mordant

NATURAL DYE PLANTS FOR BLACK

Alder (Alnus glutinosa) Bark, with iron

Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) Young shoots, with salts of iron

Dock (Rumex) Root

Elder (Sambucus nigra) Bark, with iron

Iris (Iris Pseudacorus) Root

Meadowsweet (Spirea Ulmaria)

Oak, Bark and acorns

I’m off to order some Woad and Indigo seed now …

Sweet Cicely Schnapps (Myrrhis odorata, NL:Roomse Kervel)

Food, Foraging, Perennial herbs, Potions, Wild herbs, ,

Whilst walking around town today I noticed that Sweet Cicely (Sweet Chervil, Myrrhis odorata, NL: Roomse Kervel) is currently looking really strong and fresh.  It is a member of the Apiaceae family and is quite easy to identify at this time of year because it is one of the few plants which survives above ground throughout the winter.  It is useful as green leafy vegetable in its own right, the roots are also very tasty however if you are foraging, roots are not an option. Pulling Apiaceae roots destroys the whole plant.  Sweet Cicely has a distinctly Anise flavour and smells rather like Lovage. It is packed with nutrients at a time when not many other leafy wild herbs are around and is found to be aromatic, stomachic, carminative and expectorant by herbalists.

Caution
Many members of the Apiaceae family (formerly called Umbelliferae family) are highly poisonous (e.g. Hemlock), others are edible and several have been cultivated such as parsley, coriander and carrot. Few members of the family are above ground right now but when foraging for Sweet Cicely, as ever, you should consult a good feild guide before deciding to pick.  If in any doubt don’t pick or taste.  Sweet Cicely makes a lovely, easy to grow pot plant and seeds are available through gardening suppliers.

Uses
If your reliable source of Sweet Cicely is unpolluted you may like to eat it raw, chopped into a salad.  A simple tea can be made from the fresh leaves and stems, which is said to help releive indigestion and possibly help calm coughs.  I prefer the following recipe from Denmark.  I found it on a Danish Schnapps Recipe website which also contains some useful information about the herb and how to make the Schnapps from other parts of the plant, if you are using your own rather than foraged material.

Danish Sweet Cicely Schnapps

  1. Put about 200ml chopped fresh Sweet Cicely leaves or stems into a clean glass jar.
  2. Add 350ml vodka and seal with a well fitting lid.
  3. Let the mixture steep/infuse at room temperature for 1 to 3 days.
  4. Shake lightly and taste your infusion from time to time.
  5. Strain and enjoy.

An alcoholic infusion can also be made using brandy.  The vodka version apparently tastes rather like Greek Ouzo, I’m not sure if connoisseurs would agree.

Elderflower Tea

Potions, Shrubs, Wild herbs, , , , ,

Following on from my recent post about Elder, here’s how to make Elderflower tea.

It is very easy to make fresh Elderflower tea and there should be some Elder close to your home.  When the shrub is in full bloom (May/June here in Western Europe) and on a warm dry day find an Elder away from polluting roads.  Check you like the smell of the flowers, the scent of Elderflower varies from shrub to shrub and it is not always fragrant!  Ask permission of the plant, in some way, to harvest flowers. Most countries have lots of  folk lore about being especially respectful of the Elder and if you are not of the superstitious kind then do remember that Elder berries are important to wildlife later in the year – less flowers, less berries.

Select only healthy looking flower heads (umbels) which have creamy-yellow stamens as shown in the photo.  Pick them carefully as they are very easily damaged, I tend to collect them into a paper bag to avoid squashing the umbels on the way home.

Don’t wash the umbels before use but do snip off any thick stemy parts and shake off any insects and unwanted bits.  If possible return the insects and bits to the plant soon afterwards.  After gently shaking, it helps to lay the umbels on some white paper for a few minutes. The tiny insects then tend to crawl out or at least may be easily spotted and removed.

Use one or two big umbels per cup of tea.  You can use the actual flowers alone (although its a bit fiddly to separate them when fresh) or the entire umbels.  I simply place whole umbels (sort of folded up) in a small tea pot, add boiled water, cover and infuse or 5 – 10 minutes.  If making it in a cup, do cover with a saucer whilst it infuses.

If you would like to harvest Elder flowers to dry and store then collect them just before the shrubs are in full bloom (May/June).  Harvest as above, lay out on paper to dry in a warm, well ventilated place. When thoroughly dry the little flowers can be rubbed off the umbels and stored in jam jars, in a dark place, for up to a year.  You would use about 1 heaped teaspoon of dried herb per cup of tea.

It is well worth keeping some dried Elderflower in stock over the cold and flu months. Herbals generally recommend that it is freely taken for a few days during a cold or flu (up to 8 cups daily) and up to a few cups per day at other times.  Refer to the post about Elder for a little more information about the properties and uses of this wonderful plant.

The Sap is Rising…

Foraging, Potions, Shrubs, Wild herbs, , , ,

I like winter, it’s a good time to retreat into oneself  and listen to what the darkness has to teach but I am always happy when I can see signs life reappearing in the plants around me.  This week I can smell and see that happening as the sap starts to slowly rise in many plants.  One of the most useful and familiar of herbs is certainly showing those signs at the moment.  Elder (Sambucus nigra, NL:Vlier) is thankfully so common that there is most likely a modest specimen growing quite close to where you live.  Perhaps you use it wisely already or perhaps you would recognise its flowers or berries.

I remember a very resilient old Elder which hung over my family’s driveway as a child. We didn’t know how to work with Elder at that time but the local birds evidently did.  Each year our car would become covered with staining purple droppings as the birds gorged themselves on its ripe berries.  The shrub was severely pruned each year to limit the damage and each year it bounced back, absolutely thriving in the clay soil and sunshine.

Elder has so many uses in traditional medicine that it is really worth getting to know.  I shall post in detail about Elder one day soon, when I feel spring’s energies flowing through my own veins again.  Until then I wanted to share with you one remedy which I used a few weeks ago with success.

Elder (in winter) for fever.
Sambucus nigra is known, among other things, as a traditional fever remedy.  It is effective at inducing perspiration which in turn lowers the bodies temperature yet is reputedly mild enough to be used for childhood fevers, when they are not extreme. Generally the flowers are used to treat fever and the berries to reduce the severity and longevity of cold and flu.  Recently I felt a cold or flu creeping up on me and wanted to self treat with Elder however in late December neither fresh berries or flowers were available to me here in Amsterdam.  A tea, using dried organic flowers from a healthfood shop, might have been an option but I wanted to experiment with a local Elder.

It is said that one should always ask permission of the Elder before harvesting from her so I sought out a strong Elder shrub in my nearby park and mentally asked to harvest enough material to treat myself. The bark and leaves of Elder also contain some of the fever reducing agents found in the flowers and berries.

I harvested a few healthy (and budding) young twigs and small branches (about 2 feet long in total and mostly second year growth).

  • I cleaned them a little with water and scraped the outer and inner bark from the branches and broke up the twigs which were too small to scrape.  The remaining Elder material was kept aside.
  • The twigs and bark were placed in a small heavy pan.
  • I added about 700ml filtered and freshly boiled water to the pan and covered with a heavy lid.
  • This infusion was left at a fairly cool room temperature for 48 hours.
  • As time progressed I checked the infusion a few times and the smell of Elder became increasingly intense and the liquid became slightly gelatinous.  It smelled fresh and tasted smooth, soothing and slightly sweet.
  • After 48 hours the infusion was strained and the spent plant material was kept aside with the unused material.
  • I drank the infusion over the following 4 hours, rested and wrapped up comfortably warm. I sweated more than usual and noticed a feeling of being cleansed and nourished.  The threatening cold/flu came to nothing more than a few hours of feeling tired and hot with a slight headache.  Of course this may or may not have been thanks to the Elder infusion but I will happily try it again when I feel a cold or flu trying to take hold.
  • The used Elder material was returned with thanks to the foot of the shrub from whence it came.  One small branch was not used at all and is currently rooting easily in a vase of water on my kitchen windowsill. It has several healthy new leaves. 

    • Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana, NL:Toverhazelaar)

    Lotions, Potions, Shrubs, Wild herbs, , , , , , , , ,

    Witch hazel is one of my favourite shrubs and I am hoping to introduce it to my pavement garden this winter.  When unrestricted its crooked, apple tree-like branches grow to 4 – 6 inches in diameter and the whole shrub can reach around 12 feet in height.  However it can also do well in small spaces, such as large pots or pavement gardens (geveltuinen). It grows best in moisture retentive, acid to neutral soil and is adapted to living in light shade.  Witch hazel is also tolerant of polluted city air and its unusual yellow October flowers make it a good option for the urban herbologist.

    The leaves and bark of Witch hazel are very useful.  They taste bitter, containing tannic and gallic acids as well as a volatile oil.  Its effects are  astringent, tonic and sedative so preparations of Hamamelis virginiana are often used to treat internal and external bleeding.  The most well known uses of this herb are for treating piles, bruises and inflammatory swellings but it is sometimes used for diarrhoea, dysentery and mucous discharges.  Please be aware that using Witch hazel internally should only be done under expert guidance.  Due to its astringent effect, Witch hazel distilled extract (available cheaply from many chemists) makes a great skin toner.  I used it as a teenager, it works well and I think it smells great.  These days I use it mostly for treating bruises.

    Chips of dried Hamamelis virginiana bark can be obtained from herbal suppliers.  You may find this beautiful shrub in local parks, hedgerows and areas of woodland.  It is also a fairly popular garden shrub due to the unusual winter flowers.  Apparently it is very difficult to propagate Witch hazel by cuttings and the edible seeds (if you can find them as they are dispersed far and wide by explosion) can take over a year to germinate.  I am hoping to take a winter cutting from a friend’s plant very soon.  I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who has been successful in this.

    Witch hazel can be used in many ways;

    • Tea (made from the leaves and young twigs or bark, fresh or dried) can be applied directly to piles or dabbed onto bruised or inflamed areas of skin.  This also makes a milder skin toner than the distilled extract, often good for acne, oily skin and shrinking bags under the eyes.
    • Tincture, best made from the bark.
    • Fluid extract, if you can squeeze the juice out, can be included in ointments to calm varicose veins.
    • Distilled extract, easily obtained from chemists, great for dabbing onto bruises, insect stings and bites, applied very quickly as a compress for burst varicose veins – which are life threatening and need immediate medical attention. Can be applied to intact varicose veins as a soaked lint bandage, wrapped gently around the area loose enough to allow the blood to flow unrestricted.
    • Powdered bark, if you can make it then this can be applied to piles when combined in a cream or paste.

    Holly and Ivy (NL:Hulst en Klimop)

    Evergreen herbs, Lotions, , , , , , ,

    Not being a great one for tinsel and baubals, I generally opt for some sprigs of holly and ivy when decorating my home for the Yuletide festivities.  So I thought it was time to have a quick look at the herbal lore and uses attributed to these beautiful evergreen plants.

    Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
    Boughs made from the glossy leaves and scarlet berries of Holly have been used to decorate homes at the winter festivals of Yuletide and Saturnalia, since ancient times.  Early Christians are thought to have adopted the practice, to deck churches with evergreen boughs, from their contemporary Pagan cousins.  Ancient Romans believed that Holly could protect their homes from poison, lightening and witchcraft.  It’s not difficult to understand why, given the spiky, defensive structure of many holly leaves.  Planting holly bushes close to homes was thought to infer this protection.

    The leaves, berries and bark of Holly have been employed in herbal remedies over the years.  The berries quickly cause vomiting (they were used a purgative) but the leaves (of several Ilex varieties) have long been used as a tea substitute in Germany and Brazil. The leaves have been thought to help with catarrh, smallpox and pleurisy.  They contain a bitter alkaloid called Ilicin which promotes perspiration. Traditionally Holly leaves have  been used to treat intermittent fevers and rheumatism.  The berries, when dried and powdered are astringent and have been used traditionally to stop bleeding.

    Gathering holly for medicinal purposes is best done in May and June, at about noon time when they are dry of dew.  Gathering holly for decorative purposes should be done with respect for the plant, taking just a little, without harm.  I like to return the holly to the foot of the plant I have cut it from, when I take my decorations down.  It feels much more respectful to do this and hopefully the plant will benefit a little as the dried branches slowly rot down.  Holly can be found growing in hedgerows, as specimens in gardens and within woodlands.  There is plenty growing in central Amsterdam.

    Ivy (Hedera helix)
    Glossy, beautiful, angular Ivy grows easily in pots and makes a great addition to balconies.  It sticks so well to walls, with its amazing vertical fibre support system, that it will easily pull the mortar out from between brickwork if the plant is pulled off.  However Ivy is said to be one of the only plants that keeps walls dry, it’s leaves acting as a protective and beautiful curtain. The fibres become true roots when they meet water, until then they help ivy to attach firmly to the most unlikely surfaces.

    Ivy is favoured by many birds for nesting and its berries provide a rich source of nectar for bees.  Ivy has the amazing ability to transform itself in many ways when it reaches unrestricted light, such as at the tops of trees or walls.  It then produces softer looking, ovate leaves and bunches of pretty flowers on a strong bush like structure.

    There is some much lore associated with ivy.  Like Holly, Ivy has been used to decorate homes since ancient Pagan times.  Poets’ wreaths are made from ivy leaves, as is the wreath of Bacchus.  It was thought that gently boiling bruised ivy leaves in wine would remove the wines powers of intoxication.  Perhaps the alcohol simply boiled away? Perhaps not.  Ivy has long been a sign of fidelity and was given to newly weds in ancient Greece.

    One of the few traditional medicinal uses for Ivy was as relief for sunburn.  Soft ivy twigs, when boiled in butter were thought to produce a useful remedy.  I think I will stick with Aloe vera for now but the ivy remedy could be worth experimenting with.

     

    Herbal Vapours

    Exotic herbs, Potions, , , , ,

    In the winter I often enjoy burning herbs and recently the spicy scents of Frankincense and Myrrh have been wafting around our apartment.  All of the senses are emotive and can conjure up long forgotten memories but for me the sense of smell is most potent.  The scent of a particular time of year, the plants in bloom, humidity levels and so on, can combine and take me straight back to a unique event or emotion.  Frankincense and Myrrh resin, burned over a candle on a dark winter day, do just that and they make useful room fumigants.  I also enjoy the smell of good quality incense and of several dried herbs as they are directly warmed or gently burned.  I am not a smoker but enjoy the smoking blend mentioned below by adding a little to the top of an aromatherapy oil vapouriser.  In this case and when burning resins, I first cover the top of the vapouriser/burner with a little aluminium foil, it prevents cracking of the ceramic and makes cleaning much easier.

    Inhaling herbal vapours allows them to enter the bloodstream and reach the brain quickly.  Care should be taken to select herbs for this purpose wisely and it is best to begin with a very small amount, to see how you react.  Some herbal vapours can quickly lift your spirits, such as Fennel seed.  Others can be relaxing or overstimulating.  If you are feeling exhausted or stressed out, you are more likely to react strongly to inhaled herbs.  Be cautious and respectful of them.

    There is a lot of folklore associated with burning herbs. Smudge sticks to cleanse spaces, moon lodges & sweat lodges where herbs are heated over hot stones, herbal fumigation in Chinese traditional medicine and herbal smokes to induce visions in spiritual aspirants are but a few uses for burning herbs.  Sage commonly features in recipes; it burns well and in many cultures is believed to ward off evil. It is often used to “smudge” or cleanse spaces. Some communities burn it in the presence of new born babies, to prevent evil spirits from entering the child’s body via the cut umbilical cord.  Other commonly used herbs are Frankincense, Myrrh, Artemisia spp., Fennel seed, Aniseed and Thuja (Cedar).  I find that gently inhaling the vapours of herbs, feels more healing and natural than using concentrated essential oils.  I am interested to know of your experiences.

    If you are interested in making your own incense there is a lovely book by Scott Cunningham which details dozens of recipes. You can see an extract here: Scott Cunningham’s Incense Book
    Several years ago I bought a few kilos of hand made incense sticks from Mysore market.  They were apparently rolled from a blend containing honey and sandalwood. They smell absolutely divine, very clean burning with no hint of chemicals (which many commercial versions seen to contain). I only have a few sticks left so will try to find a recipe in the Cunningham book to match it.

    Honey cured herbal smoking blend
    This is a simple recipe which works well. Just preparing the herbs makes me feel good, warming or burning them feels soothing and a sprinkling of the mix goes well with a few grains of Frankincense and Myrrh.

    1. Powder some fennel seeds (this is tricky without a spice grinder). I do this with a food processor but always end up with two grades of fennel – fine powder and bruised seeds (which is good for tea or bread).
    2. Add 2 teaspoons of fennel powder to 12g of chopped dried sage.  Mix together.
    3. Separately, mix one teaspoon of honey with 4 teaspoons of water.
    4. Gradually add the honey water solution to the herbs.  You will need to rub the solution into the herbs so that they really soak it up evenly.
    5. Stop adding the solution when you feel all of the herbs are damp.
    6. Spread out the damp herb mix in a bowl.
    7. Leave the bowl uncovered (or perhaps covered with a muslin or clean tea towel) for about 48 hours.  Turn the herbs now and then.
    8. When you feel the herbs are almost dry transfer to an airtight container and label.
    9. If you find the mix is too dry for your needs you could add a little more water and shake up in the container OR add a potato peeling or two a few hours before use.  The herbs will absorb the water from the peelings.