We convened in Burgess Park, South East London, on a sunny afternoon to explore the luscious wild flowers. As we strolled round the west side of the park we marvelled at the beds that have exploded in to full bloom over the midsummer. A large group joined us on the day, some just local passers by that were intrigued by the amassing of people. There was a great varied contribution of herb lore from lots of us that joined the skill share.
We considered responsible and sustainable foraging in the environment of a park. Our forage was of a tokenistic nature, so we picked only a minimal selection of leaves and flowers in order to make some herbal teas. We focussed on the sharing plant identification knowledge and the different properties of various herbs.
One particular favourite was the folk myth surrounding Deadly Nightshade, (Atropia Belladonna). It is also known by another name; Witch’s Broom. A herb frequently mentioned in connection with witchcraft. All parts of the plant are highly poisonous, hence it’s use in deadly potions, curses and hexes. It is also said to have been used in ‘flying ointments’ the poison inducing trance and visions of flying.
Some people had joined us previously for the spring forage walk back in May and it was a great opportunity for us to develop our relationships with the different plants we had observed previously. In the full glory of the summer sun these plants had budded and bloomed in to flower over the changing season.
Standing particularly tall were the white and pink flowers of Yarrow.
YARROW (Achillea millefolium)
Find in grassy areas and disturbed land. It can be harvested all year, young leaves more pleasant in spring can be added to cooking. The flowers and leaves can be added to teas fresh or dried. Also known as Woundwort, indicating it’s medicinal properties with particular affinity with the blood.
- A styptic, stopping blood loss
- Astringent properties help to tone the circulatory system
- Anti bacterial and anti fungal
- Diuretic, flushing out toxins from the body
- Diaphoretic, helping the body sweat out fevers
- Helpful for menstruation, with dual function of breaking up blood clotting as well as preventing heavy bleeding
- Anti-inflammatory
