Long before the recording of history or the invention of science, people gathered wild herbs and cultivated them in herb gardens. Despite attempts by political establishments to suppress and outlaw the use of herbs, much of what we know today has been preserved and inherited from our earliest ancestors.
Herbal tea
Our knowledge of herbs as medicines, food, drinks, flavouring, and beauty products belongs to the people and cannot be controlled or owned by big industries claiming to be authorities on the use of herbs.
Herbs are nature's gifts of life, health, nourishment and beauty. They are there for everyone to learn about and enjoy. They should not be confined to the laboratories of the 'experts'.
There have been scare stories about bad side effects of herbs, but these effects have been caused by concentrated extracts of active constituents taken in isolation from other parts of the herb. It is unnatural to take herbs in that way. The natural way to take herbs is as a whole plant, and as part of a normal diet.
Natural herbs taken in the normal way do not have bad side effects. Scare stories prevent people from getting to know about herbs. Provided you do not eat poisonous plants, the proper use of whole herbs is harmless, healthy, nutritional and life enhancing.
Care should be taken to identify herbs gathered in the wild. On the Resources page there are a number of links to sites that give clear images and details to help identify herbs and poisonous plants.
I hope this site will help and encourage you to learn about herb gardening, start your own organic herb garden, and experience the magic of real herbs. You can do so much more with real herbs than capsules! You can learn how to make herbal teas, infusions, decoctions, tinctures, infused oils for salads and massage, herbal vinegars and all sorts of culinary delights. You can also make your own natural remedies, for instance to stop smoking , lose weight or cure stomach ulcers.
You might wish to make your voice heard on the issues of standardisation of herbal products, the certification of herbalists and the implications of these directives. I have written some articles on standardisation of herbs and regulation of herbalists, and I will post information and news on the Herb Blog. Please email me or post to the Blog any herb news, information or resources that would be helpful to others.
