Self-Sufficient Herbalism. Lucy Jones

sales volume. If your main focus is on providing consultations, then you should be aware that if you register for VAT, you will need to start to charge VAT on your consultations, and you will have to pay this amount to HMRC. This means that it will be necessary to increase your consultation charges immediately by the amount of VAT that you will need to pay in order to maintain the level of gross income from consultations that you had prior to registering. This may not be a problem in some areas where there is a higher ‘willingness to pay’, but if you like to make your services as accessible as possible and you are based in an area where the average income is low, you may wish to think twice about this.

      If we love herbs, the time we spend working with them can be viewed as rest, recuperation, and inspiration for the future of our practice.

      I am sure that I am not the only one who prefers to spend time harvesting and gathering herbs in preference to ordering, packing, and posting prescriptions.

      If creating a dispensary from scratch is prohibitively expensive, there is a perfectly valid school of thought that opts to hold only minimal stock and then order new supplies from wholesalers as needed, once each patient consultation has been carried out. However, a just-in-time stock control system does entail much more time spent ordering, packing, and posting, not to mention increased delivery costs (and the associated environmental impact) from the wholesaler. I am sure that I am not the only one who prefers to spend time harvesting and gathering herbs in preference to ordering, packing, and posting prescriptions.

      We should also consider what our potential customers want. More and more people are excited by the idea of low food (or medicine) miles and like to feel that their herbal medicine has been grown or wildcrafted in the area local to where they are being treated. Most of my herbal medicines have been sourced within two miles of my clinic, and many of my patients mention this as something that first attracted them to my practice. By sourcing some or all of our own herbs, we may well be increasing our appeal to potential customers, and as a result of this we can bring herbal medicine to more people who need it.

      PART TWO

      HOW TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT

      6

      Wildcrafting

      Gathering medicinal herbs is a wonderful, magical activity. It is glorious to wander through wild places with an open heart and an empty basket, waiting to see which herbs will announce themselves. Our ancestors gathered wild foods and medicines. Gathering is in our bones.

      When I lead foraging courses, I see the strength of our pull to gather herbs. Sometimes during our shared day of exploration and learning we pause in a meadow, and I set the group the task of gathering a particular herb, such as Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) flowers or Plantain (Plantago spp.) leaves. For many people, this may be the first time that they have actually settled into gathering any quantity of a particular herb. They tell me afterwards that when they first came to the gathering location, they could see that there were a few of the plants that we were intending to gather, but there did not seem to be many of them. Once they started to gather, they looked around the area, and they realized that the plants were becoming much more visible and prominent. Suddenly what looked as though it would be ‘slim pickings’ became an abundant natural medicine chest. You could describe this as ‘getting your eye in’, or you could say that the herbs ‘call to you’. It does not really matter what terms you use. The point is that as human beings we learn foraging quickly. We have an aptitude for it. It is also interesting to note that foraging course attendees often embark on the gathering task with sociable enthusiasm, enjoying the opportunity to get to know their fellow course attendees. Over time, though, they seem to drift apart, each finding their own little ‘territory’ for gathering and relaxing into a quiet, reflective rhythm. When the time comes for the group to move on, I notice that people find it hard to tear themselves away, feeling a deep urge to bend down to just pick one or two more flowers or leaves. I feel this too, whenever I am gathering. There is such a strong pull to pick just one more handful or just another couple of stems. I catch myself thinking that just one more handful would be enough for another patient's daily medicine.

      As human beings we learn foraging quickly. We have an aptitude for it.

      Gathering is deeply ingrained within us, and it is a beautiful thing to connect with, but things have changed since we were hunter-gatherers. As modern human beings, many of us have grown up with cultural messages of entitlement over the natural world, as opposed to those of a deep respect and connection to it. We retain a strong attraction to the process of wild harvesting, but we may have lost the knowledge, confidence or opportunity to make good use of the herbs once we have gathered them. Herbs deserve to be valued and respected. If we gather them and then waste them, we are behaving disrespectfully. To avoid waste, we should at least have an outline plan for how we plan to use the herbs that we harvest. Perhaps we intend to make a tincture or an infused oil. Perhaps we wish to dry some of the leaves so that we can use them for infusions throughout the year ahead. By having a plan, we can review the quantity that we would like to harvest. We can aim to harvest just what we need and avoid the wastage caused by harvesting too much. If we do not have a plan, we may need to do a little research and come up with one. We can always return another day to harvest.

      It is also really important to be aware of our wider intentions when we are foraging. By ‘wider intentions’ I mean our motivation. Is our motivation to share the healing properties of the herbs we are gathering for the benefit of those who need them, or is it to exploit a ‘free resource’ with the primary intention of making money? In the Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist tradition, it is emphasized that having a positive and selfless intention is considered to make any act sacred and potent. Before we gather any wild herb, then, it is very positive to ask ourselves whether we have a broader aim, which makes use of the special qualities offered to us by the herbs that we are gathering. We all have our own relationship with herbs and our own reasons for gathering. It is not for me to say which intention is ‘right’ and which is ‘wrong’, but I think we should all check in with ourselves and reaffirm our intentions each time before gathering a herb. That way we will develop a habit of mindfulness about our intentions, and we will be able to say, hand on heart, that we have made peace with them.

      Once we feel comfortable with our intention for gathering, we need to bring to mind a sense of gratitude and respect towards the plants we wish to wild-harvest.

      Once we feel comfortable with our intention for gathering, we need to bring to mind a sense of gratitude and respect towards the plants we wish to wild-harvest. A good way of achieving this is to always ask their permission before starting to gather them. There are lots of different ways of doing this. You could pause, sit for a while, and inwardly explain how you intend to make use of their precious healing qualities, asking whether they would be prepared to give up some of themselves in order for you to do that. You could make a symbolic offering, such as of Tobacco or tea, to show respect and to demonstrate that you understand our interconnectedness. You could say a prayer, recite mantras, or visualize a healing archetype such as the Medicine Buddha. Each one of us will be drawn to our own way of asking permission and sensing the answer. If you are not sure about the answer, just relax, be still, and listen. At first you may find that you feel self-conscious and do not fully trust what you are feeling, but as your connection and confidence grows, you will learn to trust your perceptions.