A very short walk from the jetty by Coniston Water to the Brantwood studio! We looked at the grasses and herbs we passed and considered how these can be used as medicines.
We’ve been working together to create a book – Herbal Chronicles – and I have recently had an exhibition of my watercolours at Brantwood; and we’ve been making short films of our encounters with herbs.
On our short walk from the jetty I filmed Sarah as she talked about the herbs we found on our way – this was un-planned, we didn’t know what we would find and we found six so easily!
These are a few of the healing plants that are in our book Herbal Chronicles. Brantwood is a plants’ persons’ haven, from the Hortus Inclusus herbs – this is where we filmed the St John’s Wort – to Crag Head right at the top of the estate. All six of the short films are on Instagram #artfulwayscumbria
How many herbs can you find on this short amble?
We found:
feverfew for joint and muscle healing
betony for memory,
meadowsweet for digestion
st john’s wort, for menopause,
mint for digestion
mullein for coughs and colds
Here are a few more:
comfrey for joint and muscle healing,
red clover for menopause,
plantain for coughs and colds,
lime flower, which is a soporific,
nettle, for skin healing.
Answering the three Artful questions
Creativity & culture
– Cultural feature along the way – we show how simple it is to find some of the healing herbs that are in the Herbal Chronicles book we have created.
– To be creative in Cumbria – I have painted all the healing herbs that are in the Herbal Chronicles book – 84 in all – Sarah has written all the stories about how she has used all these plants to help people in her practice as a Medical Herbalist in Ulverston, and our book Herbal Chronicles brings these together.
Connectivity
– During Covid, we took the opportunity to connect more with the landand the hedgerows, to some of the plants that are healing herbs, some of which we keep removing from our gardens as weeds! Herbs that support our coughs & colds and our immune systems; like garlic! this is a clear way to artfully and collectively care for the natural world; the plants look after us – we can look after the plants.
Place
– Brantwood is a place to ’BE’.
More can be found out about Sally and Sarah at their websites here:
www.sallybamber.com and www.medicine-garden.com