Have you ever thought about medicine being beautiful?
I think about it all the time when I’m making medicine from these gorgeous plants. From the moment of planting out either a small plant, sometimes bought, often gifted, or checking daily in my seed tray, I’m watching for the unfolding of this plant. First the tiny leaves, then they differentiate, slowly it becomes apparent which seed is becoming which medicinal herb, or salad – I plant a lot of that too!
I am often torn when it comes time to harvest.
The plant is often in full bloom and I just don’t want to cut it down in its prime. I always leave some behind for the bees, but it’s also hard not to make as much medicine, to reach as many lovely patients, as possible!
I was really struck by the beauty of these herbs that I recently harvested, not from my own garden, but from my herb field. They were standing tall amongst the raised beds a short while before this picture was taken. But their destiny is not to wither there, but rather be made into medicinal tinctures to be used in the clinic with my patients – and so these buckets are full of potential.
In the buckets we have:
Top left: Motherwort
Top right: Lemon balm
Bottom left: Feverfew
Bottom right: Skullcap
There have been, or will shortly be, posts dedicated to each of these herbs, today I’m just appreciating their beauty and the good feeling that taking medicine with a real personal connection brings. Not that it is always the answer, but it certainly feels a lot better as a starting point.