Natural Medicine Iberia

Sea beet season. Wild ancestor of chard. Abundant. Use like spinach and chard. Great tasty substitute. Packed with Vitamin C, vitamin K, Vitamin A, Calcium, Zinc and Iron. Also great source of fibre.

At the end of our hiking adventure for charity☺️😅 Cape St Vincent. Most south westerly tip of mainland Europe. End point of the Via Algarviana walking routes. We clocked up 240km's of hiking tough terrain in just over 2 weeks. It's been a blast, thoroughly enjoyed the challenge, meeting lots of lovely people and experiencing different areas of the beautiful Algarve. Ready to hang up my hiking shoes and give my feet a much needed break!👣
Herbal diaries of the trip to follow.

Fundraising link in bio and here:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/susse-wedel?utm_term=9KBvNQ5NB

For those who may not know, I am currently hiking 200-300km's along parts of the Via Algarviana in the Algarve from Alcoutim to Cape St Vincent. This is to raise money for children's education in Kenya. Feel free to follow my hiking adventures via Susse Wedel . Herbal diaries along the way will be posted here.
For donations please press link here. Just £10 covers 1 child's full education.

Help raise £10000 to Support an educational programme in Kenya - Rise Up Now- aimed at raising awareness, empowering and educate children for a better future. Weʼre raising money to Support an educational programme in Kenya - Rise Up Now- aimed at raising awareness, empowering and educate children for a better future.. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

I've enjoyed the last month of juicing foraged prickly pears (cactus fruit)

I love getting my carotenoid fix in the morning from these cactus fruits.
It's a great immune supporting fruit. Loaded with flavonoids, carotenoids, polyphenols, vitamin C and many other beneficial compounds providing anti-inflammatory and antioxidant support for the body.

The pears provide essential minerals for electrolyte support (magnesium, potassium, calcium) vital for nerve, muscle and bone health.

Rich In essential unsaturated fatty acids important for cardiovascular health.
Provides a source of soluble fibre and is low in sugar priving support for blood sugar levels.

Some of this weekends foraging

Freshly foraged figs.💜
In the throes of fig season.
Not yet run out of ways to use/eat them yet😊
Dried, syrup, fresh, puree.👌
Keep baked goods nice and moist and the puree can be used as a fat replacement.

Fig facts
* Figs are one of the oldest known fruits. Used by early Olympian athletes for nutrition whilst training.
* Figs are inside out flowers.
*Rich in calcium - 1/2 cup of figs has as much calcium as half cup of milk.
* Full of fibre, more than prunes and more potassium than bananas

In the throes of Rose garlic season.
What's not to love?😊🌸
The flowers have a lovely sweet aroma and taste great scattered in salads and savory dishes. Just a mild sweet garlic taste. The stalks are a little tough but impart an amazing flavour into dishes. The bulbs can be used as regular garlic. I like to peel and pickle the garlic bulbs each year and keep in a jar to preserve the flavour and crunch.

Freshly foraged from field to fork.
Tastes great with eggs and sourdough for brunch.

Nispero / Loquat / Medlar season
A Mediterranean staple.
Eat the fruit as it is, stewed or baked. The pectin content makes them perfect for jams. They cam be preserved as well.
The leaves are used in traditional medicine for coughs, bronchitis, fevers, colds, sore throats. The flowers are also expectorants.
Jam packed with nutrition - vitamins ABC and good mineral content including iron. Antioxidant content including betacarotene.

Fields of gold.
Field marigold season in full swing.
Time to wildcraft for making some liquid gold (calendula oil) and herbal tea.

Amazing to have a crate of oranges and clementines given to you. Thanks .
I have been eating them daily, cooking with them, Juicing them, drying them and making Christmas decorations from them.

Some of the weekends seasonal foraging.

Vervain/verbena officinalis.
Such delicate beautiful flowers. Blink and you would miss the sparks of purple as you walk by the wayside.

Vervain is a lovely calming restorative herb for nervous exhaustion, anxiety, irritability and mild headaches and depression.
Also for any visceral tensions or spasms like colic for babies. Promotes milk production for breast feeding.
As a herb of Venus it had an affinity for the womb.
Can be used for fever management.
Culpepper described Vervain for "all inward pains and torments of the body"
A lesser known use is as a mouthwash for dental and gum health.
It's most often listed as a thyroid herb from its use in balancing TSH levels.

Some of the weekends seasonal foraging.

Pomegranate 4 ways. Zero waste
Juice, vinegar, molasses from the seeds. Herbal medicine from the dried peel.

No-one is immune to fig fever!
Whilst fresh and in season nothing beats quartering them, dollop of mascarpone, local lavender honey and a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves.

4 good reasons to eat figs (not that you need them!)
- Good source of potassium. Important for heart health and managing blood pressure
- Fresh figs especially are a good source of vitamin A which is important for the immune system, making new red and white blood cells. Also for eye health and reproductive system
- High in fibre. Essential for digestive and heart health.
- Rich in magnesium. Useful in muscle and nerve function, bone health, building proteins, and maintaining blood sugar and blood pressure levels.

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Local Watermelon.
Waste nothing, eat it all!
Rind, seeds and flesh.
Flesh cut and cubed for salads, juicing and for freezing.
Seeds for roasting to snack on and add to breakfast or salads.
The rind I like to make into Kimchi

Ibiza lemons preserved straight from the tree last year. Ready to eat. Ibiza Quills a jar waiting for you!

Olive trees in blossom.
When the sprays of flowers open its the perfect time for making flower essences.
Used for complete mental and physical tiredness, after prolonged periods of illness or work strain.when no strength is left and everything feels like a massive effort.

Purple Jerusalem Sage
Can be used similar to common sage. Also works in smudge sticks and incense cones.

Fields of wild thyme
Best and easist to wildcraft the young sprigs of leaves before they get too wooden.
Perfect for herbal teas, dried for culinary use and for making tinctures & glycerites for digestive and winter respiratory support. I also like to use the dried thyme in incense cones for cleansing rooms.


wildcrafting

Vervain
A useful nervine tonic. Good for anxiety support and as a anti spasmodic with nervous system related digestive issues.
As a diaphoretic it's used for fevers and flu.
Vervain is also used to support breast feeding.
As a flower essence it can bring forth the ability to relax, let things be and allow others their opinions.

Garland chrysanthemum/crown daisy.

The tender stems and leaves known as chop suey greens are steamed or stirfried in east asian cooking. The flowers and greens are best eaten cooked rather than raw due to their strong taste. The flower petals are edible. I like to pick the buds when small and before they open and pickle them like capers.

Local lavender.
Wildcrafted for making essential oils, aromatic waters, tinctures, glycerites, incense, teas and dried powders and herb pillows.
Lavender is such a versatile essential herb from supporting the digestive system, nervous system, to protecting the skin.

The nispero are ripening nicely
Time for chutney and kombucha😊
The fresh fruits reminds me of citrus, mango and pear flavours. Work well in smoothies and crumbles.
Good source of minerals as well as vitamin A, C folic acid, vitamin B6, lutein and beta-carotene.
In herbal medicine the leaves are used as teas for supporting the respiratory system.

Borage still going strong a few months into the season.
Valued by the ancient Greeks and Romans as a herb to bring courage.
The flower essence is used for courage and optimism to lift your spirits. Perfect for the times we are currently in.
The herbalist John Gerard wrote in 1597 the flowers were used 'in sallads to exhilarate and to make the mind glad' and a syrup made of the leaves and flowers 'comforteth the heart, purgeth melancholy and quieteth the phrenticke and lunatick person'

I use the flowers for making flower essences, herbal teas, in salads and cocktails. They have a lovely mild cucumber taste and scent.
The leaves I forage to use fresh for poultices and fresh or dried for herbal teas to support sore throats,coughs and the adrenal glands.
Externally the leaves and flowers make a good poultice for irritated skin conditions. The mucilage content can also be used internally as teasl for sore irritated throats and coughs.