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Thanks to everyone who attended the Hulme Herb Walk last week and survived the heat! I think it was probably the hottest day of the year so far, good job I brought the sun cream with me.

Of course it almost had to be called off as the week before, the council in their wisdom had strimmed the whole area, decimating quite a few of the plants I wanted to show. Thankfully the were not very efficient and had missed quite a few. However it was not exactly the meadows filled with beautiful wildflowers that I was hoping for. Oh well I suppose I was wanting to show the survival of our native species against the adversity of inner city living! Anyway we managed to see about 20 plants out of the 28 I had planned in an hour and a half, ending back at the Garden Centre for a cup of fresh Lyme flower or hay-fever tea. All in all a very pleasant if a little heat exhausting event.

What this event also allowed me to do was to set up my new stall! This is something I have been working on over the past few months developing lots of new products. I am now selling lots of soaps, teas, creams, bath oils, flower water spritzers and a range of tinctures which can be used for sleep, hay-fever, stress, digestive problems…. Anyhow here are some pics from the walk and a video of me waffling about the Elder……again! Scroll down for more news about the stall!

My new stall

I have mainly been thinking about doing the stall at festivals and markets but setting it up at the Garden Centre, especially in their cute little hut, has given me the idea of making it a permanent fixture there. So over the next few months I am going to be running it once a month to trial how it goes with the hope that it could run once a month. This is great opportunity to come and trial some herbal medicine and have a chat with me about how it could help you or your family.

First stall is this Saturday 10th July 11.30 – 3.30pm with other stalls on Saturday 21st August and 11th September, same time.

So its that time of the year again when I invite you all to join me on another Hulme Herb Walk. For those of you who have not been on one before this is a unique opportunity to see an area of inner city Manchester that contains a surprisingly large range of herbs growing on the waste ground. Starting at the Hulme Community Garden Centre we will be rambling across the Birley Fields and meeting some of our native medicinal species and garden escapees that seem to thrive here. We will end up back at the Garden Centre for a cup herb tea, a chat and a chance to purchase some plants and herbal products.

Given the plans to build on this area in the next few by the Metropolitan University we could be in danger of losing this area to development! So why not take this opportunity to discover our herbal heritage in the heart of the city!

Cost £3 (50% to the Garden Centre, 50% to BBC Wildlife Fund)

Contact me to book a place on

0161 226 5538 or tim@greenmanherbalist.co.uk

There will be a wet weather alternative so don’t be put off!

No dogs or unaccompanied children.

As the terrain is also wild, sturdy footwear is recommended!

I  have a couple of upcoming events I thought I would just let you know about.

The first is at Iguana Bar in Chorlton on Sunday 23rd May from 2.30-4.30pm. I will be giving a talk on Western Herbal Medicine and then conducting a walk around the streets surrounding the bar looking at the medicinal plants growing wild and in the gradens of Chorlton. Tickets are £5 available from Iguana Bar, you can contact them on 881 9338.

The second is a free workshop on holistic health for the 21st century which I am co leading with Sarah Davies, a local homeopath and Natalie Lebouleux a Whalley Range based massage therapist. This for a new orginaistion called In the Pink which is dedicated to bringing holistic health to the LGBT community. To find out more visit thier website and if you would like to book a place contact Sarah on 0161 224 8248 or at info@inthepink-health.org.uk

Cheers Tim

It seems ages ago now, although in fact it was only the weekend before last, but in my busy schedule I have only just got round to writing up my day at the Chorlton Big Green Festival. Never mind it was thankfully a memorable one.

Mind you the preparation for the day actually began weeks ago with planting out my Marigold seeds and building my new Ethnomedica stand. The last few days before Festival being given over to creating the mini herb garden with Karen from the Hulme Community Garden Centre and a mad panic rush getting my new practice leaflet printed. (Note to self: Don’t leave printing to the last minute; rows in print shops do not go along with my image of being a calm yummy herbalist!) Anyway eventually at about 10pm on the Friday eve I managed to collapse on the sofa with a can of cold beer having just dropped of umpteen boxes, bowls, posters, herb gardens and Marigolds at St Clements ready for the morning.

After all that, setting up was actually fairly straight forward. This gave me a little time before we opened to have a look around the site. I must say that the space we were in on the top floor of the Church was stunning with its beautiful window, arched ceiling and wooden floor, it added a calming spirit to the event. Outside in the grounds many other stall where busily being put up and delicious smells where wafting past from the various delicacies on offer from the food stalls. I was however quite glad that I was inside as although it was sunny it was cold!

Just before 11 Sue the Wellbeing space organiser (thanks for all the hard work Sue!) gathered all the stall holders together to introduce ourselves and after a bit of harmonious humming we opened to the public.

I must admit that the next five hours are a bit of a blur. I know I must have spoken to hundreds of people because my voice went very deep and croaky just before 4pm when I was due to start my herb walk. I don’t know if it was the Reiki from the next door stall holder, the emergency piece of cake I sent Brian out for or the sage leaves I chewed from my handy herb garden but by the time we gathered for the start of the walk I was back to normal, phew.

Judging from the cards in the Ethnomedica chest quite a lot of those hundreds where remembering their childhood herbal remedies and contributing to our project. Dock leaves for nettle stings as always where a favourite as was comfrey for bruises cuts and rheumatism. Nettle tea used as a hair conditioner was a new one on me but apparently it works. Others included Lavender for sleeping and warmed olive oil in the ear for earache. Big thanks for all who contributed; these will be sent on to Kew Gardens and added to the records.

Of course the major event of the afternoon was my demonstration of how to make a Marigold Healing Balm. I was a bit trepidatious about this to begin with as there where only about 2 people watching at the start but by the end there was quite a crowd. I feel really inspired by it actually and am thinking about developing Green Man Remedy Demo parties as a side line! Have included some pics of the demo, at some point I am going to do a video to add to my growing collection on YouTube.

So finally the day ended with my herb walk. This involved walking from the church down to Chorlton Green and back again; i.e. a very short distance. However we managed to see; Groundsel, Oregon Grape, Chickweed, Hawthorn, Daffodil, Herb Robert, Dandelion, Dock, Feverfew, Wood Avens, Nettles, Periwinkle and ending up under a beautiful Horse Chestnut tree who’s unctuous sticky buds where just opening up. Not bad for especially considering the late spring and the freezing wind!

Thankfully by the time I got back Brian had packed most of the stall away which just left me the heavy stuff to lug to the car (thanks B!). This gave me just enough time to hang out with some old and new friends before it was back home for tea.

All told this was a really successful and enjoyable day. It was a shame I didn’t have time to also enjoy the rest of the festival but hey I’m not complaining. Thanks again to the organisers of the festival and to those who visited the Wellbeing area and my stall for making it such a great day.

27^th March 2010, 11am – 11pm, St Clements Church M21 9JF

The Chorlton Big Green Festival is fun and friendly green gathering offering the opportunity for you to sample sustainable living through a programme of live entertainment, workshops, stalls, food, dancing etc.

As a part of the festival I will be running a stall in their Wellbeing area. This is an opportunity to meet me and have a discussion about how Herbal Medicine could be of benefit to you and your family. I will also be gathering your remembered remedies for the Ethnomedica Project.

During the afternoon I will be demonstrating how to make a Marigold Balm and giving away Marigold plants and seeds, so that you can grow your own and make this handy first aid remedy for yourself. Later in the day I am also going to be leading an Herb Walk looking at the medicinal herbs that will just be poking their heads through the cracks in the pavements and in the gardens of Chorlton.

Although I was not able to make it last year I have heard really good reports about it and think it will be a fab day. I know that my friends at the Hulme Community Garden Centre will be there selling their excellent organic plants and hopefully some of my creams, tinctures and teas. Also, apparently the Chorlton Plant Swap stall was very popular last year, so bring along your excess seedlings, cuttings etc and we can all get growing a lovely selection of plants this season.

So hope to see you there, do say hello if you are and have fun!

Just had a great afternoon at the Chorlton Happy Swap Party on the Chrolton Plant Swap stall. Met John Leech, Lib Dem MP for Withington and had a really good chat with him about Statutory Regulation for herbalists.

Also made some good contacts for possible future events including a grow your own herbal medicine cabinet workshop hopefully in May and for a herb walk/demo/stall at the Chorlton Big Green Festival in March.

Will keep you all informed when these confirmed.

Just thought I would update you all on my progress with developing my recipes for my talk, Beat Flu with Home Remedies and herb gathering.

I have been concocting several remedies which, although come from traditional recipes, have needed some experimentation to adapt and develop to our modern tastes. Hence I have been up to my elbows in slices of onion and sugar attempting to get the quantities right for my Thyme and Onion Cough Syrup. This has proved somewhat tricky as too much sugar and it turns to jam and too little and it could ferment and explode in the cupboard! I now thankfully have it right and have various patients trialling it on their coughs.

Yesterday was a definite root day. I was digging them up all over Manchester. I started in Whalley Range, just around the corner from my practice with a rather wonderful Elecampane. This was in the garden of a friend of mine who earlier this year asked me to look at a strange plant that had appeared outside her front door. With its giant leaves and sunflower like flowers I immediately recognised it as Inula helenium or Elecampane. As the roots are a fantastic cough remedy I am tincturing them and also going to try making them into cough sweets. I was also on my allotment digging up Horseradish root to make into Horseradish vinegar, another remedy I will be demonstrating on the 7th Dec.

Oh well back too it, I must get that blend of spices right for my Lozenge recipe…..

Is it really a week since I was on Countryfile? It has all been a bit of whorl since then.

Mind you I guess it hasn’t really stopped since I was invited to do it a few weeks ago. At the time it was all the excitement of the filming which was of course great fun! However then came the wait (anyone who knows me will tell you I am not the most patient of people!) and the agony of whether anyone would be able to find this website!

Right in the middle of this I also organised and ran a public meeting about the future of Herbal Medicine at Hulme Community Garden Centre. If any of you do not yet know about this I urge you to visit the NIMH Act Now website as the deadline for the consultation on the statutory regulation of medical herbalists has been extended to Monday 16th November 2009. This gives you an extra 2 weeks to let the government know that you support us in becoming a recognised healthcare profession.

So Sunday finally arrived and there I was! I thought it was great, I hope I put over the medicinal properties of Elderberries well and I liked that Julia introduced herbal medicine as being widely accepted. It was a bit unfortunate that there was not more time to expand on the syrup recipe and the current issues we face as an industry. However I hope that people will find more about this here and at NIMH.

The rest of the week has been catching up with my patients and teaching work, responding to all your enquiries (thanks!) and preparing for my day at the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday.

This felt like another successful day, what a great event. Lots of families came to find out about all aspects of biomedicine. I was on the NIMH stall asking them to decide from a whole range of herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables, which where foods and which medicines. Of course the answer was that they were all both! This led to lots of great discussions about herbal medicine and some lovely remembered remedies from the grandparents which were shared with the kids.

Oh well this week hopefully should be a little easier. I am mainly going into the herb lab to develop some more remedies, so will keep you posted on my progress.

Well what a turn out! Thank you to everyone who attended the herb walks this weekend.

Especially the 20 on Saturday who braved the force 9 gales that seemed to arrive half way through the walk! I am always amazed at how many medicinal plans we can find growing in such an urban environment. We saw herbs that can treat the heart and circulation, skin problems, menstrual irregularities as well as lung conditions and help with insomnia all in an hour and a half. These were actually only about a half of what I had planned but the weather defeated us in the end. I think we were all grateful for the cup of hot Elderflower, Peppermint and Yarrow tea waiting back at the garden centre!

Sunday was a more sedate event. Although the weather started out very similar to the previous day however by the end we were sitting in beautiful sunshine. Again it’s incredible how many herbs are growing out of the cracks in the pavement and in people’s gardens. This time we saw mainly digestive herbs as well as some intersting ones for the sinuses and liver.

If you missed these walks or would like to come back and learn more, keep an eye on my events page for more in the near future.