Monday, January 2, 2012

A New Year, A New Herbal Journey – Springfield Sanctuary Apprenticeship

I am very pleased to share that the new year brings a new herbal journey. I have been accepted for the Springfield Sanctuary apprenticeship program with Sarah Jean Head of the Tales of Kitchen Herbwife blog.

The first thing Sarah asked us to do was to pick 20 herbs to study this year, with one of those being our herbal ally. These are the ones I chose:

angelica                         Angelica archangelica

angelica

bergamont                   Monarda fistulosa 

monardafistula

burdock                         Arctium lappa and  Actium minus

burdock

calendula                      Calendula officinalis

calendula

chamomile                   Matricaria discoidea

pineappleweed

cleavers                        Galium aperine

cleavers

comfrey                         Symphytum officinale

comfreypicresized

dianthus                       Dianthus armeria in wild and Dianthus 

                                         caryophyllus in garden

dianthusarmeria

evening primrose     Oenothera biennis

eveningprimrose

hyssop                          Hyssopus officinalis

hyssop

lavender                      Lavandula angustifolias

lavendar

meadowsweet           Filipendula ulmaria

meadowsweet

milk thistle                Silybum marianus

milkthistle

nettle                          Urtica dioica

nettles

self heal                     Prunella vulgaris

selfheal

st. john’s wort        Hypericum perforatum in garden

                                     Hypericum  punctatum in wild

sjf

vervain                    Verbena officinalis

vervain

violet                      Viola striata, Viola sororia and numerous  others                     native and Viola  odorata in the garden

violet  yarrow                       Achillea millefolium

yarrow      

with Rose being my herbal ally choice. Rosa ssp. (the different types I have available are just too great to list at this time!)

rosehip fairy

                         Rosehip Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker

I have included more than one Latin name in places, as I use both garden and the wild plants when medicine making. I will attempt to differentiate between the different types when doing the tasks this year. Perhaps doing the assigned tasks with each of the different species and seeing if I can discern any difference.

For those of you with interest, I have linked on my side bar to some of my fellow apprentices blogs. Sarah sent us several tasks to start out with already! It will be such a pleasure to be working with an herbalist that is so knowledgeable and eager to share that knowledge with us! What a beautiful way to start 2012 :)

Big Herbal and Honey Hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xxx

15 comments:

Lady of the Woods said...

Hello! If you will be posting about these, I'd love to hear about them, I love all things herbs and plants! I'm your newest follower! :D Lady

AnkeB said...

Great list Leslie! Out of curiosity, why did you choose rose as your herbal ally? I dont work with rose much at all and would be interested why it has such impact for you :)

Love that you found a teacher that resonates with your eagerness and your honesty :)

Can't wait to hear more!

Comfrey Cottages said...

So very nice to meet you Lady! Thank you for visiting and following! Yes indeed, this year is dedicated to these herbs and I would love to share my journey with you! I popped over to your blog and oh my goodness! Like a candy shop for the eye, besides I love what you write! Big hugs xxx
Anke, I am so very happy to be working with Sarah! And rose as my primary ally... well, for years I was like so many folks, rose as flower symbolizing love, best used in romantic bouquets and repudated to be fussy to grow and prickly to work with... A few years ago, I made an oil with rose.. the love affair was on...when i have one of those days where i feel disjointed, unfocused or hair standing straight out with stress, i find myself getting out my rose oil and annointing my pulse point...and soon I find myself just SLATHERING her from head to toe and am enveloped in a feeling of calm and focus. Since then i have learned to use rose in other ways also:) And the fact that rose is the international herb society herb of the year, so there will be scads of info out there about her this year!! xxxxxx

Rowan said...

A lovely choice of herbs, it will be interesting to follow your herbal journey through the year. Sarah is a lovely lady and as you say she's extremely knowledgeable.

Comfrey Cottages said...

Thank you Rowan:) It will be a pleasure having a teachr who actually will follow through.. my last one just stopped sending lessons! xx

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Getting commercial on you Leslie, the rose is the 2012 Herb of the Year! Congrats to you! I know you will know everything about these 20 herbs by the end of your aprenticeship! xxoo Nancy

Anonymous said...

Hi Leslie! How exciting! Your choice of herbs is wonderful, so many of my favourites there I can't wait to learn from your adventures with them this year.
So great you and Sarah will be working together, I'm sure it will be a real pleasure for you both. :)
Lots of love xxx

Anonymous said...

Leslie, I'm really looking forward to your posts in the coming year. I am growing, or have bought seeds for, many of the plants on your list! Hugs, Ilene

Rita M said...

Hi Leslie, we chose 8 of the same herbs. I am very curious about the Evening primrose, I have one kidnapped along the street, it's in my garden now :)
Big hugs XXX

De Gulle Aarde said...

Very, very interesting list, most of the plants grow here in my garden so I'll be very curious what you will write.
I don't think I get out of my warm and comfortable chair today, so many fellow blogs to read. And I want to visit them all!!! Have a nice day Leslie.

Comfrey Cottages said...

Oh I knew that about rose being our herb of the year, Nancy! She deserves the limelight this year:)I don't anticipate knowing everything by the end of the year, but am looking forward to a deeper relationship with each of these 20 :) big hugs xxxx

Thank you Lucinda:) I am very excited and believe Sarah and I will be a good fit, along with all the rest of the lovely apprenctices! What a wonderful group of people it is. Big hugs and much love always xoxox

How excited for your new seeds, Ilene! Yea! I will follow your adventures with them keenly! big big hugs xoxo

I love that you kidnapped a primrose, Rita! lol! That is great! So nice we have some in common and some not in common. We will learn so much from each other! love you!! xoxox

Hanneke, being nice and warm and comfortable in your chair while reading blogs, sounds relaxing! I adore your blog! You write so well and share so deeply! Great big hugs to you xoxoxoxo

Ms.Chief loves wigwams! said...

Hellooo C.C. Lovely to meet you. Glad to be sharing the herbal discoveries together. Ooh my, wow well done - so this is how its done!!. Beautiful Herbal study list. Great to share the photo's too. Must try to add some to mine, what a great tool to help the old grey matter. Gorgeous blog

Comfrey Cottages said...

thanks Paules! I am very glad we are journeying together also:) xxx

Herbaholic said...

What a delightful choice of herbs, I'm with you re the rose my dear, she is such a beauty. I shall pass on a huge herbal honey hug to Sarah for you next time I see her. Looking forward to reading more about your discoveries and sharing recipes and lore with you :)

Comfrey Cottages said...

Thank you for visiting, Debs xxx Oh yes, please and thank you on sharing the hug with Sarah!Love and hugs to you dear one! xx