Julie Bruton-Seal - Backyard medicine: harvest and make your own herbal remedies

Praise for Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal

Julie Bruton-Seals long experience as a practising herbalist combined with husband Matthews publishing know-how has produced a great new herbal for the 21st century. This is the book that I take most recipes from. While there have been many excellent herbals over the years and centuries, this is the most useful to me practically. [It] has become a popular book, which is unsurprising with its excellent photos and easy to use format.

Davina Wynne-Jones, Barnsley Gardens, UK

a wonderful book that all herbalists need. It embodies a heartfelt love of herbalism combined with clearly articulated scientific insights. I plan to get some schools here [California] using it and will promote it as much as possible.

David Hoffmann, author of Holistic Herbal

I have been browsing this delightful book: how beautifully youve done it, how wonderfully accessible is the plant therapy you suggest in its pages. My warmest congratulations to both for a gorgeous and most useful book.

Barbara Griggs, author of Green Pharmacy

At last! A herbal with photographs. I have longed for a book like this for years. It will rapidly become a classic.

Natures Path

Copyright 2009, 2019 by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal

First published in Great Britain by Merlin Unwin Books, 2008 as Hedgerow Medicine

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed toSkyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. www.skyhorsepublishing.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Adam Bozarth

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-4805-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-4806-4

Printed in China

Please note:

The information in Backyard Medicine is compiled from a blend of historical and modern sources, from folklore and personal experience. It is not intended to replace the professional advice and care of a qualified herbal or medical practitioner. Do not attempt to self-diagnose or self-prescribe for serious long-term problems without first consulting a qualified professional. Heed the cautions given, and if already taking prescribed medicines or if you are pregnant, seek professional advice before using herbal remedies.

To our parents:

Jen and Des Bartlett

Midge and George Seal

and in memory of inspirational herbal teachers:

Christopher Hedley (19462017)

Dr. James Duke (19292017)

Margaret Roberts (19372017)

This is a book about wild plants and their medicinal uses. As authors we began with a list of over 100 species, which we thought was a limitation already, but our publisher wisely persuaded us to halve the number and write in greater depth. These are all wild plants, many of which are considered weeds, which are abundant, easy to identify, cost nothing and are safe to pick.

Each of our selected plants has medicinal values what the old herbals called the virtues of the plant. These are powerful, proven and significant herbs albeit they are often familiar and common. Commonness is not to be despised: it means a plant has the survival adaptations needed to accompany and thrive alongside our changing civilization.

We list our plants alphabetically by the English name, give a short description, and outline the habitat, distribution, related species and parts of the plant used. The text blends history, folklore, botany, uses of the plant and its modern medicinal benefits. We think it important to include easy-to-follow recipes too, and add bullet points of the herbal benefits. We tie ailments and benefits together in a comprehensive index.

We have made a number of changes in this latest version of the book. Two plants, figwort and sorrel, clamored for our attention, and we have made room for them by removing coltsfoot (following concerns about its pyrrolizidine alkaloid content) and shortening bilberry. We have improved some photographs, updated the Using your Herbal Harvest section, notes to the text, resources and recommended reading lists, simplified the page numbering and altered the index accordingly. We have added PubMed open access research information where appropriate.

Since the book was first published, on both sides of the Atlantic, more than a decade ago, it has become widely used in courses and workshops, and we hear from readers that it is often their first herb book or was their first course textbook. We thank you all, and especially for making this a bestseller in Amazons Traditional Medicine and Remedies category. Our message to you was and remains the same: go out and find these plants for yourselves, get to know them and make your own useful medicines from them.

We cannot end without thanking a number of individuals from the herbal community for their help and support, including Andrew Chevallier, Christine Herbert, David Hoffmann, Sara James, Anna-Rsa Rbertsdttir, Maida Silverman, Karin Uphoff, David Winston, and Matthew Wood.

Last but not least, we must thank the plants themselves. Wild medicine harvesting, like foraging for wild food, is best done with conscious respect for both habitat and individual plants, and we have received gifts from all of our plants. We understand better now why the famed Dutch herbalist Herman Boerhaave routinely lifted his hat in gratitude when we walked past mother elder.

This book has had a hectic life so far, with seven UK printings in ten years. The idea hedgerow medicine has also found its way into many courses, conferences, and workshops. In North America the book has had a parallel life as Backyard Medicine, and indeed that idea too seems to be spreading.

It is highly gratifying when we hear from people around the world that this was their first herb book, or it was their course textbook. Our message to you all has been and remains: go out and find these plants for yourself, get to know them, and make useful medicines from them.

Changes made in this edition of Hedgerow Medicine / Backyard Medicine