Margaret Roberts - 100 New Herbs

Published by Struik Nature
(an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd)
Reg. No. 1953/000441/07
The Estuaries No. 4, Oxbow Crescent (off Century Avenue), Century City, 7441 South Africa
PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000 South Africa

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First published in 2015

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Copyright in text, 2015: Margaret Roberts
Copyright in photographs, 2015: Sandy Roberts, unless otherwise specified
Copyright in published edition, 2015: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Publisher: Pippa Parker
Editors: Colette Alves, Liz Sparg
Design director: Janice Evans
Proofreader: Thea Grobbelaar
Indexer: Julia Casciola

Cover photograph: Roger de la Harpe/Africa Imagery

Reproduction by Hirt & Carter Cape (Pty) Ltd
Printed and bound by Times Offset (M) Sdn Bhd, Maylasia

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner(s).

Print: 978 1 77007 873 4
ePub: 978-1-77584-365-8
ePDF: 978-1-77584-366-5

ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING A HOME TREATMENT. THE INFORMATION IN THESE PAGES IS IN NO WAY INTENDED TO REPLACE YOUR DOCTORS ADVICE. ALWAYS BE 100 PER CENT CERTAIN OF THE CORRECT IDENTIFICATION OF A PLANT BEFORE USING IT. WHEN IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OUT!

Today our constant search for new foods, new medicines, and new ways to improve our lives is ongoing and contagious. It is in all of us! This unique book speaks to that quest, and now is the time to share it. It represents the culmination of my work in the world of herbs, which has shaped my life like no other force.

In one sense there is nothing new about the herbs I have written about here. The origins of each plant are recorded in the early herbal writings and pharmacopoeias of the world, and every one of these precious plants holds its place in history, in traditional ceremonies, and in ancient scriptures.

What is new, however, is the use to which we can put them. Some of these uses will be familiar to you and some will be astonishing! I am so inspired to share the new facts and applications with you, the reader, and have been putting my experiments into useable recipes and remedies for a long time.

All of these plants are easy to grow, but some of the big trees with exciting medicinal uses will be too large for the average town garden. I have therefore encouraged farmers, landowners and landscapers to find places for them, as we need to learn how valuable they are, and will become in the decades ahead. My own plantings have supported this.

Today antibiotics are losing their potency, and there are medical shortages in parts of the world and complex new laws surrounding pharmaceuticals. In light of this, making our own simple herb teas and gentle herbal remedies could become paramount in building health, the way these same plants have been used for centuries.

Nothing is new in the world of plants, but often uses have been rediscovered that have been lost with the passing of time. This rediscovery has formed a huge part of my lifes work.

I am thrilled to have grown virtually every one of the treasured plants in this book, and to have established, used, and learned from them. I know each plant intimately, and use each plant frequently. Propagation of these herbs in our nursery has become an all-embracing dedication.

To my mind, these 100 plants are the most valuable plants I have been able to find, grow and use to add to my long-established herb gardens, and I encourage you, the reader, to find a space where you can grow them, for each plant has the remarkable power to heal, uplift, restore and satisfy, each one in the beneficial way nature intended.

Margaret Roberts

The Herbal Centre

De Wildt

North West Province

South Africa

This book has been a long time coming. I have worked on it for the last 20 years while growing and trialling the truly incredible plants in these pages. It has been a labour of love.

How grateful I am to Penguin Random House and Struik Nature and the wonderful team under Pippa Parker for the smooth and considerate way they liaise with authors (who sometimes need to extend deadlines!), and the beautiful books they create. Thank you especially to Janice Evans and Colette Alves.

How grateful I am also to have my long-time friend, Annatjie van Wyk, as my deciphering typist. She manages to disentangle my handwritten pages, even during difficult times in her life, and get them neatly and beautifully organised. Annatjie has played a huge role in all my books, and her input and smiling competence leave me overflowing with appreciation. I could not write this way without her, as holding a pen lets the ideas flow for me, so my gratitude to my friend knows no bounds!

During the writing of this book my daughter, Sandy, who is my partner in the Herbal Centre business, has been willing in her busy day to try the recipes and ideas and take the photographs professionally, just when the flowers or leaves of a plant have been at their best. I am so grateful for her talent and thrilled to be able to put together the visuals that aid the identification of every plant.

I have shared each plant with her and, in so doing, her own knowledge has expanded to my unceasing delight. What a privilege for me to have her footsteps alongside mine in the gardens, capturing, in all weathers, the beauty of these fascinating plants, and sharing the amazing variety of uses that each one offers.

So this book is a team effort, and my hope is that it will truly inspire the reader to find that parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are not the only herbs that exist, but that there are 100 more, equally precious, and equally necessary to treat the many illnesses and challenges we encounter in our daily lives.

I have studied many ancient herbal texts and manuscripts, and this book is unique in its new diversity it does not present new plants, but rather new ways of creating wellness. It also expands my lifes work from easy-to-grow herbs to include plants that are less common but now accessible.

Two of the new herbs are now in nurseries near you, thanks to the dedicated growers at Malanseuns, who are the biggest growers in the southern hemisphere. I am grateful to them, particularly for their persistence in growing goji berries and jasmine sambac in perfect timing for the publication of this book. We are hoping that more of the rare and unusual herbs will become part of the Malanseuns Margaret Roberts Collection, which has been able to offer exciting new plants each season with more in the pipeline! So a huge thank you to the competent team at Malanseuns.

My reward will be to see how you, the reader, will grow and use these plants as the years unfold, thus building your health and the health of those around you in a fully organic garden. My hope is that all gardens in South Africa will come to grow the wellness plants, and that this book will find its place in time, much as the life-saving herbals of antiquity pointed us to the healing plants that build our health and happiness.