  |
Friday 12th September: Plant walk round Martin Crawford’s Forest garden, Devon.
Frank Cook and Martin introduced us to particular plants, explaining their characteristics with passion.
Martin started the forest garden in 1994, and it is now an established and abundant space full of unusual plants, that are planted carefully to support one another. Many of the plants can be used as food, medicine, for dying or for fibres.
His project website is http://www.agroforestry.co.uk/
Martin explained the wonders of the Lime tree, and showed us a tree he keeps coppiced, to keep a crop of frest leaves for salads.
 |
Frank is another tea enthusiast. He said that tea (of the foraged variety) is the best medicine. Different parts of the plant have different healing properties: the roots are useful for chronic conditions; the stem is structural; the leaves contain a lot of nutrients; the flowers support us emotionally; and the seeds are for the next generation.
http://www.plantsandhealers.com/
Frank introduced us to the many properities of the humble dock, which greatly surprised me. The root purifies and detoxes the system. It can be made into a tea or tincture. The leaves are edible, and Frank described making a lasagne using dock leaves instead of spinach.
 |
