For the summer herbal apothecary, there’s lots of work to be done, a plethora of harvests to complete and process, medicine to make and share-a season of activity and busyness! To counteract the fire and energy of summer I like to look to remedies that cool, calm and relax the body such as cool herbal drinks, subtle herb waters and cooling infused body oils perfect for soothing the skin and grounding the body after a day out in the bright sun shine.
Of course herbal rituals are also important to me to celebrate the generosity and stunning beauty of the season, as well as helping me to surrender-whether it’s a crop that hasn’t set seed, or a schedule that has fallen apart, summer can be a time of FOMO, fear of missing out, and comparing ourselves to others. When the energy of the season is out of balance it can even begin to feel frantic and draining. Making time to surrender into the present and feeling gratitude and peace with what we have is an important part of my summer self-care practice. I look to rituals such as spending time working on a herbal dream pillow or taking an evening to practice moon gazing to help to balance my mind and calm the nervous system.
There’s also recipes that require a particular herb that relies on the perfect timing to harvest the herb, dry it and then craft the remedy…In summer there’s the elderflowers that make the perfect elderflower facial serum (I have a recipe for this in my new book The Garden Apothecary which Ill link below), and the nervous system elixir which is milky oats tincture, where I have to check my crop of oats daily until it reaches the perfect stage where each grain is full of milky liquid and is ready to be blitzed with vodka and prepared into a tincture.These herbal rituals and recipes are all part of my summer apothecary.
Click below for links to the following herbal recipes:
Herb Waters & Iced Herbal Teas
Image by Kim Lightbody from my book The Garden Apothecary published by Hardie Grant. Click here to get your copy.