Ashwagandha
(Withania somnifera) is a universally
loved herb, native of India. One of the twenty-one true adaptogens, it holds an
important place in Ayurvedic medicine. Although generally known as a herb to
combat stress, it has a myriad of uses ranging from behavioural problems to
balancing respiratory, immune and genitourinary systems.
As
a Western Herbwife, I try not to use herbs I can’t grow myself. Ashwagandha
intrigued me but I was loathe to be dependent on imported plant material. I
wanted to grow my own and in 2009 I was fortunate to be gifted two seedlings
which grew and produced the familiar scarlet cherries. The seeds produced a
further crop the following year but temperatures were not sufficient for the
plants to flower and ripen seed.
Luckily
I had given a seedling to one of my apprentices who had grown the plant to
maturity in her greenhouse. She gave me three cherries which in turn produced
sixty healthy plants. These third generation plants flourished over the summer
producing a respectable root harvest and cherry crop for further sowing.
Although
used to hot and humid growing conditions in India, Ashwagandha is a truly amazing
plant, able to adapt to our cooler climate as an annual. You watch her spring
to life from a tiny seed then grow to green maturity in four short months,
enabling a root harvest after the first frost. Her lantern-like fruit pods hide
the growing cherries and it is not until those lanterns turn from green to dry,
transparent brown you notice her vibrant fruits. More months pass as those
fruits dry and you can carefully peel off the scarlet covering to reveal white
seeds; seeds which can be planted to begin the circle once again.
This
past summer was very hot for the first time for several years. I was hoping for
a good ashwagandha crop but the delay in Spring planting and the heavy rain in
September and October meant my plants at the Sanctuary were nowhere near as
large as in other years with small root systems. I left four plants to grow in
a large pot on my patio at home and although they grew to normal size with
reasonable roots, they had great difficulty ripening fruit.
November
and December have been virtually frost free but it did not seem sensible to
leave the four plants any longer as they did not appear to appreciate being
overwintered in previous years, either dying or having stunted root systems. It
felt very strange harvesting a tropical plant in December but it did mean we
were able to experience the whole plant during yesterday’s workshop.
The
newly harvested plants were carefully scrubbed and the pungent aroma from the
roots noted. I wanted to make an infused honey, so I ground the roots in my
machine and duly covered them with local honey. The root odour was even more
intense after grinding, reminding one new apprentice of chocolate with a bitter
after-smell. I am taking the honey to a talk I am giving on Tuesday evening to
my local Beekeepers Association about herbs and honey.
The
rest of the roots from the Sanctuary November harvest were also scrubbed free
of any remaining soil. Half were chopped by hand and tinctured with vodka and
the rest was left to dry in a paper bag in my hot cupboard.
It
seemed a shame to waste the stems, so we tried making a decoction. I think we
used too much plant material and simmered it for too long as it was extremely
bitter to the point of being undrinkable even though we had added some dried
rose petals and honey to the mix.
This
morning I sat and removed all the cherries from the ashwagandha branches I
removed over a week ago. The pile of mature, scarlet cherries was
disappointingly small but will be enough to gift to others who wish to try
growing this plant.
I
wasn’t quite sure what to do with green cherries but eventually decided to
experiment with a tincture. My inspiration comes from Henriette Kress. She
wrote about using dried Echinacea seedheads in place of the more usual roots as
she felt the concentration of active ingredients would be similar in both parts
of the plant. I have read that Ashwagandha cherries are used as a bitter in
India so I shall be very interested to see what similarities the green cherry tincture
has with the root tincture.
Even
after five years of growing Ashwagandha, I still feel as if I am only
scratching the surface when it comes to really knowing and understanding this
plant. I’m looking forward to many more years of mutual learning.
