Ashwagandha: working with a tropical plant in the UK

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.

Emerging from winter with herbs

Ever since Elizabeth set the subject for the February UK Blog party, I’ve been trying to think how best to address the issues. What does the word “Emerge” actually mean? It originates from Latin, where “e-“ means “out of or from” and “mergere” is the verb to immerse. So emerge can mean
• To rise from or as if from immersion
• To come forth from obscurity
• To become evident
• To come into existence

All this makes me think that during winter, we have been hiding, hidden in the darkness from the cold, possibly even hibernating. Now, as winter ends, we must come forward into the light. We must show ourselves, possibly our new selves, a self which is still developing as the season grows and changes.

In order to survive winter, we have immersed ourselves in warmth, we have slowed down, perhaps become stagnant, sluggish, but as the pulse of the earth begins to grow louder, we have to respond to the quickening beat.

How do we do this?

Activity comes first. We have to start actually doing things. As days lengthen, the light entices us outwards into fresh air and sunlight. Our bodies are depleted with vitamin D, so we crave sunlight. Some people may need supplementation. Those people who suffer with seasonal affective disorder may have been using a special light lamp. A combination of St John’s wort and lemon balm is also helpful, as is goldenrod elixir.

The depletion and slowing down of winter may cause our bodies to need a kick-start to get them moving again. You could start with a gentle detoxification of increased water consumption, a nightly herbal bath and plenty of sleep as set out in Jenny Jones’ article here. Our bodies may need tonics (see articles here and here ) or a longer term adaptogenic approach.

Adaptogens are described as herbs which increase the ability of the body to cope with and respond to stress. They have been shown to act on the adrenals and the endocrine and immune systems. Adaptogens were the subject of significant research by Russian scientists for many decades in the 20th century. They were looking for plants which would increase physical abilities for space travellers and athletes.

Their findings enhanced global knowledge about identified adaptogenic herbs. Most of these plants came from the Chinese and Ayurvedic traditions, with only five being found in European Russia and the US – American ginseng (panax quinquefolius), Eluethero/Siberian ginseng (eleutherococcus sentocosus), licorice (glycyrrhiza glabra or g.uralensis), Rhaponticum (rhaponticum carthamoides) and Rhodiola (rhodiola rosea).

Luckily, some of the Asiatic Adaptogens grow in this climate, so I am looking forward to growing ashwagandha from seed and holy basil this year. If I get really lucky I might try growing some reishi mushroom logs which would be a totally new experience!

In order to become active, you also have to do some spring cleaning. This may mean an emotional process as well as a physical one.

In order to emerge and declutter ourselves from the detritus of winter, we may have to go through a period of letting go with conscious intent. We may need to release emotions e.g. guilt, fears, sorrow, pain or anger where they are not helping us or are holding us back from moving forward. If an emotion is proving helpful, e.g. a righteous anger may be giving you energy to do what needs to be done, then it should not be suppressed, but worked with openly until it can be discharged.

Herbs can be amazing allies when emotions threaten to overwhelm us. Henriette Kress, Kiva Rose and Rebecca Hartman have put together wonderful posts on herbs for sorrow and stress. It doesn’t really matter in what form the herb is used, providing the medium contains sufficient essence of the living herb. You might choose a flower remedy, a fresh herb tincture, an infused oil or salve, a herb tea or a foot bath depending on how the emotion is manifesting itself in you.

If emotion is affecting your digestion, you might want to experiment with Goldenrod. Both Ananda Wilson and Kiva Rose have found this useful for “cases of mild to moderate depression, especially where there is seasonal sensitivity and general feelings of coldness, frustration and a feeling of being paralyzed by cold weather or more specifically, lack of sunlight.”

Kiva Rose goes on to say, “I am also very fond of it in where digestive stagnation is causing feelings of sadness, stuckness and potential despair, and in such situations often team it up with Rose and Ginger. I am especially prone to use Goldenrod for those who consistently feel cold and have gut stagnation where food just wants to sit in the belly like a lump, and where there is concurrent feelings of sadness and the blues that accompanies digestive upset and chilly weather.”

Herbs for guilt were discussed on the Herbwifery Forum during the past few months. Pine flower essence was suggested, or a combination of pine, mimulus and honeysuckle flower essences. Ali suggested that sometimes guilt is there for a reason and felt rosemary’s gift of clarity and insight helped you learn not to make the same mistake twice “without wearing too much of a hair shirt about it”.

Winter stagnation may produce a sense that our boundaries are knocked around or jumbled or tied up with those of other people you have had close contact with. It was Matthew Wood with his tales of yarrow who first drew me to ask help of this herb. I am touched by lots of other people. Sometimes their stories and circumstances affect me greatly, but yarrow always helps me realize I do not have to carry their burdens for them, that my support is sufficient without needing to rescue them from the situation.

You may favour a different herb for strengthening your boundaries. Some people like thistle, but yarrow does it for me.

Spring can be an anxious time for many people. It’s a lot more comfortable staying in the warm than venturing outside when you don’t know what the outcome might be. I’ve been working with a combination of skullcap, St John’s wort and lemon balm recently and they have proved effective in untying the knots in the solar plexus and aiding sleep where you would otherwise be lying awake all night worrying.

No matter what winter throws at us, spring will come. Snowdrops and crocuses are flowering in gardens and daffodil buds are already four to five inches above the ground. Cuckoopint curls through the dark soil and blackcurrant and elder bushes have beautiful pale green and purple leaf buds ready to burst.

However you emerge from winter into spring, it will be easier if you spend some time in planning and preparation. As with everything, it is not just our physical bodies that are involved, but our minds and spirits too. Whatever you plan, herbs will be there to guide and support you if asked.