Looking after the Sanctuary

Having land brings its own responsibilities. It is not just about digging, planting, weeding and harvesting. Every season of the year brings new tasks. Winter’s end is the time to clear away dead growth from the previous year and make any repairs which are needed.

A decade ago we planted thirty-five new trees; red and green alder, wild cherry, silver birch, rowan, cherry plum and eating apple. Very few of them survived, succumbing to rabbits, deer and being choked by brambles and nettles. The wild cherry is doing well, producing its first blossom in the spring of 2016 and we have had two apple harvests.

In 2012, we noticed how dark the pond was, surrounding trees were shading everything. They needed to be cut back. Other saplings had planted themselves next to larger trees and needed to be removed. We held a “Tree Working Day” in the February when most of the unwanted field maple and three self-seeded ash trees were cleared and cut up with the help of apprentices, friends and family.

The tree removal went very well, making the areas around the pool much lighter. We were able to build a designated firepit which has hosted various workshops and other events. The seats are part of the ash trunks.

In the intervening time, the rate of new growth from the trees which were supposedly removed has been educational. The trunk stubs are now producing straight young poles which will be useful in the next few years for fencing or other purposes.

Many of the trees in the Sanctuary and around the spring field are pollards. Their ages range from two to four hundred years old. Even though their trunks may be hollow, the tops still grow new branches.

Pollarding is an ancient practice of woodland management. In woods, trees would be maintained according to their finished height. Oak, Elm and Ash were the three trees commonly found amongst woodland upper storey. They would be allowed to grow to an acceptable height and then any branch which grew above that would be harvested every ten years.

Hazel, short leafed lime and holly were the most commonly coppiced trees in the under storey; hazel being particularly favoured as a multi-purpose wood. The central trunk is cut down to encourage the tree to send out straight branches from the bottom of the trunk. These are harvested every decade and can be used for a variety of purposes such as hurdle making or charcoal.

In 2007 we planted two short-leaf lime and two spindle trees in the area across the stream where elder, walnut and willow also grow. The lime won’t be coppiced or pollarded as we hope, one day, there will be lime flowers to harvest.

If you want to harvest wood but still use the majority of your land for pasture or growing crops, the easiest method was to grow trees around the edges of fields and pollard them by cutting off the branches just above the height where cattle, horses or deer could browse new growth.

Pollarded trees need to be harvested every ten years, otherwise the poles grow too large and their weight can bring an ancient tree crashing down during a storm. We lost one of our ancient willows this way in 2016 even though it had been pollarded regularly.

If you look at the ash and willow trees around the Sanctuary, all the willows are pollarded. The corner ash trees, which delineate field boundaries, have been left to grow normally, while the ones along the fence line have all been pollarded. The ash tree growing by the spring head was self-sown in the last hundred years when the farm was being rented and pollarding was not considered.

The ash trees were last pollarded in 2012. That year’s group of apprentices included someone with woodlands management skills and he, very kindly, agreed to take on the task of pollarding the ash trees during March before the sap rose.

The amount of wood removed was more than we anticipated, requiring our 1950s Fordson tractor to be started up for the first time in a decade to clear up all the small branches into a huge pile of brash to be burned at a later date. The ash poles were stored in the cattle shelter at the top of the field and the withy poles split to make rails for a new fence around the top of the pond.

The ash harvest is now almost gone, providing fire wood for festivals and wood burning stoves and we have new ideas for the iron shed, which started life as a munitions shelter during the second world war.

This year our main concern has been the removal of dead trees, a medlar planted in 2006 and a hawthorn which was part of the original rectangle of hedges planted around the two oak trees centuries ago. (Why this area was enclosed will probably never be known.)

The other constant management issue is brambles. Last year we removed the briar patch growing over the wire fence into the field. It had encroached nearly ten feet into the field and although it provided shelter against prevailing westerly winds, it needed to come out. We have lots of other brambles to harvest for root vinegar, flower essence and blackberries.

This year it was the brambles growing around the sides of the ponds. They had completely encased the two springs outlets with their moss-covered lime towers and needed to be tamed.

The Sanctuary has three main springs running through it. The first provides water for the farm, flowing away down a small stream which eventually joins the River Dikkler in the valley. The other two are fed into the pond via two pipes. There is also a pipe from the stream which can bring water into the pond when it is being filled up. This pipe has been blocked for several years and water has leaked into the soil causing the ground around the wash house and one of the oak trees to become very muddy.

We’ve been trying to find the source of the leak for a couple of years to no avail. This workday, Chris, with the help of one of my apprentices’ husband, Graham, managed to rod through the pipe with various tools (eventually resorting to a plastic hosepipe!) until water began to flow again. We hope this will help to dry up the mud. If not, there may be a new spring to discover and reroute before the oak tree is permanently disabled.

We are always grateful for the help provided by apprentices, family members and friends which enable us to keep the Sanctuary a safe and vibrant place for everyone to enjoy.

What to do with Bramble?

Brambles (Rubus fruticosus) grow everywhere. David Attenborough once called them the most efficient and aggressive coloniser of any free space. The perennial bush produces biennial stems which arch or trail along the ground bearing large thorns to deter predators. Blackberries are produced from the second year stem and have been eaten by animals and humans for thousands of years.

Many people consider brambles to be vicious and unforgiving. I thought the same until I began using different parts of the bush medicinally. Now I count it a useful resource available all year round. It’s astringent properties are often ignored by herbalists in favour of its domesticated cousin, raspberry, (Rubus idaeus) but it has many similar properties and is free!

Bramble foraging begins in winter, when the roots can be harvested for vinegar along with general woodland, hedgerow, field or garden clearing. It is a useful remedy for diarrhoea and has been known to give relief from the pain of IBS flare-ups. I’ve used it to calm my digestive system down when faced with a stressful day which began with a long car journey, especially when time was tight and did not allow frequent comfort stops.

Bramble vinegar

Dig up at least six bramble roots. Cut the new leaves from any briars before discarding. Remove excess soil from roots then scrub in cold water until all soil is removed. Rinse roots in fresh water and chop into small, 1 inch pieces with secuteurs. Place bramble leaves in a large glass jar (2lbs) and snip with long scissors. Add the root pieces and cover with cider vinegar. Poke well with a chopstick to remove air bubbles and fill the jar again so no part of the root or leaf is exposed to the air. Egg shells can be added if you want extra mineral content. These will disappear over time as they are dissolved by the vinegar. Label and date the jar.

Place in a warm, dark place for three weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain off all the roots and leaves, squeezing leaves to remove excess vinegar. Strain the vinegar again through a fine sieve or kitchen paper to remove any soil. Pour into clean bottle with screw top lid. Label and date the bottle.

Use in salad dressings, when making stock to extract minerals from bones or with honey and boiling water to make a soothing drink. If taking medicinally, add 1tsp of vinegar to a small amount of water (I usually add 1-2 tsps. to a shot glass full of water) and sip.

Brambles in spring

It can be a privilege handling the spring roots of bramble. You see the old, hard wood of the previous year and new, red-tinged shoots. It provides a totally new perspective on spring and on this plant. It can be a wonderful experience sitting on a warm patio in the sunshine stroking the velvet softness of new leaves and combing through the root hairs with your fingers prior to scrubbing.

If you want to make a different vinegar, add half roots and half newly emerging shoots to your jar.

Bramble shoots, seen before the leaves fully emerge can be harvested and either eaten raw or lightly sautéed in butter to make a delightful addition to a foraged meal. They have their own unique flavour – a mixture of “green” and nutty – which is both unexpected and very pleasant. Don’t try to eat fully formed leaves as they have barbs on the underside.

Both the leaves and the insides of brambles with the thorns and hard exterior removed can be made into a stomach calming tea which is particularly helpful for children.

Blackberry Flower Essence

When blackberry flowers emerge, a flower remedy can be made from them. All you need is a clean glass bowl, jam jar or drinking glass, enough flowers to cover the top and spring or purified water. Fill the bowl with water and sprinkle the flowers on the surface of the water so it is entirely covered. Leave the bowl outside in sunshine for three hours. Remove the flowers with something other than metal or your hand e.g. a stick and pour 50ml of fluid into a clean dark bottle. Add 50 ml of brandy. Label the bottle and date. 

Blackberry Flower Essence helps to translate goals and intentions into action by connecting someone more effectively with their will. The soul has many lofty visions and desires but may be unable to manifest what needs to be achieved. Such people are often quite perplexed about the gap between their aims and what they actually accomplish. They give much consideration to their intentions but lack the ability to organize these thoughts into specific priorities, or to manifest and execute such goals.

On an energetic level, such people often have a great deal of light around the head, which does not radiate and circulate throughout the body. The blood is often sluggish, as is the entire lower metabolism. As the light comes more into the limbs, the soul feels greater inner power to take real action in the world and to translate what is spiritual into actual change in the world. Blackberry flower essence helps to chanel this radiant, awakened light to the will-life of the human soul.

As summer moves into autumn, blackberry flowers mature into drupes and produce the familiar blackberry. Not every black berry is the same as there are over three hundred varieties of both blackberry and dewberry, several of which can co-exist and hybridise in the same field.

Blackberries are an ancient remedy for combatting diarrhoea and dysentery. I learned my home nursing from my mother. She taught me to starve anyone with a tummy bug for 24 hours and then gradually introduce dry and easily digested food whilst offering suitable fluids throughout to keep the sufferer hydrated.

If symptoms don’t improve after three days, seek medical advice (earlier with young children). Whole blackberries shaken with powdered cinnamon can be helpful in managing loose stools. The eclectic American herbalist, Ellingwood used to offer a blackberry cordial, made in a similar fashion to elderberry cordial, as a drink.

If you are looking for some thing to help improve access to vitamin C either for yourself and your family, a tasty syrup can be made from blackberries and rosehips.

Blackberry and Rosehip Syrup
Small bowl of blackberries and rosehips (1/2lb of each)
1 inch of fresh ginger root peeled and chopped (or you could grate it whole)
3/4  whole nutmeg grated
1 cinnamon stick broken up
4 cloves
runny honey
Juice of a lemon
alcohol of your choice (brandy, sherry, a good whiskey, vodka etc)

Wash the blackberries and rosehips. Place in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cover with water. Simmer over a low heat for half an hour. Mash the blackberries and rosehips to a pulp with a potato masher and cook on the lowest heat for another 15-30 minutes. Strain the liquid through a plastic sieve and measure the volume. Wash out the saucepan. Return the liquid to the pan together with a lb of runny honey for every pint of liquid. Heat gently until honey is dissolved. Add juice of a lemon. This can now be poured into clean, sterile bottles and sealed and kept in the fridge to use with children and anyone who doesn't like/can't have alcohol. To preserve the syrup without keeping in a fridge (but in a cold place) add alcohol to taste. Using 1/4pint alcohol to every pint of original liquid should be an adequate preservative.

You can make jams, jellies and pies with blackberries on their own, but the flavour is very strong. Blackberries reduce the amount of sugar/sweetening you need to add to apples and makes a better flavour combination and texture. If you are cooking for anyone with crumbling or sensitive teeth it is better to sieve the blackberries before adding to any cooking.

Blackberry and apple puree

Peel, core and slice 2-3 large cooking apples and add to a saucepan together with 1-2 large handfuls of washed blackberries. Add sugar and a dash of water (put saucepan under cold tap for one second) then heat the saucepan gently with stirring and simmer until the apples are soft. Sieve the mixture to remove all pips and serve as a fruit fool (by adding ½ pint cold puree to ½ pint cold thick custard to ½ pint double cream), with natural yoghurt, cream or custard. The puree freezes well.

Blackberry and apple pie

Fill the bottom of a pie dish with peeled, cored and sliced cooking apples and blackberries in the ratio of 2/3:1/3. Sprinkle sugar over the top and a small amount of water. Put a pie centre in the middle of the dish. Make approximately 4oz of shortcrust pastry (4ozs flour, 1oz vegetable fat or lard plus 1oz margarine or butter). Roll out the pastry. Cut a ½” strip of pastry to sit on the top of the pie dish edge then brush this with milk. Lift the remainder of the pastry to cover the pie dish and crimp the edges together with the strip of lining. Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and cook in a medium oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Blackberry and apple crumble

Peel, core and slice 2-3 large cooking apples and place in the bottom of a pie dish together with 1-2 good handfuls of washed blackberries. Sprinkle with sugar and add a small dash of water into the bottom of the dish. Make the crumble topping by rubbing together 4 ozs. flour with 2 ozs. of margarine or butter until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add 2 tblsps sugar and mix well. Pour the crumble over the fruit, knocking the edges of the pie dish carefully with your palm to ensure the crumble is evenly spread. Do not push the crumble mixture down firmly with your hand or a spoon. Cook in a medium oven for 15-20 minutes until done.

Blackberry and apple jam

4 lbs blackberries

1/2pt water

1.5lbs cooking/sour apples (prepared weight)

6lbs sugar

Pick over and wash the blackberries, place in a pan with 1/4pt water and simmer slowly until soft. Peel, core and slice apples and add the remaining 1/4pt water. Simmer slowly until soft and make into a pulp with a spoon or potato masher. Add the blackberries and sugar, bring to the boil and boil rapidly, stirring frequently until a setting point is reached. Pour into sterilised jars and cover. (Makes about 10lbs jam.)

Blackberry and apple jelly

4lb blackberries

2lbs cooking or crab apples

2pts water

Wash the blackberries. Wash and cut up the apples without peeling or coring. Put the fruit in the pan with the water and cook for about 1 hour until the fruit is really soft and turned to pulp. Strain through a jelly cloth overnight. Measure the extract and return it to the pan with 1lb sugar to every 1 pint liquid. Heat gently and stir until all the sugar is dissolved then boil rapidly until the setting point is reached. Remove any scum with a slotted spoon before pouring into small, sterilised jars and seal.

Developing relationships

Getting to know a plant is a continuing joy. It doesn’t happen quickly, but over a period of several years, circumstances enable you to meet them in many different guises.

Last year, nettle was the herb which really showed me a wealth of different perspectives. Nettle has always been the first fresh herb tea I make each year. When March arrives it is the only green growth with sufficient profusion to gather for tea. It tastes wonderful, freshly brewed and hot, to be sipped and savoured with your hands cupped around the mug to gather warmth into yourself.

Nettle soup is always a favourite and this year I experimented with adding it to sweet potatoes and cardamom pods which was a great hit with everyone.

1 large sweet potato (peeled and sliced)
One colander full of fresh nettle tops
1 onion (peeled and chopped)
2 leeks (washed and sliced)
3 carrots (scraped and sliced)
6 green cardamom seeds
1 inch of root ginger (peeled and chopped) (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste.
1oz butter

Sweat the onion and leeks in the butter in a large (5pint) saucepan until soft. Add the rest of the vegetables and cover with either cold or boiling water. Season. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. When the vegetables are soft, remove the cardamom seeds and liquidise. Serve with fresh, granary bread.

So far this year I have put up nettle tincture and nettle vinegar which are awaiting decanting. On Saturday night I picked a whole basket of nettles from the bottom of the garden and tonight I shall put them into a paper bag to sit in the hot cupboard in the kitchen until they are dry. I’m looking forward to the summer when I shall try tincturing some fresh nettle seeds and drying others, to add to my porridge and yoghurt when I feel especially run down.

In the autumn I shall dig more nettle roots to make tincture for Chris.

Dandelion is another plant which has thrust itself into my notice over the past few months. I have always eaten the leaves in salads and sandwiches during the spring and summer, but I’ve not prepared a great deal of dried root or fresh leaf tincture.

In January, I braved the biting winds to dig plump roots to make tincture. It had a definite, sweet aftertaste. Easter saw me picking young, fresh leaves for drying in the bitter winds and snow. I’m now using these in my daily work tea alongside other, nourishing and soothing herbs. I shall need to pick more to both dry and tincture, to add to the jar which is already macerating in the larder.

Eating dandelion flowers has been another first for me this year. I’ve also made a beautiful, yellow mixed flower and leaf oil and salve and a subtle flower, sweet Cecily and cardomon syrup which is great on my morning porridge. I want to repeat both oil and syrup using just dandelion flowers which will mean a significant picking foray in the field this weekend.

Dandelion Flower Salve
4oz fresh dandelion flowers
Enough sunflower oil to cover 2oz of flowers (around 8 fluid ounces)
Either a double saucepan or a stainless steel pot with a lid small enough to place inside another saucepan.
Water
1.25oz beeswax (sufficient to thicken 8 fl ozs of infused herbal oil)

Place half of the flowers in the inner pan and cover with sunflower oil. Replace the lid firmly and place inside the other saucepan which is about half filled with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for two hours. Do not let the pan boil dry! Remove the inner pan and strain off the oil through a sieve, squeezing the flowers with a wooden spoon to remove as much oil as possible. Place the remainder of the dandelion flowers in the inner pan and pour over the oil from the first infusion. Replace the lid firmly and heat the oil in the outer pan for a further two hours. Strain the oil into a clean glass jar and cap with a screw top lid. Label and date. Let the infused oil sit for about three days to make sure any water content separates out. Decant oil, discarding the oil/water mixture at the bottom of the jar. If water drops are left in the infused oil it will go off more quickly.

To make the oil into a salve, pour 8 oz oil into the inner pan of the double saucepan. and heat. Grate the beeswax into the hot infused oil and stir with a wooden spoon until it melts. Test the thickness of the salve by dropping a few drops into a small cup of cold water then rubbing it between your thumb and fingers. If it is not thick enough, add more wax. When it reaches a suitable consistency, pour into small jars and seal. The salve will thicken and change colour on cooling. Use dandelion flower salve to nourish breast tissue.

The third herb which has been attracting my attention this year has been bramble. I’ve known for some time that bramble leaves could help stomach upsets, but apart from the odd tea with leaves or blackberries, I’ve never paid the plant much heed. Bramble briars have been something to attack and remove from my gardens before they take over any available space. I leave any briars which flower in the hope I’ll benefit from the resulting blackberries in the autumn.

It was Joyce Wardwell’s book, “The Herbal Home Remedy Book: Simple Recipes for Tinctures, Teas, Salves, Wines and Syrups” which gave me confidence to get to know bramble at a deeper level. She has a recipe for bramble root vinegar, which is apparently a well-known American home recipe for diarrhoea. Someone else on Henriette’s herblist recently posted that she tried the vinegar for her IBS flare up and found immediate relief from the pain.

It seemed strange making a root tincture at the Spring Equinox, when it is an activity I usually keep for the Autumn Equinox. Studying roots always seems to me to provide an opportunity for considering wholeness and balance because you are considering the entire plant, not just the aerial parts, which is often the case during the rest of the year.

It was such a privilege handling the spring roots of bramble. You could see the old, hard wood of the previous year and the new, red-tinged shoots of new growth. It gave me a totally new perspective on Spring and on this plant.

The original jar of vinegar was ready to decant on Sunday. I’d added the shell of a hard boiled egg to increase the mineral content. It completely disappeared and I forgot I’d added it to the roots until I read the label! The vinegar is very dark and earthy. I strained it carefully because there was still soil on the roots despite all my scrubbing! It tasted rich with a sweet afternote which was not unpleasant. Normally, tasting neat herbal vinegar makes your mouth pucker, but this one didn’t, which surprised me, especially as I was expecting a degree of astringency!

There were more stray brambles in the garden, so I decided to dig them up and make another vinegar using both the new leaves and the roots. Again, it was an amazing experience sitting on the warm patio in the sunshine stroking the velvet softness of the new leaves and combing my fingers through the root hairs before I scrubbed them.

Bramble vinegar
Dig up at least six bramble roots. Cut the new leaves from any briars before discarding. Remove excess soil from roots then scrub in cold water until all soil is removed. Rinse roots in fresh water and chop into small, 1 inch pieces with secuteurs. Place bramble leaves in a large glass jar (2lbs) and snip with long scissors. Add the root pieces and cover with cider vinegar. Poke well with a chopstick to remove air bubbles and fill the jar again so no part of the root or leaf is exposed to the air. Label and date. Place in a warm, dark place for three weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain off all the roots and leaves, squeezing leaves to remove excess vinegar. Strain the vinegar again through a fine sieve or kitchen paper to remove any soil. Pour into clean bottle with screw top lid. Label and date. Use in salad dressings or with honey and boiling water to make a soothing drink.

Someone on the Herbwifery Forum recently said they believed brambles to be vicious and unforgiving. I know that’s true, but on Sunday I was able to experience a more gentle side to the plant which David Attenborough highlighted in his “Secret life of plants” as the most efficient and aggressive coloniser of any free space.