Sipping Teas, Tasting Syrups & Making Plant Medicines
As I sip my tea, I think about the words that would help me best sum up our last weekend spent at our plants apprenticeship with Alexis. Our course has ended however, our wealth of plant knowledge is abundant and will keep on growing.
Our last weekend was our medicine making time. What a great way to wrap up our time together. We all conglomerated in Alexis’s kitchen and listened intently to the different remedies we were going to make. We made all sorts of rich and important medicines, such as; standardised tinctures, folk method tinctures, cough syrup, elderberry syrup, linements and salves. The smell of herbs, oils and wax bounced off the kitchen walls. As we gathered in different groups, people smiled, told bad jokes and shared good laughter. We also blended amazing herbal teas; some of the herbs Alexis grew and some of them harvested from the wild.
Time flew by and it was time to wrap up. We shared heartfelt stories of great moments spent in this course together and with the plants. Everyone shared their gratitude and as it was time to leave we sang one last song composed by the one and only Kim. This song was taught to her by the plants. That beautiful and calm note of silence after her song left me with chills and soon people trickled out the door to drive back home. The abundance of herbal medicine that we had made was absolutely incredible. We were able to take some of these medicines back home with us.
As I sip my hand crafted herbal blended tea, I realise that the chance to reflect on all the cool plants and its related teachings has been awesome. I feel so grateful to have learned so many beautiful things with a group of like-minded people, this plant journey is totally worth it.
-Annie
