30 Days of Wild Teas in April!

Rediscover our lost common knowledge of medicinal herbs, right here on our doorstep!

It's Spring again and I’ll be drinking a freshly foraged tea every day in April.

From 1st – 30th I'll be taking my tea break out in a variety of green spaces wherever I feel drawn, whatever the weather.

It's a step towards the recommoning of our wild medicinal plant knowledge, a quest very dear to my heart. Not only that, it offers me a pause of gentle attention, where I can tune in and be open to the wonder of nature for a just a moment in my day.

Medicine which begins even before I take the first sip!

If this is something that lights you up and you'd also like to enjoy your own wild tea breaks this April, then I invite you to follow my quest for guidance and inspiration.

A Challenge

It's a challenge and an adventure. I won't create a calendar, I'll just go where my feet, (or bicycle), take me. I'll be out in all weather and at the mercy of any changes to this years growing season.

I’ll be based in North Somerset, Bristol and Devon. However, I believe most of the herbs I find will also be found over most of the UK, so if you feel like getting involved it's likely you'll find these wild teas not far from your own doorstep.

A Sensory Delight

With my flask of hot water, teacup and sit mat, I’ll pick a place to enjoy a peaceful pause, relaxing into the sensory delight of my cup. Fresh, nourishing and revitalizing.

One of the things I look forward to most on these wild tea breaks is the delight it gives me looking down at the beauty in my cup. Every cup is unique and looks stunning when infusing, taking on a character of its own due to the amazing shapes of the broken plant parts, as well as its own colour and scent feast.

Sadly, I can't share the scent with you, but I hope you'll enjoy my photographs and attempt at describing my experience. 

Deep Appreciation

Each daily outing feels like I am going to visit a good friend. I get to enjoy their company and feel nourished by our connection. Even to see them is uplifting, and when I stay a while, over at their place, I feel a sense of ease come over me, like I've arrived. Especially once I've taken the first sip.

It's a wonderful thing for me to have a quiet moment with a good friend on a daily basis.

A Commitment to Health and Wellbeing

It is a daily commitment that gets me moving, exploring, connecting and settling. Connecting to my local green allies is a route to better connecting with myself. The sense of freedom, adventure and spaciousness is very liberating, and the daily exercise a cleansing bonus.

And that’s even before considering the benefits of ingesting a daily array of fresh green phytonutrients! A huge boost of fresh antioxidants for starters. It's no wonder I feel such a boost in vitality.

An Alternative to Dry Tea Bags

I’ve noticed that lately I’ve lost enthusiasm for tea bags. Dried herbs are so lifeless in comparison to the fresh green ones growing outside my door. Just as the birds notice the bareness before spring, I too am celebrating the return of our abundant living nourishment.

This week I’ve started putting a garden in my teapot once again. Gathering all the herbs in my garden into one tea cocktail!

I love the seasonal ritual of stepping outside my door to make a cocktail of living greens. I feel so much more alive. All those thousands of plant nutrients feeding my body, nourishing and uplifting my spirit.

Holistic Nourishment

Nourishment through my senses, through movement, through assimilation and through feeding my soul with the beauty and serenity of nature.

Nature is a great way to settle the nervous system after all the overstimulation of modern-day living. It floods us with happy hormones that restore our capacity to manage what life brings with more ease and creativity. Both my experience and supported widely by scientific studies, lots of them highlighted in a book called Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, by Florance Williams.

Committing to taking my tea breaks outdoors in April is a great way to support my physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, and as I've discovered leads to compounded happiness. A tea break is a small things in day, and yet it can bring so much joy.

A Deeper Purpose

As a keeper of the commons herbal knowledge, it’s important to me to share it as best I can. Nothing beats an in-person herb walk and so I encourage you to seek one out. If you are local to me I have some planned in April, (please see link below).

I am on a quest to help recommon our once common knowledge of herbal medicines, especially those right here on our doorsteps. Join me!

A Shared Journey

I will be sharing my explorations through daily Facebook Lives, as well as snippets on Instagram and LinkedIn. Last year I kept a single photographic journal on my website, as well as a podcast which you can find there.

This year I will bring all this together in a daily Substack article. The medium is so versatile I will be able to share a video of each herb within the article, plus an audio reflection, and some stunning photo's for even more inspiration and to support your correct plant identification. One article per herb, all neatly compiled in one location.

I welcome you to join me in whatever way works for you. Obviously, I have the benefit of being a qualified herbalist and know I can trust my plant ID skills after 20 years of wild herb foraging and running herb walks.

 Please DO NOT ingest any plant you are not 100% sure of. You may feel more comfortable sticking to the ones you are already familiar with but have yet to forage as tea.

An Invitation

I am very happy to receive any ID queries on the Facebook group, Instagram or Substack comments, or even via my website blog.

I’d love you to share your explorations. It feels a bit like an alternative to wine tasting in a vineyard, but with much more scope and wildness. Perhaps we could make up our own descriptive words to share our wild tea tasting experience?

Join me:

• Join the Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/30daywildteaquest

   

• Access my Substack here:

  https://substack.com/@healthneedsthyme?utm_source=user-menu

   

• Link to my website here:

  https://www.healthneedsthyme.co.uk/events

  for events, and to book herbal medicine consultations

   

• & on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/herbal_healthcoach/

• & LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-jane-cobley-ba85981a1/

   

Each video or audio should be under 5 minutes.

Come rain or shine, I will be filling my cup both literally and metaphorically. 

Let’s Get Started!

I’m ready to get going with this spring’s wild tea quest and to welcome you to your own quest to discover the wild teas of our local land. If you find yourself longing for a wild tea break and a peaceful pause to reconnect to our healing herbs, pack your flask, cup and something to sit on.

Tell your friends and talk about your wild tea adventures!

Get them to join in.

Together let’s recommon our lost heritage to a once again reciprocal relationship with our local wild herbs. One where we receive their route to health and wellness, and they are known to us and receive our appreciation, respect, and protection.

With eagerness and blessings from

xxx Sarah-Jane xxx

For those Local to me:

My next herb walk is at 6.30pm on Tuesday 1st April. Meet at the entrance the rose garden with a flask of hot water. We must be mindful that the gates to the grounds are shut at sunset, (7.44pm), and so we will finish promptly at 7.30pm.

There will also be a walk in my local park in Long Ashton on Tuesday 15th April. Meet in Peel Park, on the Community Centre side in Long Ashton, North Somerset, BS41 9DP.

https://fb.me/e/34RlEiN9W

£10 cash on arrival, or pre-pay option via: https://www.healthneedsthyme.co.uk/services

 Herbal Medicine Consultations

I am a qualified medical herbalist, trained in much the same way as a GP. However, my medicines are from nature's larder. They nourish and strengthen so that your body can heal itself. I offer consultations via video call and send tonics out in the post. Email me to book an appointment: sarah-janecobley@healthneedsthyme.co.uk