Early last summer I was contacted by the fine folks from Creative Mornings Ottawa. They wanted to know if I would be interested in giving a presentation on urban foraging at the Arboretum Festival. I don’t know what temporary insanity possessed my to say yes, but yes, I said.
Now, I have no problem sharing information with large groups of people. I love my teaching job, giving workshops and leading plant walks. I’m happy to speak at length about my favourite plants and their uses to anyone willing to listen. But the thought of standing in front of a room full of people presenting something that resembles a prepared, practiced and coherent talk, filled me with panic and fear. This was definitely venturing way out of my comfort zone and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through it without some help. So I turned to my friends. My plant friends.
In herbalism, relaxing nervines refer to a category of herbs that have a nourishing, calming and soothing effect on the nervous system, activating the parasympathetic nervous system, supporting our resilience to the negative effects of stress, promoting healthy sleep and easing anxiety and worry. Relaxing nervines range from mildy calming to sedative and hypnotic. Some herbs in this category include: Milky oats (Avena sativa), Skullcap (Skutellaria laterifolia), Vervain & Blue Vervain (Verbena officinalis, V. hastata), California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Valerian (Valerian officinalis), Chamomile (Matricaria recutita), Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), Hops (Humulus lupulus) and Catnip (Nepeta cataria) among others.
As the date of my talk grew near I went to my apothecary and mixed a tincture blend of relaxing nervines that included chamomile, blue vervain and skullcap. Leading up to the talk on the day, I started taking the tincture by the dropperful about every hour increasing the dose to a dropperful every few minutes in the last 10 before my talk. That was probably overdoing it a bit at the end and if I hadn’t been so keyed up those doses would have laid me out on the floor, but hey, I was able to take a deep breath, walk onto the stage and not fall apart into an anxiety-ridden mess. Success!
So um yeah, here’s a video of the presentation if you want to check it out.
Now, I have no problem sharing information with large groups of people. I love my teaching job, giving workshops and leading plant walks. I’m happy to speak at length about my favourite plants and their uses to anyone willing to listen. But the thought of standing in front of a room full of people presenting something that resembles a prepared, practiced and coherent talk, filled me with panic and fear. This was definitely venturing way out of my comfort zone and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through it without some help. So I turned to my friends. My plant friends.
In herbalism, relaxing nervines refer to a category of herbs that have a nourishing, calming and soothing effect on the nervous system, activating the parasympathetic nervous system, supporting our resilience to the negative effects of stress, promoting healthy sleep and easing anxiety and worry. Relaxing nervines range from mildy calming to sedative and hypnotic. Some herbs in this category include: Milky oats (Avena sativa), Skullcap (Skutellaria laterifolia), Vervain & Blue Vervain (Verbena officinalis, V. hastata), California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Valerian (Valerian officinalis), Chamomile (Matricaria recutita), Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), Hops (Humulus lupulus) and Catnip (Nepeta cataria) among others.
As the date of my talk grew near I went to my apothecary and mixed a tincture blend of relaxing nervines that included chamomile, blue vervain and skullcap. Leading up to the talk on the day, I started taking the tincture by the dropperful about every hour increasing the dose to a dropperful every few minutes in the last 10 before my talk. That was probably overdoing it a bit at the end and if I hadn’t been so keyed up those doses would have laid me out on the floor, but hey, I was able to take a deep breath, walk onto the stage and not fall apart into an anxiety-ridden mess. Success!
So um yeah, here’s a video of the presentation if you want to check it out.
And I just want to clarify my comments in answering a question about allergies. One woman wondered if she could eat wild foods if she had seasonal allergies. I suggested that trying small amounts of some plants before they flower and produce pollen might be a good approach. I think it’s also important to note that some people have allergies to plants regardless of whether they are exposed to pollen or not and people with allergies to one plant in a family, may be sensitive to other plants in the same family. Allergies to plants in the aster family are relatively common for example, and people with this allergy should avoid plants like chamomile and echinacea. Folks who are allergic to cashews may react to sumac. If anyone out there has a better understanding of the allergic response please chime in. Bottom line, I always teach that when trying a new wild food for the first time, ingest only a small amount and wait 12-24 hrs to see if there is a reaction before consuming more. Safety first darlings!
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