ROOT MEDICINE & HERBS FOR AUTUMN
Daylight savings has finished and we are well into the throes of the death knell of summer. The days are starting to feel shorter, the nights longer and no longer oppressively hot. Leaves change colour and begin to fall while the flowers of summer retire themselves until the sun decides to head back our way in spring.
As a gardener and herbalist, autumn heralds the time to harvest medicinal roots like ashwagandha, marshmallow, echinacea, valerian, burdock and dandelion. Its time to prepare perennial plants for the coming winter, to nourish and rejuvenate the soil with compost and to remove the dead wood that spring cannot regenerate.
Just as the garden starts to slow as the sun makes its journey to our friends in the North, so do we. The excesses of summer come home to roost and many of us head into the dark months of the year depleted and wilted. So just as the garden benefits from a bit of extra care as summer winds down, so do we.
It is time for us to prepare ourselves for the challenges of the winter months, to slow down, to nourish our bodies. Its time to pull the slow cooker out to start preparing nourishing, warming slow cooked foods with legumes and root vegetables. Its time to eat brassicas which deliver important sulfur containing nutrients which help the body to detoxify summers excesses. Its time to take advantage of feijoa season by making gut loving fermented feijoa soda and feijoa and apple crumbles. Its time to start back on the alkalising ritualistic lemon water in the mornings that became too expensive over summer. Its time to eat sunbathed mushrooms to get the super important vitamin D before the sun is at too much of an oblique angle to allow us to synthesise much D at all.
Its also time to nourish our minds and feed our spirit. Summer can be big and unruly and busy and can leave us feeling wrung out as it comes to a close. This is the time to nourish our minds with nervines, herbs which help to rejuvenate and calm a depleted nervous system. Rejuvenating nervines like oats, skullcap and lemon balm for those that are depleted, tired and suffering from worry. Heavier more hypnotic nervines such as kava, passionflower, hops and valerian for those for whom their light and resilience is dimmed by poor sleep and a too busy mind. Floral nervines lavender and chamomile a team made in heaven for those with a tendency towards sadness and stress that leaves the guts feeling twisted and upset.
Autumn is also time to remove dead wood, that you don’t want to bring through with you into the dark days of winter. Assess your habits and see whether they are going to help or hinder you through the cooler months. Has wine o clock become a bit too regular? Has that daily coffee turned into three to allow you to get through the days. Are you on the coffee to wake up, wine to wind down roller-coaster? Are all your vegetables rotting in the fridge while you know your Uber Eats drivers by name. Its time to slow down, take stock and see how you can bring your body back into balance. I always suggest reishi to join you on the journey to leave bad habits behind. Just as reishi breaks down dead wood in its environment, within you it illuminates the things that no longer serve you and gives you the calm resilience to leave them behind.
Just as many roots are harvested in the autumn, I feel many have an affinity for us at this time of year.
Bringing the grounding, stability of the earth, many root medicines provide strength, resilience and endurance whilst others help to cleanse and purify. My favourite roots to draw into your lives as winter approaches are the all rounder ashwagandha - a member of the nightshade family and very easy to grow in NZ, ashwagandha is a true adaptogen bringing stamina, endurance, calm, sleep and balance to those prone to stress ( Its in lots of my potions!) . It is not the best tasting herb but can be disguised with the cinnamon, ginger and vanilla.
A herb with a similar vibe to ashwagandha is another Ayurvedic herb, shatavari. With a reputation as a women’s herb, it is rejuvenative for the adrenals and for depleted dry mucous membranes prone to infections and irritation. Shatavari is sweet, calming and cooling while still providing powerful resustence to stressors and immune challenges ( Shatavari is in our Lovers Potion)
Astragalus is a favourite tonic of mine for autumnal season, a member of the legume family, astragalus loves a bit of sandy soil and happily grows in NZ. It is mostly treasured for immune resilience and has a particular affinity for preventing post viral fatigue and for cardiovascular health ( In our Bliss and Power potions)
Another root which nourishes and tones the adrenals and hormones is maca, from the radish family, maca comes to us from the earth of the hallowed mountains of Peru (It is in many of our blends as it also has a caramel malt like taste which nourishes the senses) where it is used as both food and medicine which is exactly as nature intended.
Eleuthero , root medicine native to northern Europe and Asia is a powerful adaptogen perfectly suited to younger folks who may have really overdone it during the summer and are feeling stressed and tired. It helps to rejuvenate and gives the support needed to keep the immune system and nervous system running while stress from work or school is ongoing ( its in our Magick Matcha and Power potions)
Dandelion always sings to me as the days get shorter. An all rounder - dandelion leaf is a nutritive and a diuretic perfect for the puffiness that comes with too much booze and late nights. But it is the root of my friend dandelion which really holds the most awe for me. Dandelion root can be roasted and brewed providing a coffee like taste with powerful liver, skin and digestive benefits. Add some spices to the brew and a teaspoon or two of your fave mushie powder and you have the perfect cleansing autumn brew for when you really want that second coffee but really shouldn’t. In a similar way the r bitter root of the mighty burdock can be used as a cleansing tea alongside dandelion to bolster its immune and cleansing actions.
So just as the garden needs rest and recuperation after the long days of summer, so do you. Take it easy, be gentle with yourself, ground yourself with good foods, nervines and root medicine and you will be ready to bloom again when spring comes.