Green-fingered medical herbalists bringing the 'Weeds and Wild Medicine' revolution to Burnley

Having worked together at Offshoots Permaculture garden in Towneley Park, Edwina Hodkinson and Danielle Kay have spent lockdown helping people make their own home-grown medicines, drinks, and recipes made from weeds and all things green and wonderful found in their local area.

When the pandemic hit, Edwina and Danielle's budding hands-on eight-month 'Weeds and Wild Medicine' course in herbalism had to be put on ice despite it being fully booked. Hugely popular, participants had previously come from as far as Isle of Arran in Scotland to take part. Not to be deterred, the dynamic duo got to work and went digital.

With the green-fingered pair soon realising that demand for home-grown remedies and for things to help with anxiety and stress during lockdown, they released a series of YouTube videos to help connect people with local plants and weeds which they could use in food and drinks. As a result, various nettle, wild garlic, and dandelion recipes were being tried out in kitchens in the UK and abroad.

“We’re very passionate about re-connecting people to plant medicine," says Edwina. "Most people think that effective herbal medicines can only be obtained from exotic places on the other side of the world and don’t realise that many of the herbs we need can be found right here in Lancashire.

"Plants that grow outside your back door, in the cracks of pavements and as the simple garden weeds like dandelions, that most people try to get rid of," she adds. "People told us that the course helped to cope with the stress of lockdown and to connect them to the natural world on their doorstep.”

Within weeks, Edwina and Danielle took their course online with Zoom workshops, filmed herbal walks and medicine-making sessions, and hit the social media groups hard, with their first workshop in May attended by 80 people, including someone from Canada.

Before anyone could say urtica dioica, participants were making nettle beers, herbal tees, and balms from local weeds. As lockdown was extended, the course grew in tandem, growing to incorporate concoctions to help with seasonal coughs and colds as the mercury dipped.

"This is really exciting for us to see so many people engaging with local medicinal plants, making home remedies, and sharing the information with families and their children in homeschooling," says Danielle. "What’s even better is that we have been able to support people through what has been a very challenging and stressful time, enabling connection to the natural world on their doorstep."

With the stress of the third lockdown, their January workshop focused on coping with stress and anxiety and on making things like soothing body butter and bath soaks to encourage a certain factor of chill and relaxation, with Edwina and Danielle also planning to relaunch in March with a year-long course of foraging, recipes, herb walks, and more weeds, weeds, weeds.