Ruskin Apothecary

Last Sunday (10th) a group of 15 herb folk met up at the Asha centre in the Forest of Dean to sample and distil a selection of the wonderful collection of Roses they grow there. Since electric/gas seemed so sterile in such a beautiful environment, we made life far more difficult/colourful for ourselves by distilling over embers collected from a fire. The 2 hour process of blowing on the ember to keep the heat up was enjoyed by all, and we ended the day with three subtly different rose waters to sample.

I decided to put this up since so many people have asked me about what’s going on with the combined European legislation, statutory regulation and codex political changes. Of these, codex is the one I know least about, but I think I can give you an accurate picture of the other two.

From April this year (2011), the Traditional Medicines Directive (TMD) comes into force. This is derived from European regulation designed to harmonise Over the Counter (OTC) sales of herbal products. It will mean that any product for OTC sale must have a TMD product license. These licenses are not as difficult to acquire as drugs licenses, but still expensive enough to make this market impossible for small producers. Requirements include providing evidence of traditional use in Europe, GMP (Good Manufactury Practice), and quality control/safety/labelling requirements. The costs per license (per product) is apparently in the region of £30,000 – obviously making this a market for the bigger players. Interestingly, of the 70 products so far to acquire licenses, about a third are through pharmaceutical companies.

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Amber with her pet snail and our basket of dandelion roots! We’re have good fun on this May medicine making – as usual there’s way to much to fit in but so far we’ve made nettle tincture and juice and sieved comfrey oil through a mesh of cleavers.

So exciting when the plants start to appear! I can almost forget I’m a herbalist in the winter without the constant inspiration around me. This year we are really happy to welcome Rachel to be working with us, running a whole series of evenings and Sunday’s facilitating people to connect to plants – see the ancient plant wisdom page under workshops.

With Spring I also feel like I’m starting to emerge – our first winter in a Yurt was good, but does rather eat up your time! More insulation next year…….

April is always exciting – so far this year we’ve harvested Nettles, Cleavers and Comfrey. The Nettles and Cleavers have both been made into tinctures, whilst Comfrey has been infused in cold pressed organic sunflower oil. Once pressed this produces a beautiful rich dark green oil that goes to form the base for many types of medicine. The first creation from the oil has been a sprain ointment – in this comfrey oil is mixed with beeswax, arnica and wintergreen oil to make a potent muscle rub, joint rub or sprain ointment.

Our next event is an open day on Saturday 28th March. There will be two one hour long workshops during the day (booking recommended) where we will demonstrate traditional medicine making techniques, whilst the rest of the day the Apothecary will be open for browsing and asking questions. Call 01453 835 029 to book.

It’s been a busy month at the Apothecary! Nathaniel was approached by BBC Radio Gloucestershire to create a 8-10 week series of herbs as part of Faye Hatcher’s Saturday morning show. This is due to start being broadcast mid March, and will feature a ‘virtual herb walk’, as we explore the traditions and uses of herbs in the valley.On the 28th February we had the priveledge of a visit from Prince Charles as part of an official visit to Ruskin Mill. Nathan and two students from the college – Abigail and Kristina, showed him the herbs they have been harvesting and the medicines made from these. (More as we get photos through!)