Medicinal Forest Garden Trust Update January 2025
A quarterly update on medicinal forest gardening
In this January issue there are items on talks, herb courses, forest news, plant resources and supplies, research and guides plus a recipe for pine-infused honey!
TALKS AND COURSES
PermaTalks Online - ‘Designing with Medicinal Trees and Shrubs in the Forest Garden’
6th February 2025 - 18:30 (CET - Central European Time)
This third session of the PermaTalks Season 5 is offered by Anne Stobart and her topic is Designing with Medicinal Trees and Shrubs in the Forest Garden. The forest garden offers many opportunities to promote and maintain health and Anne will talk about the wide range of medicinal trees and shrubs that can be included. Alongside foods for health these plants offer a variety of herbal actions which can benefit many ailments and promote resilience. A range of design purposes will be considered from self-help to commercial production. Issues of quality and safety in harvesting and using these plants will also be discussed. More details of PermaTalks Season 5 pass for 25 euros for all sessions here…
Irish Agroforestry Podcasts
Irish Agroforestry Forum podcast recordings feature a range of speakers about agroforestry in Ireland. Season 2 of the #Conversation Beneath the Trees recordings from autumn 2024 are now available. They include Episode 8 on medicinal trees with Anne Stobart and episode host Catherine Cleary, now available on Spotify.
Wild Medicine Residential Course in UK
Over four residential weekends, this course from the Rhizome Community Herbal Clinic starts in early spring 2025 and runs until the late autumn at various locations around Bristol and in Wales. It includes visits to different ecosystems including meadows, ancient woodland, moorland, salt marshes and the rocky coast. The course aims to enhance your identifying skills and ability to harvest native herbs in their natural habitats. As well as numerous herbs, other wild medicines include trees, seaweeds, mushrooms, and lichens depending on the season. This course is very realistically priced and looks to offer a great experience. More details….
Study Abroad with AIRMID Institute in Crete
17-19 October 2025
‘Crete’s Aromatic Tapestry: Celebrating Biodiversity and Medicinal Plant Riches of Greece’, is an event being held near Chania in Crete. You will learn about permaculture, sustainability, traditional medicine and clinical aromatherapy in the Mediterranean. Includes sessions on distillation, p|lant walks, and more. Led by experts in permaculture, clinical aromatherapy, sustainability, and complementary therapies, the cost is $705 (excludes travel) with offers for early bird and member booking. Explore a significant biodiversity location and practical applications on site at Roi Farm and at Fabrica Farm and Houses. Registration includes 21 hours of lectures and walks plus some food and shared accommodation, more details here …
FOREST NEWS
Tree leaves are back in flavour!
Don’t miss this YouTube video from gardening guru Huw Richards features Joshua Sparkes in Devon. He talks all about the under-appreciated potential of tree leaves for salads. As Huw says 'You can eat trees! There are so many benefits to growing edible trees and they are also suitable for smaller gardens as you can pollard them to keep them small'. Some of the species mentioned offer health benefits such as goji, mulberry and lime.
Tropical forests threatened
While our focus here is on temperate trees, it is vital to know that tropical forests are still being wiped out by lack of financial regulation worldwide. A report was published in the autumn of 2024 'Regulating Finance for Biodiversity – A Call for Urgent Action at COP16,' by Forest and Finance. The report makes clear that financial institutions worldwide are fuelling deforestation, habitat destruction, and extinction through unchecked financial flows. It explains why regulations are needed, particularly in the financial sectors in Brazil, China, Europe, Indonesia, and the USA. The report was to be presented at COP16 though sadly there was no agreement on mobilising finance to support the 2030 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework or how to identify and halt subsidies that are harmful to biodiversity. The report is available here…
PLANT RESOURCES AND SUPPLIES
Organic nurseries in the UK
Where can you buy organic plants online or by mail order? Supporting nurseries that offer organic plants encourages more species to be sustainably grown and is better for pollinators. This guide from the wildlife section of the Royal Horticultural Society can be seen here …
Funding and grants for UK agroforestry
Just published in January 2025 is a UK government update in funding in England (there are also payments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). These are payments to support agroforestry planning associated with the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for certain types of land and Countryside Stewardship. Tree densities can vary from low (30 per ha) to high (up to 400 trees per ha). There is a lot more to read about but if you have, or want to develop, an agroforestry management plan then make sure you take a look, note that a 27-page application form is provided! Details here ... A useful calculator tool is offered online by DeepRoots, a UK agroforestry consultancy/design company. It is free to use and provides a rough idea as to the potential payments a agroforestry design based in the UK could get from subsidies. View the tool here.
RESEARCH AND GUIDES
EURAF Book of Abstracts
EURAF brings together many involved in agroforestry in Europe. This book of abstracts details hundreds of presentations about agroforestry in climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity and agroforestry, landscape planning, soil and water management, pest and weed control, cropping systems, policy and economics, carbon farming and certification, and more!! The only thing missing is the cultivation of medicinal trees and shrubs! However, there are some abstracts about use of alder, poplar and willow for cattle and forage benefits. And there are some interesting abstracts on non-timber forest products from conifer distillation to flavour spirits and growing walnuts. Access the abstracts here …
Green social prescribing works to make you happy!
Through the National Evaluation of the Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill Health through Green Social Prescribing Project over 8000 people in the UK were supported to access nature-based activities. Typical activities included conservation activities; wilderness focused; horticulture and gardening; care farming; exercise and sport focused; creativity focused; talking therapies in the outdoors; and alternative therapies in the outdoors. Examination of the outcomes showed significant improvements in happiness and life satisfaction with reductions in anxiety. Details here …
Effectiveness of hawthorn special extract WS 1442
Studies of herbal medicine in real patients are difficult to fund but are more likely if indicating herbal extracts with commercial potential. WS1442 is an alcohol extract of leaves and flowers of hawthorn. A study of 4550 patients investigated antiarrhythmic effects of WS 1442 compared with supplementing magnesium/potassium in Germany. The patient records were followed for 5 years. The incidence of various cardiac arrhythmias was recorded. This study showed that, in a large group of outpatients, intake of hawthorn special extract WS 1442 was associated with a significantly lower incidence of atrial fibrillation, tachycardia, and other cardiac arrhythmias compared to magnesium/potassium supplementation. Such studies indicate the potential in treating and preventing cardiovascular conditions. The study is published by Nature here …
Wyss C, Gündling PW, and Kostev K. 2024. Real world effectiveness of Hawthorn special extract WS 1442 in a retrospective cohort study from Germany. Sci Rep 14 (1):22986.
Tree Species Guide for UK Agroforestry Systems
This tree species guide provides an overview of the physical characteristics, environmental tolerances, silvicultural characteristics, and ecosystem services for a selection of 33 species of trees and shrubs that could be planted in UK agroforestry systems. This guide has been produced by Forest Research in partnership with the University of Reading. It is based on review of existing literature and databases, together with consultation with a stakeholder group. Each tree profile mentions value in terms of fodder for animals only. Non-timber forest products are briefly mentioned such as fruits, nuts, oils and resins. Could be useful if you are compiling a planting list for a management plan, available here …
Tree identification by buds
How good are your bud identification skills? Tree Guide UK offers an online resource for learning about buds and other means of identification for trees. The online key includes both native and introduced trees commonly found in UK. Characteristics of tree identification by buds can vary, such as terminal, opposite, alternate, alternate zigzag, clustered or hairy. The site explains how to examine the buds and stem, and then offers options to take you to the next level of identification with more photos and text. You can click on any photo to enlarge it. More details here …
PLANT SUPPLIERS
Check out Jekka McVicar for an incredible range of herbs
After 40 years, starting with a Herb Farm, Jekka and colleagues based near Bristol in England have an amazing range of plants, books, courses, seeds, open days and more. You can order online and sign up to their newsletter for details of 2025 events which book up rapidly. You can see Jekka McVicar's round up for 2024 here…
Agroforestry Research Trust in Devon
Many plants are now sold out by the Agroforestry Research Trust. But at the time of writing this update there are still some medicinal shrubs left in addition to fruit and nut trees, including witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) and chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus). Details here …
FINALLY
Look out for branches of pine trees blown down in winter, worth harvesting for the aromatic needles!
Recipe for pine-infused honey
1 cup pine needles
2 cups runny honey
Cut up the pine needles into a jam jar till about 3/4 full. Pour the honey over the needles, stir well and allow to settle. Add the lid and stand for 1-2 weeks occasionally shaking. Then strain through a fine mesh to remove the pine needles. Take 1 tsp for a sore throat, or stir into hot water for a soothing drink.
(Recipe from Stobart A. 2023. Trees and shrubs that heal: Reconnecting with the medicinal forest. East Meon, Hampshire, UK: Permanent Publications.)
THE END
That's all folks, thanks for reading, the next issue of the Medicinal Forest Garden Trust Update in three months is in April 2025. If you have information to share related to medicinal forest gardening then do get in touch before end of March 2025!
Hi there, thanks for your message. I am based in Devon, UK, As explained in the 'About' section on the Medicinal Tree Woman website I write about medicinal forest gardening and trees for a temperate climate. So this includes information about plant species and other related items across UK, Europe and North America. If you can let me know more specifically the information you are looking for then, hopefully, I can steer you towards relevant sources, best wishes, Anne
I live in the US. Looks like most of your offerings are more appropriate for the UK or Europe. Am I correct? Thanks.