Hands on Traditional skills and where to learn them

Using wild herbs

What can I use them for?You can use them, most obviously, in cookery; herbalists also regard some of them – such as elderflower, dandelion, hawthorn, silverweed, nettle, yarrow, comfrey and chickweed – as medicinal or therapeutic remedies. You must first learn where to find and how to identify each herb in the wild and then decide which part of the plant to use – flower or root, for example. This generally depends on the time of year you are foraging: you can pick elderflowers in May but must wait until September or October for elderberries.

How do you use them in cookery?You can add wild herbs to soups, salads, smoothies and stews. One way to store their leaves and flowers is to freeze small quantities in ice-cube trays, ready for use in recipes. You can also use wild herbs, fresh or dried, for teas and cordials.

How do you use them medicinally?Many users of wild herbs believe in the adage that you should let food be your medicine, so they consider the use of wild herbs in cookery as already useful to prevent infection and generally maintain good health.

Herbalists use wild herbs in a range of remedies: for coughs and colds (elderberry syrup, for example), in blood tonics (the green tips of fresh spring nettle leaves, for example, and hawthorn berries or a tincture made from hawthorn flowers in springtime), as liver cleansers (dandelion root) and for relief from stomach and menstrual cramps (silverweed).

“I believe in the prevention of illness by exploring wild herbs and keeping yourself nourished. Then you can act on the first sign or symptom of an illness. Also, the wild herbs that grow around you are the ones you need most,” says Gaby Wieland, a herbalist and naturopath.

Where do I sign up?Numerous day-long courses can introduce you to cooking with wild herbs and making herbal remedies. Wieland is holding one today, called Staying Healthy through the Winter with Homemade Remedies, at the Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co Leitrim (071-9854338, theorganiccentre.ie). She also runs courses at her home, in Co Sligo, and will travel to give customised courses for groups of 10-12 people (071-9166399, neantog.com).

You’ll find courses on foraging for and cooking with wild food at Sonairte, in Laytown, Co Meath (041-9827572, sonairte.ie).

Vivienne Campbell, a medical herbalist, gives courses at the Irish Seed Savers Association, in Capparoe, Scariff, Co Clare (the next one is on October 2nd) and runs herb walks in the Burren (086-8899168, theherbalhub.com).

Greenan Farm Museums Maze, near Rathdrum in Co Wicklow, also runs courses on wild foods and herbal remedies (0404-46000, greenanmaze.com).

Niamh Donohoe, a guide at the National Botanic Gardens, in Dublin, is leading a guided walk and talk on some of the medicinal plants in the gardens’ Glasnevin grounds, today at 2.30pm.