Gemma Wells Naturopathy

06/10/2025

Pink mood

04/09/2025

Found this plant friend by the sea- Mugwort. I’ve been looking for mugwort ever since I moved to lutruwita but no one seemed to be growing it. Very excited to transplant a wee piece back to my garden (in a pot IYKYK)

29/07/2025

Nettle (urtica dioica) time to harvest in southern lutruwita & what a harvest!! I’ve got bags drying to use all year round in tea & fresh to make soup & pesto. This is just turning into a foraging page (which I totally love)
Nettle has little stinging needles which has been used to temporarily improve arthritic pain - give it a try?? (Caution here if you are allergic or can’t tolerate the itch- and as always start small if you are going to try this)
Generally I use it as a nutritive tonic in food and as a tea as it is full of iron & other minerals but is also considered a cleansing tonic. Both building up/nourishing & cleansing by being a diuretic. Which is my favourite kind of tonic. So many of us need nourishing rather than the heroic detox cleansing that is often popularised. Plus it’s a pirate plant that just loves sh*tty soil! Think of that as a metaphor for what it’s doing inside you! Anyway I made a big pot of parsnip, potato and nettle soup & dried the rest for tea. I recommend overnight infusions to extract the minerals- make a pot of tea and then leave in the fridge overnight to drink the next day.

24/06/2025

Wood blewitts & water cress - I found these in my backyard after a few days of rain. They are just stunning!! And delicious with just butter & a little salt. I love eating mushrooms & it’s so good getting to know the ones that are growing around me. Fungi foraging is a curious & contested thing, & care must be taken for correct id (these also have a similar looking mushroom which is harmful) but the mycelial world can teach us so much about ecosystems & how we can start to hold our hands out to be a part of it. *this post is not an educational post but a musing. If interested in foraging mushrooms seek out qualified & experienced guides who can guide you. Never pick & eat mushrooms without knowing what you are doing.*

13/06/2025

The only green smoothie I’m recommending this winter is salsa verde! Perfect for topping sardines on toast with added hot chilli sauce. All you need is gherkins, capers, Dijon mustard, olive oil, red wine vinegar, a little salt and soft green herbs - I used mint, coriander and young mallow leaves but you could add dandelion greens, the tops of young cleavers or parsley as well. Mush all together in a blender and voila!!( has a much more comprehensive recipe). It’s zesty & fragrant and keeps in the fridge! Sardines on toast have become my favourite, high protein, high omega 3 breakfast (plus super frugal if you are into that) and this sauce is a delicious & nutritious addition!!!

03/06/2025

This was really a beautiful day spent picking & processing olive leaves with a dear friend for an olive leaf extract. Olive trees are a magical plant- eat the fruit, make oil from the fruit and a tincture from the leaves. All are so medicinal & can improve health in so many ways. I remember one of my favourite lecturers at uni could wax lyrical about olives & I remember that being one of my favourite lectures. There is a phenol called oleuropein in the leaf and oil which seems to account for a lot of the medicinal effect of the leaf- however there are so many other constitutients including secoiroids, flavonoids, triterpenes and lignans and it is the whole plant that works synergistically to support your body. So the leaf tincture is a great way to harness some of these properties which primarily are antioxidant & antiinflammatory. It can also help support cardiovascular systems & blood sugar balance. It is one of those bitters that make you screw up your face & curse your herbalist! I might end up mixing it with some honey to improve the taste. It has a broad antimicrobial action & can reduce duration of viral infections so a great one to take during winter!

16/05/2025

Dandelion root harvesting! Straight into a tincture! I was having a hard time concentrating on my assignment so off to harvest instead, it’s a really physical job harvesting roots, I use a large pitchfork and then a small spade and you dig down into the soil so that you don’t snap the root off. The whole process brings you so much closer to the earth. This will be a tincture to support the liver and digestion, especially supports kidney function and improves bile flow.

11/04/2025

Picking poplar buds for medicine- these are going into a tincture. So resiny! My hands were covered! Was such a lovely day shadowing at the Herbalist without Borders clinic in Huonville. I am feeling so pumped to join a community of herbalists & naturopaths who are offering such an amazing service. Also foraging like this is such a mental health balm, out in nature, with plants, with the birds

06/04/2025

Next gardening day is 17th April at 9-12. Will be weeding beds & planting calendula seeds. We are also looking for donations of medicinal herbs - if you have excess seeds from last season or cutting of things like Tulsi or Mugwort, we would love them for the plot.
What we are doing: weeding beds, germinating, planting seeds, harvesting medicinal herbs, learning how to use herbs in daily life - preparations such as teas/balms/vinegars. 1st and 3rd Thursday every month.

23/03/2025

Equinox has just been & I can feel the cooler weather creeping. Mushrooms are popping up, berries are reddening and I’m harvesting roots to make tinctures and teas. I’ve been super busy with study and starting a new community herb garden (more on that later).

03/03/2025

Some great & needed research being done to improve understanding of menstrual health. Get involved if you have lived experience or share with friends/family who do. 💜

This research is asking adult Australian women and menstruating people what they understand about menstruation and the menstrual cycle.

Due to limited research of menstrual and reproductive health literacy in Australia, more information is required to improve knowledge gaps and increase awareness of what constitutes good menstrual and reproductive health.

Furthermore, this research seeks to gather information about women and menstruating people’s experiences seeking support from healthcare providers for menstrual health concerns in the efforts to identify areas in healthcare access and delivery which require investigation.

To participate in this research simply complete a 15-minute online survey: https://scuau.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3kOUNdqNpAxt7wy

22/02/2025

I love feral foraging. If the plants are there and taking over, I love to use them. And I love blackberries (massive weed problem btw) but so much can be made with them!! I made a blackberry thyme syrup, blackberry wine is on the cards as soon as I can get some citric acid and I’m interested in a fermented blackberry leaf tea that told me about. Definitely looking into more ways to use this abundant weed. Plus I love nothing more than sloshing around the creek at dusk in gumboots, picking blackberries and looking for the resident platypus. This is slow medicine in its very own way & I feel like I am building relationships with my local terrain & calming my nervous system at the same time.