Old River Farm Herbs & Healing, King's Lynn (2026)

17/05/2026

Rose 🌹

I am very excited to see my beautiful rose bushes in flower now! 😀😍

But rose is so much more than just a beautiful flower!✨

This ancient botanical holds incredible powers for both your body and mind. Whether you enjoy it as a tea, an essential oil, or in your skincare routine, rose works directly with your system to heal and soothe.

Here is what this powerful flower can do for you:

🧠 Emotional & Psychological Benefits

• Calms Stress & Anxiety: Lowers cortisol levels to help you relax.

• Heals the Heart: Comforts the nervous system during grief or emotional shock.

• Boosts Mood: Stimulates happy brain chemicals to lift your spirits.

• Improves Sleep: Quiets racing thoughts before bed.

🌿 Physical Health Benefits

• Soothes Skin: Tightens pores, reduces redness, and fights acne.

• Eases PMS: Drinking rose tea helps reduce period cramps and bloating.

• Packed with Antioxidants: Matches green tea in fighting cellular stress.

• Supports Your Heart: Protects blood vessels and encourages healthy circulation.

✨ Ways to Use Rose:

1. Aromatherapy: Diffuse 3–5 drops of pure Rose Absolute oil at night for deep rest. (Always dilute with jojoba oil if using on skin!)

2. Herbal Tea: Steep 1–2 tablespoons of organic dried rose petals in hot water for a soothing, caffeine-free treat.

3. Facial Toner: Spritz pure rose water on your face after cleansing to hydrate and calm your skin.

Can anyone tell which species these flowers belong to? Tell us in the comments! 👇

12/05/2026

Medicinal Tree Series

(For any new followers – see the initial post on this series in the pinned section)

Hawthorn: The Unifier (May 13 - June 9) 🌳

Hawthorn, known as "Uath" or "Huath" in Celtic, governs the sixth month of the Celtic Tree Calendar. This tree is a symbol of love, protection, and balance.❤️

Its month follows closely after May Day (Beltane), a festival celebrating the arrival of summer. 🌞🔥

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp) is a thorny shrub/tree, often part of hedgerows, and belongs to the rose family, known for its delicate white or pink blossoms in spring and red berries (haws) in autumn.

The flowers bloom from late April to June, depending on location. As typical of the rose family, the flowers have 5 petals and many stamens. As you can see from the photos, there can be both white and pink flowers growing on the same tree. This usually happens for one of three reasons: the flowers are changing colour as they age, the tree is a specific multi-coloured variety, or it’s a result of how the tree was grown (grafting). 🌸

I am currently gathering the flowers and leaves for drying, to be used in herbal teas and tinctures.

Check out my recent post in the comments for further information into its current medicinal uses for cardiovascular and digestive support! 🩺❤️

08/05/2026

Look what I spotted in my garden the other day! 🌿✨

Does anyone know what this beautiful and exotic-looking plant is?

Here are a few hints:

🔔 It’s a shade-lover known for its arching stems and bell-shaped flowers.

💪 In herbal medicine, it’s nicknamed "nature's joint healer" for its ability to soothe connective tissues.

⚠️ While it has amazing benefits, you have to be careful— While the roots (rhizomes) are prepared as medicine, the leaves and berries are generally considered toxic.

Drop your guesses in the comments! 👇

05/05/2026

Professional Organisations

This is just a note regarding the professional organisations I am currently a member of, and what they mean.

National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH)

NIMH is the UK's oldest and largest professional body for herbal medicine practitioners, founded in 1864. It functions as a voluntary regulator, ensuring high standards of training, ethics, and patient safety within the profession

Members must adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and Practice and mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Members also hold professional indemnity, public liability, and medical malpractice insurance.

UK International Mycotherapy Practitioners Register (UKIMPR)

This is a professional body for healthcare practitioners who have completed specialised training in the clinical use of medicinal mushrooms. It acts as a reliable directory for the public to find qualified, mycotherapy-literate practitioners.

The register includes various healthcare professionals, such as GPs, Naturopaths, Nutritional Therapists, Medical Herbalists, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners.

Training Requirements: Members must complete a comprehensive 100-hour CPD training course called "Exploring the Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms" in addition to their primary healthcare qualifications.

American Herbalists Guild (AHG)

The AHG is the only professional association in the United States specifically for clinical herbalists representing a wide variety of traditions. Founded in 1989, it serves as a peer-review body that establishes professional standards and educational requirements for the practice of botanical medicine.

https://nimh.org.uk/
https://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/
https://www.ukimpr.ie/

01/05/2026

Happy May Day! 🌸✨

May Day (1st of May) and the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane (Bealtaine) are intrinsically linked to the Hawthorn tree. Known as the "May Tree," it’s the only British plant named after the month it blooms. Its white blossoms represent purity and the return of life after winter’s darkness. 🌿

Hawthorn is not only a beautiful tree but also has medicinal properties: it is widely known as a "heart tonic" in both traditional and modern herbal medicine. For centuries, its berries, leaves, and flowers have been used to treat cardiovascular and digestive issues. 💚

Key Medicinal Benefits:

• Cardiovascular Health: Supports the heart and blood vessels, helps manage blood pressure, and can improve cholesterol levels.

• Gut Health: Rich in fibre and pectin to support digestion.

• Anxiety and Sleep: Has a mild sedative effect to help with anxiety-related palpitations and sleep.

• Antioxidant Power: Packed with polyphenols to fight inflammation.

⚠️ A quick note on safety:

You should never self-treat a heart condition. Always consult a healthcare professional before adding hawthorn to your routine, especially if you are already taking prescription medication.👩‍⚕️

How are you celebrating the start of May today? 👇

21/04/2026

Nettles – Part 4: The Stingless "Nettles" 🌿

Have you spotted these in your garden yet? 🐝✨

They are popping up everywhere right now and keeping the bees and other pollinators very happy. And you may not be aware but these two beauties also have medicinal properties too.

Although they are often confused with stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), they actually belong to the mint family, and their "dead" name signifies their lack of sting. They have likely evolved to resemble stinging nettles as a protective mechanism against herbivores. 🐇🦌

💜 Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum)

A highly nutritious, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial spring herb used in traditional herbalism for its astringent, diuretic, and antifungal properties.

✅ How to use:

The fresh or dried leaves/flowers are often used to treat minor wounds as a poultice, relieve allergy symptoms as a tea, and provide a boost of vitamins A and C when used fresh in smoothies or salads. They can also be made into a tincture or infused into oils to make topical creams for wound healing.

🤍 White Dead Nettle (Lamium album)

A traditional medicinal herb primarily used for its astringent, anti-inflammatory, and mucilage properties. It is commonly used for treating heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia), respiratory issues, skin inflammation, and haemorrhoids.

✅ How to use:

The flowering tops are often used in teas or tinctures, a lotion made from the flowering tops or a compress can be applied for varicose veins or haemorrhoids, and young shoots and leaves, which are rich in vitamins, can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach.

⚠️ Caution:
Always be 100% sure of your ID before foraging, as some lookalikes can be toxic. And it is always best to consult a medical herbalist or other healthcare professional before using herbal remedies for health concerns.

20/04/2026

To anyone located in or around Kings Lynn or West Norfolk:

If you are interested in trying out herbal medicine but aren't ready to commit to a full one-hour consultation, I will be running some Herbal Discovery mini sessions on Saturday the 2nd of May at the Witchy Room in Kings Lynn.

The sessions run for 20 minutes each from 9:30- 2pm. Normally the price would be £20 per session but as an introductory rate I am offering them at £15.

Please use the link below to book:

https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/110330

15/04/2026

Medicinal Tree Series: Willow

(For any new followers - see the initial post on this series in the pinned section)

Willow: The Dreamer (April 15 - May 12)

Willow, known as "Saille" in Celtic, governs the fifth month of the Celtic Tree Calendar. Thriving in damp environments near water, this graceful tree is deeply connected to healing, growth, and intuition. 🌙✨

🌿 Willow: Nature’s Original Aspirin 🌿

The bark of Willow trees (Salix spp.) is a traditional herbal remedy used for thousands of years to treat pain, inflammation, and fever, largely due to its active compound, salicin. Often dubbed "nature’s aspirin," it is used to manage headaches, arthritis, menstrual cramps, and lower back pain, with fewer stomach side effects than conventional aspirin.

✅ Pain Relief: Contains salicin for headaches and muscle aches.

✅ Anti-Inflammatory: Helps soothe joints and arthritis.

✅ Fever Reducer: It acts as an antipyretic to lower fever.

✅ Clear Skin: it is used in cosmetic products to exfoliate skin, reduce excess oil, treat acne, and treat inflammatory skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.

⚠️ Important considerations:

• Side Effects: While typically safer than aspirin, it can still cause stomach upset and should be avoided by those with aspirin allergies.

• Safety Warning: Willow bark should only be used in adults, and it is advised not to take it for more than 4 weeks for chronic pain without medical supervision.

• Medication Interactions: It may interact with blood thinners and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

05/04/2026

Nettles – Part 3: The Ultimate Wild Superfood 🥗

Did you know the oldest recorded dish in the UK is actually nettle pudding? Over 8,000 years ago, our ancestors were already using this "w**d" as a powerful spring tonic. It consisted of nettle leaves, barley flour, salt and water blended together and added to stews as dumplings.

Nettles are absolute nutritional powerhouses, loaded with:

✨ Vitamins A, B, C, & E
✨ Iron, potassium, calcium & magnesium
✨ A surprising amount of plant-based protein

Loaded with so much nutrition, it is no wonder that our ancestors widely used nettles as a cleansing spring tonic after a bland (and often scarce) winter diet.

Before using nettles in food, it is best to blanch them first to remove the sting but retain the nutrients and flavour.

How to blanch nettles:

1️⃣ Harvest: Use gloves to pick young tips and leaves.
2️⃣ Wash: Rinse thoroughly in cold water.
3️⃣ Blanch: Boil in salted water for 20–30 seconds to remove the sting.
4️⃣ Cook: Strain, squeeze, and swap into any recipe that uses spinach. 🥘

Pro Tip: Don't throw away the green blanching water - it's packed with minerals and makes a highly nutritious nettle tea.

👇 See in the comments below for some of my favourite nettle recipes!

05/04/2026

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

Did it snow? ❄️ Or is it just the Blackthorn?

I noticed the hedgerows looking like a winter wonderland recently. Those delicate white flowers belong to Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn or Sloe). It’s one of the first true signs of spring, flowering on bare branches before the leaves even wake up. 🌸

The delicate flowers form a "froth" of white on bare branches in March and April. They are one of the first signs of spring.

In the autumn those white flowers turn into small, blue-black fruits called sloes. These are technically drupes (stone fruits) and are famous for being incredibly astringent when eaten raw. Sloes are traditionally harvested in October or November—ideally after the first frost—to make sloe gin, jams, and jellies.

Blackthorn has been used in traditional and folk medicine and is often referred to as a "regulator of the stomach" because different parts of the plant are used to treat opposite digestive issues:

☕ The Flowers: Infused as a tea, the dried flowers act as a mild laxative and diuretic to help with constipation and fluid retention.

🫐 The Fruit (Sloes): Because they are highly astringent and rich in tannins, the berries are used to "bind" the bowels and treat diarrhoea.

🪵Bark: Known for its high tannin content, the bark has also been used traditionally to treat persistent diarrhoea.

Blackthorn has also been used for respiratory and oral health, in soothing sore throats, tonsillitis, laryngitis, and general mouth inflammation, as well as treating coughs/colds and bronchitis.

Modern research studies have identified several key compounds in the plant that have high levels of antioxidants (quercetin and rutin) and even antibacterial properties, in support of the traditional/folk uses of blackthorn.

Nature really does provide. 💚🌳🌿

03/04/2026

Nettles Part 2: The Science of the Sting 🌿

For my fellow plant nerds and herb lovers—let’s take a deeper dive into one of my favourite of medicinal herbs.

We all know the "ouch" of a nettle, but have you ever wondered how it actually works?

🔬 Meet the Trichome
Those tiny stings are caused by trichomes—hollow, needle-like hairs made of silica. Think of them as nature’s tiny hypodermic syringes. 💉

🧤 The Mechanical Plunger
When you brush past, the tip breaks off and the base acts as a plunger, injecting a chemical cocktail straight into your skin.

🧪 It’s Not Formic Acid!
Contrary to the popular myth, the burn isn't from formic acid. It’s actually a mix of:

• Histamine for that instant inflammation.
• Acetylcholine to trigger the pain signal.
• Serotonin to keep the pain response going.

🦋 Nature’s Bodyguard
These hairs primarily protect the plant from hungry mammals, though many caterpillars are totally immune.

🔥 Pro Tip: You can neutralize the sting instantly by drying, steaming, or cooking the leaves. Once the trichomes break down, they become a nutrient-dense superfood.

🍵 Sting SOS: If you do get stung, don't panic - go and have a cup of nettle tea. You'll be amazed at how fast the itching fades thanks to the plant's natural antihistamine properties. It’s the ultimate "hair of the dog" for foragers!

Old River Farm Herbs & Healing

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