On Saturday 14 October Quinta do Areal will be hosting a workshop led by herbalist and teacher Victoria Iles. Victoria has designed a medicinal garden for the farm and will be installing it over the weekend of 14-15 October. As well as talking about the medicinal plants chosen for the garden, Victoria will share some of the healing and edible potential of some familiar roots and berries. In the Autumn, the active parts of plants descend into the roots and the tougher parts of the plant to be stored over the winter months. We will be looking at ways to extract these useful components and what we can do with them.

In the morning there will be a tour of the herbal garden and explanations about the uses of each of the chosen medicinal herbs. You will assist in planting out some of the plants and we will look at best planting practices.

In the afternoon we will talk about the general structure and health benefits of roots and berries, and look in more closely at some common ones. We will then make a tincture to boost the immune system with “Echinacea purpura”. And create a “flu bomb” to increase resistance to coughs and colds.