A Medicinal Wood
Country Smallholding|January 2018

A wealth of medicinal trees and shrubs can be cultivated and harvested in Britain. We talk to medical herbalist Anne Stobart who has established a special woodland

Anne Stobart
A Medicinal Wood

Just over 12 years ago, Anne Stobart and her partner Kay established a small woodland in North Devon. Thus began their journey exploring medicinal tree and shrub cultivation as Holt Wood Herbs.

“I had already been looking for a woodland to harvest my own medicinal plants for use as a clinical herbal practitioner,” said Anne. “For example, hawthorn leaf and berry is native in UK. I was frustrated that the sources available to me were often based on imported plants. Then Kay saw a ‘Woodlands for Sale’ sign near the River Torridge in Devon...”

Anne reckoned that she could probably grow a substantial proportion of the medicinal herbs needed in her herbal practice. There could be cost savings as well as the improved quality of fresh herbs. Some of these plants could be wild harvested from local hedgerows, but Anne wanted to find out the best ways of cultivating both native and introduced trees and shrubs for a sustainable harvest, using techniques such as coppicing and pollarding.

Denne historien er fra January 2018-utgaven av Country Smallholding.

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Denne historien er fra January 2018-utgaven av Country Smallholding.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

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