When I first stocked my dispensary last summer, I had relatively few herbs (around 50) in small quantities (below 250 ml. I stored these in an old white MFC cupboard, but it was rather flimsy, and visibly sagging under the weight. Also, bottles were arranged besides – and behind – each other, sometimes also balanced on top of each other. As I have built up my practice, the space I […]
So herbal medicine has been in this news quite a lot this week. Normally, I like any publicity or exposure that my chosen profession and pet subject receives. But not this week. This week has been a bizarre contradiction of disclosures and an exercise in hyperbolic statements made without engaging common sense first. This week the government published its ‘Report on the regulation of regulation of herbal medicines and practitioners‘. […]
Back almost a year ago in my last term of study, I spent a lot of free time walking up the Foss Dyke and seeing what herbs were growing along the river and collecting and processing some of them. I made some tinctures in cheap vodka (how studenty is that?) but I was also a bit short of cash, and there was a heck of a lot of Elderflower about. […]
It’s so clear today as I walk the dogs… the air seems to have been cleaned of all impurities, as it sucked up and scrubbed through a giant filter. It smells cold, and catches the back of the throat; a sharp, tangy sensation. The sun’s going down and the day’s almost done… fires being lit in the village, sending smoke rising to hit the inversion layer and spreading out to […]
This summer I went through the process of setting up a dispensary, and had to determine what I needed to buy. Earlier today, a question about setting up was asked on a herbal medicine questions forum. This is my answer. I’ve included it here because, in my usual verbose way, it is more of an essay than an answer… “Here’s what I did: Look through all the prescriptions you wrote […]
Apologies dear reader, for the dearth of posts from me recently. Life has been very hectic, and I will be catching up on posts soon! One of the most essential things to discuss in setting up a complementary medicine business/practice is communications. Very few complimentary therapists I have known over the last 10 years or so get this right. Some are quite hard to contact, and that doesn’t make for […]
So, it’s 14 hours after I made my last post on here. Making more than one blog post in a day could become a thing. But what an exhausting day it’s been! The arrival of two large boxes of stock, and nowhere to put said stock prompted me, very rapidly into preparing my dispensary. It had been empty for a few days, awaiting painting and other TLC, however other things […]
… And before the dispensary is finished and ready to accept it. Oh hell…p! So, my large order from Avicenna herbs just arrived right now. I’m in herbal heaven. Admittedly not a full dispensary stock (I have a reasonable amount of stuff in already) It’s 60 kilos of various tinctures, dried herbs, and creams. I now have all the herbal tinctures I need at this point in the business’ development, […]
So, high time for a post from me to document my journey. This really is a post explaining why I’m not writing a post… but there is news to report, and that’s exactly what I shall do. So, all systems are go in starting up my herbal medicine practice. I have made a decision to launch on a certain date – the 20th of August, and will have all the […]
So, after experiencing the very uncomfortable sensation of writer’s block, after a good sleep, I can now write the report of the green gathering I originally wanted to! I haden’t originally thought I’d be able to go to the gathering, but I’m so glad I did. Below are my thoughts: The Herbal Bit The first thing to say is that the entire experience of the festival, and crewing as a […]