28/05/2026
About wild gardens, nettle, hawthorn and God's pharmacy
When I moved into the heart of Irish pastures and abandoned meadows, my health was in a very poor state. I had been diagnosed with advanced cancer, with no treatment options. And there I was, surrounded by the incredible lushness of nature, which beckoned me that every little plant I passed—lichen, moss, fern, mushroom—cured some ailment. I was convinced I lived in a living pharmacy, where there was a cure for my illness as well. I decided I would learn the names of all the plants I passed while walking my dogs and find out how to heal myself. And so it happened. Learning about herbs is more than just learning about nature; it's a long journey into time and Space. I must admit, it's the most enjoyable and beautiful journey of my life. It's a journey into ancient knowledge, delving into local traditions, into Western herbalism and North American Indian herbalism, which is an absolute treasure trove of medicinal uses for plants. It's also a study of astrology and astroherbalism, according to which each plant is linked to a planet and operates in harmony with its energy and frequency. For several years, I've been creating my own herbarium as a tribute to the place where I live and which saved my life. I repay my debt by restoring exterminated plants and honorably planting them in my wild garden. Thus, St. John's wort and yarrow have returned to my meadows, as have sticky catchfly like a pink cloud, blue clumps of birds eye, the intoxicatingly fragrant of meadow sweet and elegant foxgloves, mystical clumps of lady's mantle, and the intrusive but oh-so-healthy couch grass. Besides these, there are cornflowers, several types of wormwood, comfrey, chamomile and daisy, mint, and goldenrod. All of these possess powerful healing properties; of course, the dose makes the poison. It's very easy to destroy an ecosystem, but difficult to regenerate it. It will take years for them to re-establish themselves and make themselves at home here. Forsythia bushes, elderberries, sea buckthorn, jasmine, bird cherry, and common lilacs have also returned. I'm transplanting them from roadside thickets and abandoned homes, where evidence of life there is often a single wall jutting out over a sea of green. Finally, apple trees, chestnuts, birches, oaks, poplars, and hazel have returned. Everything wants to live, just like I did a few years ago. Over the years, I've come to understand that nature's voice is powerful, as is its help, which is right outside our door. Simply go out to it, open yourself to it, and improvement is inevitable. The sun's warmth, the earth's magnetism, birdsong, and a cup of infusion will cure any ailment of body and soul.
Don't fight herbs, use them. My nettles end up in infusions and soups; the juice pressed from nettles is very strong; I don't recommend drinking too much or too often. I use the leaves and stems as fertilizer all summer long together with comfrey. The roots of the male nettles plant (especially) are invaluable in treating prostate problems, and the seeds of the female plants are a superfood. Both the seeds and the roots are harvested in the fall, which makes it easy to distinguish between males and females. Female plants have full clusters of fruit, and they're easy to harvest, while male plants have single clusters. We pull out the male plants to harvest the root. It's a shame I don't have more time, because the dried stems once made excellent string, and of course, the fibers were used to woven clothes. A young nettle ointment is supposedly great for rheumatic pain – I imagine it has a very strong warming effect. I haven't tried it; personally, I'd combine it with comfrey and purple marshmallows as one of the ingredients in an ointment.
Nettle is a Mars plant, of course, it stings, has a strong effect, and whatever form you take it, you should use small doses: not a handful, but half a handful, not a teaspoon, but half a teaspoon. It's similar to people born under the sign of Aries, ruled by Mars. They're intense, loud, and somewhat primal, but thanks to them, there's always a breakthrough, something gets clarified because they can't wait and need to know everything immediately. Nettle works in this energy: it strongly enhances the effects quickly, contains a lot of iron, improves blood purification, and restores the blood's natural flow.
I was going to write about flowering hawthorn, which is also a Mars herb, of course for thorns and wounds. Nicolas Culpeper already classified hawthorn as a Mars herb in 17 century. It tones blood pressure, which directly affects heart regulation. If you experience sudden heartbeats and palpitations triggered by a thought or fear, reach for a hawthorn flower and smell it first; it all starts in the nose and goes straight to the heart. Then make a tea from a handful of flowers and drink it with honey. This is the last moment to pick hawthorn flowers!
These are beautiful days in our lives... I could go on and on, but the world outside is calling me, the birds are singing like crazy and I'm not there... Love your wild gardens and help them grow.
