Rosemary, Remembrance and Getting Ready for Winter

It’s the first Thursday of the month, so Barbara With Herbs was back in the studio on Phil In The Morning — and this time she’d swapped last month’s hedgerow haul for a big bunch of rosemary. The studio smelled incredible. I’m not saying that’s why I was in a good mood. I’m not not saying it.

Autumn is nature’s letting-go season

Barbara says this every autumn, and I’ve worked with her long enough now to see it coming: forget January, autumn is the real time to let go and make a fresh start.

Nature shows us how. It was a gorgeous sunny morning here in Lymm, but it’s autumn light — lower in the sky, softer, nothing like July. We’ve had the equinox, the mornings are misty, there’s a chill at either end of the day, and everything around us has set seed and started shedding leaves.

I’d noticed it driving round Cheshire the night before. It feels like 10 o’clock and it’s half seven. Barbara’s point is that nature is winding down after a hectic summer — and we’re meant to do the same.

Winding down doesn’t mean doing nothing, though. The soil is still warm, so now’s the time to harvest seed for next year and get things started rather than waiting for March. And no, you don’t need a heated greenhouse.

Rosemary for remembrance — and for the brain

“Rosemary for remembrance” is an old saying (Ophelia uses it in Hamlet), and Barbara says it’s about more than remembering the people we’ve lost. Rosemary has been linked with the brain and memory for centuries.

Here’s the bit I didn’t know: you have to rub it. People lean into a rosemary bush, sniff, and say it doesn’t smell of anything. Give the leaves a gentle rub and they release their volatile oils — and that scent heads straight for the part of the brain tied up with mood and memory.

Researchers at Northumbria University have even looked at whether the aroma helps memory.
Barbara suggests keeping a sprig on your desk or in the car if you’re revising, sitting exams or taking your driving test. I had a sniff on air. I did feel better. Make of that what you will.

Her bigger point is about whole plants. Modern science likes to find the one “useful” chemical and isolate it. Barbara’s view is that whole plants work with the whole person — mind, body and mood — and that’s how herbs have been used around the world for generations.

Rosemary in the kitchen

The Tudors put rosemary and sage with fatty meats, and we still pair rosemary with lamb now. Barbara believes that’s no accident — these herbs have traditionally been used to help the body cope with richer food.

Her favourite trick is rosemary oil. Strip the leaves, dry them properly, pop them in a jar of extra virgin olive oil, lid on, and leave it on a sunny windowsill for a month. Strain, bottle, and use it on just about anything. Barbara had hers on butter beans with black pepper and a pinch of the wild garlic sea salt she made back in spring.

You can brew rosemary as a tea, too, or use it as a natural hair rinse. And two bits of trivia for the pub quiz: rosemary is now officially part of the sage family — botanists moved it into the Salvia genus a few years ago — and its name comes from the Latin ros marinus, “dew of the sea”.

How to grow rosemary from a cutting

People assume herbs are something you buy. They’re not. Ask a neighbour with a well-established rosemary bush for a couple of cuttings — most people are happy to share.

Barbara’s method: take cuttings about four inches long, strip the lower leaves, and push around six of them in round the edge of a pot. Then leave them alone for several months until you see roots poking out of the bottom. Don’t be impatient.

It’s getting a little late in the year, but with the weather we’ve had, it’s still worth a go.

Rosemary loves poor, free-draining soil and full sun — think Mediterranean hillside, not damp, shady corner. It needs very little water and copes well with the cold.

A dandelion confession

Since Barbara was last on, I’ve been brewing dandelion leaf tea, with leaves from a friend’s garden, and I genuinely feel less bloated for it. Barbara said she was proud of me. I’m taking that.

Dandelion leaf has a long history in herbal medicine as a diuretic, and it’s free and everywhere. As we said on air, nobody’s telling you to stop taking your prescribed medication — just keep an open mind and talk to people who know what they’re doing.

Barbara’s winter prescription: sleep

Her one big tip for the darker months? Sleep. Turn off the big light (thank you, Peter Kay), put the screens down and go to bed. In winter we naturally need more rest, and sleep is when the body repairs and regenerates — immune system included.

Where to find Barbara

Barbara is a local medical herbalist and naturopath working from home here in Cheshire. She doesn’t bother with a website — it’s all word of mouth. You can find her through The Herb Society, which turns 100 next year, or get in touch with us at mix56.co.uk and we’ll point you the right way.

Barbara is in on the first Thursday of every month. And a big good-luck from all of us to her daughter Jenny and partner Ray, who are expecting Barbara’s first grandchild any day now!

Listen Again

As always with herbal medicine — if you’re pregnant, taking prescribed medication or managing a health condition, have a word with a qualified practitioner or your GP before trying anything new.