The following courses and treatments are happening at the coach house.  Here is some information about their work and themselves .

Gi Gong- means energy work, many different kinds of movement forms from taoism, buddhism and martial arts.  All focus on moving cultivating and balancing chi. these exercises are based on activating the chi (energy) in the acupuncture pathways. They help to free stuck chi and open up a flow of chi to your heart. Your intent is as powerful as the movement “chi follows your intent” (taoist saying), or the western version would be “mind over matter”. strong positive intent can have a powerful healing intent on you and others.

‘Jin Shin Jyutsu® (JSJ)–is an Ancient Japanese Art of harmonizing the energy within the body. It means ‘The Art of the Creator in compassionate hands’. It is a subtle, yet powerful form of ‘acupuncture with the fingers’ that can help you overcome most common ailments and diseases, while also restoring the delicate balance between your physical, emotional and mental well-being. JSJ is an effective and safe therapy that harnesses the body’s power to heal itself. The experience is both energizing and deeply relaxing.’

You can experience JSJ in two ways:

By having a session with a JSJ practitioner. As you lie fully-clothed on a couch, the practitioner gently stimulates your energy channels. Immensely relaxing yet subtle and intense. The session lasts 60 minutes but the effects last for much longer.

By learning Self-help, the birth and core of JSJ. Through group sessions Jin Shin Jyutsu engages one in self-study so one can learn to treat oneself. Through the process of “Now Know Myself,” we recognize the wisdom of the body, and we learn to interpret the messages provided and utilize them to restore balance.

Carmen Dolz, JSJ practitioner, treats people as well as teaches JSJ self-help in Brighton. An ex-Sussex university language tutor/translator/writer, she explores the body energies through Qi Gong, Yoga,Tai Chi and natural therapies like reflexology and nutrition. Now she is spreading “the word”, and the word is JSJ: a touch healing therapy with the unique potential of self-application.

This recipe goes beyond delicious and healthy-  for the mighty and the weak- boosting your immune system along side giving you plenty of Vitamin C and antioxidants. 

Simmer gently 3 cups of stripped elderberries and blackberries in water ( 3 cups of water) for 30 mins. Leave the lid off so water can reduce to half. Let it cool and strain. Add equal amounts of honey to the liquid and stir until dissolved. Bottle and store in the fridge.   This can be kept for up to a year if able to keep it that long ! additions add ginger, cloves, cinnamon and herbs to the simmering water- this recipe is endless for your  creating makings .

more Courses on  home health herbalism and the makings check our website

Hawthorn – Crataegus is one of the oldest medicinal herbs used in European medicine. It grows as a deciduous shrub or small tree and is found all over Sussex.   It is found growing in some of the most wind swept area’s  providing  great food and shelter to many birds, insects and live stock all year round.   But you do not need to look far!  There are some wonderful trees up the path to  Whitehawk hill.

Hawthorn is called the May Tree and has associations with May Day, the festival of vegetation signifying the bringing in of the summer.  It has been associated as an omen of good (fertility) and often regarded as a lovers tree ‘Corinna’s Going A-Maying’  by  Robert Herrick in 1648 speaks of no other plant, encouraging Corinna out of bed on that May morning!

As a medicinal herb In Western herbal tradition it has been regarded as the best cardiovascular tonics in the plant kingdom.   History also shows us that it has played its role as an important food source.   In Sussex it was known as the Bread and cheese bush ,  young hawthorn leaves were picked and added to sandwiches (ask your grandparent if they remember!).   Wines have been made from the blossoms and jams from the red berries (haws).  It is therefore of no surprise how this tree has become so fond to our hearts.  I say go take a stroll through the blossoms of May and see for yourself where it takes you this day.

At the Coach House in Kemptown- 22 Walpole road Bn253NG- Supports local knowledge, local news and many courses promoting creative living.

–Brass!–Leather!- and Jinking -BLING !

the Urban gypsy speaks his truth—  LUCK ??? “I don’t need  luck  ……

I am  luck…Stars ?? .. they sit  just fine !                      where they are !……

This recipe is not only for the faint hearted  but for them weak ones with  the wolves  at the door.    Jink explains “We goin to  make you ride again like you did before!! sonPut your mouth where your horse does!“Bolt up  Belt up  and  get ready to ride.!”

” Oats and Barley” sing it loud!

Oats as I sang before is our stable and staple food. Horses eat it, we eat it!  Simple!.  Porridge is fuel for winter along side your wood fires, an aphrodisiac too!   It’s been used to replenish the nervous system and reduce that cholesterol. So bite that bullet and get it in the pot.

Barley is nourishing, gives you full vigour and figure!  Full  of vitamin B, E, calcium and potassium, protein and starch.   Given to our horses for strength and  vitality  it lasts them the winter months.  Once the  dominant crop in Europe before gluten spread into our gullets and guts.  So let’s get it in the pot!    With demulcent actions it will be cooling on your digestive system and soothing for sore bladders and cystitis.  Often it’s added to stews and soups and   has been used as poultices for drawing out poisons and soothing that weeping eczema.

Jink -Clang thinks hard before he  says   “  ……the  sooner your blood and body meets nature the better. …..see this thorn here is quite competent in getting you  back to that  child hood feeling. . ….     Caught up in bramble?  Its a lucky and good thing.   !¬ enough with table talk   honour is out of date now, I have learnt some shame.  Take the rough and don’t let on!  True enough it comes too real…… Now polish your saddle get ready to ride!  No shame in using spit, it’s as good as it gets when you got your own!

If you are ever in my area  I live on a lonely hill near a river and trees, water and   plenty of  “Brass leather  and jinking Bling ! …   ……………….where’s my caravan gone !”

Originally marmalade was made with quince fruit ( known as golden apples)  and honey from the bees – known to our Portuguese brothers as marmelo.

Today’s recipe using Seville oranges lemons and sugar is somewhat of a mystery how and when it arrived to our shores.

Mary Queen of Scots ate orange jam when she was ill to aid her digestion, known as Marie Malade (Mary’s ill). The herbalist would also contribute to this saying it ‘warme the stomack, digest, and breake the winde’!

Citrus aurantium ( bitter orange ) used for marmalade making has high pectin and  the flowers, fruits, leaves and peels were traditionally used for treating insomnia and  gastrointestinal problems including indigestion and diarrhea.    The high vitamin C content provides an acidic environment which is necessary for iron absorption and has been said to be helpful for anemia.

But this is not all the bitter oranges   essential oil is expressed from the fruit and the flowers distilled produce neroli oil and orange water!

Marmalade Recipe

Makes  6 lb { add 1 tablespoon of dark  treacle  or molasses optional}

2 lb of Seville oranges      Juice of 1 lemon

3 pints of water                    4 lb of sugar

Remove all discs and scrub the oranges.  Put in a large pan with water , cover with lid and simmer gently.  about 2 hours lift out cool , cut in half and scoop out pulp  and pips.  Return them to the water and boil for approx 5 mins.  Strain and then measure the liquid.  Reduce to 1 and a half pints.

Cut up peel fine or thick in to the pan with the  liquid adding lemon juice and sugar .   Stir over low heat till sugar is dissolved then bring to the  fast boil ( about 10-15 mins ).  Test for setting .  Allow to cool  about 20 mins and jar up in sterilized jars.

( can add ginger, crystallized ginger or even whiskey !)

Rosemary, “dew of the sea”. Revered as a governor of the heart alongside being a carminative, pain reliever, antidepressant, digestive, diuretic and tonic, treasured by travellers, herbalists and those in the know.

Rosemary is primarily a Mediterranean herb, an evergreen shrub, easy to grow in a sunny place in your garden. People often ask how can a herb do one thing and at the same time do another. Truly this is the wonders of herbs.

The following recipes are for those who open themselves to this journey. Whether it is you are making toast or teacakes or feeding a blackbird on the wall, it is all in the art of making that creates your own recipes. These are some that I have tried and can recommend.

Some simple Recipes
1.‘Simple’ & simply make a cup of rosemary tea .
Method – Pick one small sprig of rosemary, place in to a cup of hot water, cover and leave to steep for 3-4 minutes – sip the essence of the garden – the experience will be different for each one of you.
Sometimes I just chew one leaf which perks me up.

2. Bathing inside and outside: both day and night, watching stars and insects dart their ways, and blackbirds sing high in trees – - I have an old movable tin bath so can highly recommend this.
Method – add 4 to 5 large sprigs of rosemary to your bath and leave it to infuse to all senses.

3. For disturbed and wakeful nights: Method – go to a rosemary bush when you wake and pick a sprig take it back to your room, hold it or put it under your pillow ( I found this recipe in an early 16thCentuary herbal) amazingly it works.

“so- in the quiet of nothing ……nothing kept quiet …. where and how shall we begin” would be my first choice.
Practical emotions are very good and can contain energy that have led me to many places full of advice & honesty, but the governance of above, below and beyond however has set itself simply “ as it is so it shall be” . and therefore Rosemary grows and overflows outside my kitchen door. (you will find rosemary growing evergreen everywhere in many gardens.“A foot and light hearted I take to the open road , healthy free the world before me”- Walt Whitman

This year we gathered an astounding 50 pounds of honey from our Urban bee hive in Kemptown and still left 50 pounds of honey in the hive for the bees this winter.
As a traditional western herbalist what better way to use honey, wax and propalis than in medicines, creams and Mead!

Elderberry Rob -This simple recipe will aim to keep you strong and well this season. Elderberry Rob (syrup) is a delicious way of boosting your immune system along side giving you plenty of Vitamin C and antioxidants. Native Americans believed it to aid respiratory ailments as the berries resembled the lungs. Elderberries in traditional western verbalism are considered a blood cleanser and tonic therefore a perfect autumnal medicine don’t you think.

Elderberry Rob
Simmer 3 cups of stripped elderberries in water ( 3 cups of water) for 30 mins. Leave the lid off so water can reduce to half. Let it cool and strain . Add equal amounts of honey to the liquid and stir until disolved. Bottle and store in the fridge. this can be kept for up to a year ! for additions you can add ginger, cloves, cinnamon and herbs to the simmering water- the recipe is endless and all yours to experiment with -enjoy

Harvesting Seeds –
This means collecting seeds, making dyes, pot pouri, incense, herbs for medicinal bathing or internal use and of course for food th medicine!

Syrups, wines, pickles, vinegars, all can be in the making. A busy August for you and it is well worth it.

Harvesting encourages us to share with many.
The journey can be enjoyed at all stages from collection to making to tasting so enjoy it all.

Actions required in the garden this August :
Lavender can be cut back to last years growth. The flower heads can be made into lavender pillows along with a cup of lavender tea and if feeling adventurous try some making some lavender syrup just add sugar or honey.

Nettles can be cut right down now. Seeds can be collected and dried for consumption.
Only a very small amount is needed 5-7 seeds per portion. Heaped with protein these can be quite stimulating so probably not good taken close to bed time.
Surplus nettles can be made into a fantastic liquid compost.
Put nettles and stems in a container add water and cover and let it brew. In a few weeks the liquid will have turned a dark green and this can be diluted and used as liquid food on your garden.
Also try an infusion of thyme sprigs in your bath along with burning it as an incense.
A tea can be made from Thymus vulgaris having high antisceptic and antibacterial .

Recipe:
Nasturtium Vinegar
Fill a bottle of white wine vinegar or cider vinegar with nasturtium flowers.
Crush up a couple of leaves,and leave for 10 days before testing. If you require a stronger taste, strain and repeat with more flowers.

Green aprons will be starting homemaking and tasting  soon above is a picture of Mullein flowering