A very relevant and important book for anyone who wants to connect or deepen their connection with our plant allies.  Wild Apothecary – Reclaiming Plant Medicine for All takes you on a journey of enlightenment and discovery through the key stages of life and informs us how plant medicine can be used to treat not only ourselves but those around us.  Intertwined with beautiful and thought provoking illustrations and poetry, that are an opportunity to reflect and meditate on their message.

The chronological chapters through life’s stages are combined with medicine making for common ailments, empowering us to use what is growing locally, or what we could grow, using what we have forgotten, or perhaps has been supressed in us all through a narrative that orthodox medicine is the only route to improving health outcomes.

Demystifying what can seem a rather impenetrable subject that has over the years been marginalised,  stolen, misappropriated and taken away from the wisdom and knowledge our ancestors garnered and cultivated with care and attention to live in harmony with the planet.  Chapter 11 by Claudia Manchanda asks those questions  of our past and the present which gives us hope and opportunity to change for a future, enabling equitable access to plant medicine and health care – whilst protecting the natural world we live in whether that is on our door step or globally.

I would encourage anyone interested in starting out on their own personal journey of using plants to support health imbalances both acute and chronic to buy this book; and for established herbalists it gives a new way of evaluating our own practices for the better.