ingredients – whether or not we feel that these concerns are justified – will inevitably become less available through wholesale channels. In fact, in the United Kingdom, the Medicines Health Care Regulatory Agency actively counsels against wholesalers stocking herbs that are under review or subject to a voluntary ban on their use. Even if the restrictions are billed as a precautionary measure while further research is carried out, there is a real risk that we will lose knowledge of how to source and work with that herb if it is removed from circulation and herbal teaching syllabuses. A period of 10–15 years when a herb is out of regular use is probably enough to significantly change the prescribing habits and knowledge of an entire generation of herbal practitioners.
Growing restricted herbs, even if we choose not to prescribe them, is a way of preserving them and staying connected to the tradition and knowledge of our ancient art. I grow several species of plants that I cannot use legally as internally prescribed medicines in my practice. These include Mandrake (Mandragora), May Apple (Podophyllum), Monkshood (Aconitum) and Foxglove (Digitalis). I have no intention of using them internally on my patients, but I continue to grow them and others out of a desire to learn about and connect with the plants themselves and to preserve traditional knowledge.
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
The regulatory and advisory picture varies between different countries and as new research becomes available. Please check the situation in the country where you are practising. This may influence your choice of what you will grow in your herb garden.
As well as regulatory restrictions influencing the catalogues of herbal wholesalers, general demand does too. Wholesalers need to choose herbs that are sufficiently in demand so that they can be sold before they go out of date. This means that it does not make sense for wholesalers to stock lesser-used herbs and herbs that are out of fashion. These herbs then become difficult or impossible to find commercially. Take, for example, herbs like Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) which is also known as Black Root. This is a herb that is bitter and is excellent for clearing viscid mucus from the gut. It enlivens a tired digestive system and helps to encourage a more regular bowel habit when this has become sluggish. It is a herb that was much used in the era of my dear tutor and mentor, Edith Barlow. I started to grow it because she encouraged me to work with Culver's Root. I wanted to see what the plant looked like and get to know it. At the time, I did not investigate whether or not it was available through wholesalers – perhaps it was available at that time, but it certainly is not widely available now. It seems to have become a herb rarely used by herbal practitioners. I suppose it has fallen out of favour or has somehow been forgotten. Luckily, I have been growing and using Culver's Root for many years, and I am able to continue treating my patients with it.
Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum)
Another herb that is difficult to source commercially, at least in the United Kingdom, is Poplar (Populus tremuloides) bark. In the twentieth century Populus tremuloides was widely used as a tonic in traditional herbal medicine. Edith Barlow taught me the value of this herb thanks to her own chain of teaching on this, which is at least 250 years old. I am someone who unashamedly loves lineage, and this appeals to me greatly. It feels an enormous privilege to have been taught this traditional way of using Poplar bark and to be able to use it in my own practice. However, it seems that these days Populus tremuloides seems to be rarely stocked by herbal suppliers, and the only way that I can reliably continue to use this herbal medicine is to wildcraft it myself.
Culver's Root
It is understandable that wholesale suppliers have to maintain a catalogue that allows them to stay economically viable, but as a practitioner I think it is sad that our prescribing practices can be moulded by market forces rather than therapeutic efficacy and tradition. By growing or gathering our own herbs, we have the option of preserving traditional ways of prescribing and maintaining access to certain less used species.
The supply of herbs can also be interrupted in unpredictable ways by market forces and climatic quirks. Even seemingly very common herbs, such as Calendula (Calendula officinalis) flowers, can be affected. I remember the world shortage of Calendula flowers in the summer of 2015. This was apparently due to a crop failure, but at the time I was completely unaware of the shortage, as I had been lucky enough to have a bumper crop on my allotment. With my attitude of gathering and storing extra when supplies are abundant, I had gathered and stored plenty. In 2017, inexplicably, it was Caraway (Carum carvi) seed that was very scarce. I never found out why. As this is a herb that I have to buy in and use regularly, I was very concerned about this. In the end, I only managed to maintain medicinal supplies for my patients by buying in Caraway in small retail packs. I suppose culinary suppliers must have had bigger stock piles.
Even when herbs are available in theory, shipments can be delayed and can be held back in suppliers’ warehouses while quality control checks are carried out. If a shipment is rejected, there will be long delays while replacement supplies are ordered. If there are delays in availability of a particular herb, then as practitioners we must spend many hours contacting various suppliers to try to find supplies. If we are unsuccessful in this endeavour, continuity of patient treatment can be affected. We can, of course, use our skill and training to substitute other herbs with similar actions if necessary, but I think that it is always preferable to have access to the original herb that we felt drawn to prescribe.
I am completely in awe of the work that is put in by herbal wholesalers to maintain continuity of supply for their customers, but to rely purely on buying in herbs may leave us more vulnerable to shortages. This is especially worrying as we may only discover wider shortages once it is too late to rectify them. To grow or gather our own herbs allows us to choose which ones we want to work with and to strive to make sure that we have enough of them.
In summary then, growing and gathering our own herbs enables us to anticipate what we will require for the year ahead and grow or gather sufficient for our needs. This allows us to be shielded from sudden changes in the availability of wholesale herbs due to regulatory changes, differing crop yields or prescribing fashions. We can maintain populations of herbs that have fallen out of common use so that in the future we still have the option to bring them back into the fold if circumstances demand or allow it.
5
Favourable business model
I have deliberately chosen to talk about business and financial aspects last in this ‘why’ section of the book. I want to emphasize that I believe that the reasons for choosing a self-sufficient model of practice are much larger and much more important than purely financial ones.
I am glad to say that no one I have ever met has gone into herbal medicine with the primary motivation of making money. In my view, herbal medicine is a spiritual path on which the focus of our motivation is to help others achieve better health. If our motivation is only to generate wealth, then, I feel, this is a very unhealthy basis for therapeutic practice. I do believe, though, that economic viability is a perfectly valid secondary consideration on the basis that we have to survive and thrive in order to be in a position to help our patients effectively.
We are all in different positions as regards our need for financial sustenance. Some people may be able to leave the question of economic viability completely out
