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Penelope Ody
BSc MNIMH
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Penelope Ody is a Member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists and Fellow of the Herb Society.
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Hello –
and welcome to “Herbs at Walnut”, a series of one-day courses on using
herbs now in its seventh year.
I have been exploring the fascinating world of herbs for rather more than
25 years studying initially with the School of Phytotherapy in Kent, UK,
and also at the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guangzhou,
China. I practised as a consultant medical herbalist in Buckinghamshire,
UK, for 11 years while also writing regularly about herbs and editing The
Herb Society’s various journals from 1988-1994.
For the past 12 years I have concentrated on writing
books about herbs and lecturing at various courses and summer schools - including Herbs at Walnut which I started in 2002 at my home, Walnut Cottage, in Hampshire. In 2006 these courses were featured in Meridian TV's "Country Lives" series.
For most of us, herbs are familiar and readily available plants used for
flavouring foods or scenting rooms. Many of them are also potent medicines
ideal for using at home as alternatives to over-the-counter pharmaceutical
drugs for treating a range of health problems.
Our great-grandmothers would have been very familiar with home-made
medicines but over the decades we have lost the everyday skill of making
them. Commercially produced medicines – both orthodox and herbal – have
been readily available to meet our needs. Now, thanks to changing
legislation and tighter regulatory control, many of these herbal products
are no longer available from chemists or health food shops, so we need to
re-learn how to make these simple nostrums and to understand which are
most suitable and when to use them.
Courses at Walnut Cottage cover a range of herbal topics – from using
herbs in cooking to making your own creams and ointments to replace those
which are no longer quite so easy to find in the shops. Courses are
relaxed and informal with small groups – generally no more than six –
giving plenty of flexibility to explore your particular interests.
I hope you find a course to meet your needs in this year’s timetable. If
you have suggestions for other herb courses, or would like to arrange an
alternative day for a special group, then please let me know:
penny@herbcourses.co.uk
All good wishes
Penelope Ody |
