Rasheeqa Ahmad

PLANT MEDICINE OF THE CITY: A seasonal diary

Introduction to this evolving video series 2021-2022 by Rasheeqa Ahmad:

Scroll to the end of the page to read a text about Rasheeqa’s work with Hedge Herbs and the Community Apothecary, including an important note about the series.

Rasheeqa’s transformative practice traces historically sidelined threads leading up to where we are now, creating space and rituals for restoration, balance and repair. Faced with the daily horrors and burn out of normative rule, Rasheeqa describes how ‘there is great power in supporting those of us who occupy positions that are not the dominating culture’. If we learn about our ecosystems enough to understand how we are part of nature – we can learn how to live healthfully and reciprocally, rather than extractively and harmfully. You can read more about her work and approach in our book Queer Diasporic Futurity.
 

contents

 

First signs of Summer (May – June)

  1. Hawthorn flowers (Crataegus monogyna)

  2. Elder flower part 1 (Sambucus nigra)

  3. Common Mallow ((Malva sylvestris)

  4. Elder flower part 2

  5. Burdock leaves (Arctium lappa)

  6. Lime blossom of the Linden tree (Tilia × europaea)

 

Spring (April)

  1. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

  2. Three-cornered Leek (Allium triquetrum)

 

Early Spring (Feb)

  1. Burdock

  2. Dock leaves

 

Late Winter UK (Jan)

  1. Cleavers

 

Indian Winter (Dec)

Interlude from Moradabad, India! Rasheeqa visits her medicine-making family.

  1. Karela and Neem

  2. Angeer (Fig Tree)

  3. Haldi (Turmeric)

  4. Shareepha (Custard Apple)

 

Early Winter (Nov):

  1. Marshmallow and Elecampane

  2. Nasturtiums and Marshmallow seeds

 

Autumn (late Sept – Oct):

  1. Nettle seeds

  2. Hawthorn berries

  3. Comfrey

  4. Rosehips

 

 

Rasheeqa (Hedge Herbs) is a herbalist practicing in London with plant medicine, supporting people in her community with herbs and healing they can offer. She is part of a project called the Community Apothecary with Izzy and Ximena who are local growers, gathering wisdom about herbs and their myriad connections with our lives as well as many other creatures around us.

We are cultivating a patchwork of medicine gardens in Waltham Forest where people of the local communities can come to learn about land care and growing herbs to make medicines with, as well as come together in physical land work, knowledge sharing and relationship making. Breathing air that is fresher.

We are working out how doing this can be responsive to the healthcare needs of beings close to the gardens, starting from their soil and inhabitants and seeking upwards and outwards – it’s a journey.

But there’s an idea of a model of medicine gardens in each neighbourhood that can be spaces for exchange, healthcare experience sharing, practical medicine making and earthlove.

The making of these gardens necessitates slowing down to understand the plant living style. Who knows if it’s useful… we are seeing as we go, but there’s a hella lotta pleasure this last season with the gorgeousness of these beds showing us their exuberant healing beauty 🙂

This autumn 2021 we will make medicines with our harvests that will be shared with the local community as a tangible product of the year’s processes and a living representation of intentional, joyous collective work yielding shareable healthful resources.

hedgeherbs.org.uk

Please do not take the information given in these videos as medical advice. They are intended as educational resources for plant identification, not as guidance to herbal healthcare which is best sought from a medical herbalist. We advise that if you want to use medicinal plants to support your health or address a health situation, you do so with support from a practicing person. The knowledge shared here is given in the spirit of traditional healing practices and general information about simple natural food medicines.
Please contact rasheeqa@hedgeherbs.org.uk if there is anything you would like to know more about.