So I have found my new favourite thing to do: make gorgeous healthful smoothies out of freshly foraged herbs -what a dream! I’m currently in Scotland, helping to set up a health retreat on a magical property full of nature, creeks, forest and fields of wild medicinal herbs.

But you don’t have to live on a herby wonderland to make this smoothie -these ‘weeds’ were found in my backyard in Australia too.

Ingredients:

• A handful of fresh nettle
• A handful of fresh cleavers
• A cup of herbal tea (I’ve been using Skin Purify tea by Dr Stuart’s, its got a gorgeous selection of healing herbs: Red Clover, Nettle leaves, Dandelion root, Burdock root, Chamomile & Lemon Balm)
• Plantain ice cubes -We made a wild plantain salve & poultice the other day to soothe some bites & nettle stings, and froze the extra plantain ‘tea’ into ice cubes.
• 1 Banana
• 2 Tablespoons of natural yogurt
• A decent splash of coconut milk
• 1 Teaspoon of honey
• ¼ Cup of oats

Method:

1. Once you have foraged the nettle and cleavers from the garden or forest, give them a quick rinse under hot water to soften them up.

2. Brew the herbal tea for 5 minutes and add to the blender with the herbs and give it a quick blend to give them a head start.

3. Add all the other ingredients and blend together.

4. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

My smoothie had a gorgeous frothy top which was amazing, almost like cappuccino froth. Not sure why, maybe it’s because I’m using a fancier blender these days.

A quick word on cleavers

Cleavers, aka velcro plant, are an amazing lymphatic tonic -perhaps the best lymphatic tonic available according to David Hoffman. It’s great to use when someone has lymphatic problems such as swollen glands or tonsillitis. It is also really great for treating dry skin conditions such as psoriasis and is useful for helping urinary conditions such as cystitis.

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