Jane’s interest in herbs was sparked at an early age by her Grandmother who decided that she had worms! Her grandmother took Jane into the herb garden and introduced Jane to a pretty and powerful plant called Tansy – which certainly had the desired effect!
In the years that followed Jane’s grandmother – who was a huge inspiration to her – taught her not only how to forage for wild food but to turn to nature rather, than the medicine cupboard, if any of the family were feeling below par.
Jane’s interest in herbalism grew whilst she was studying Anthropology in Oxford. This introduced her to the food, medicine and the sacred rituals of other cultures and how they used plants for medicine, healing and promoting positive health. This led Jane to looking at our own herbal traditions and the health-giving power of our native plant species.
In the early noughties Jane formalised her skills and acquired diplomas in Medicinal Herbs, Clinical Herbalism and Aromatherapy. For the last ten years Jane has worked at the Organic Herb Trading Company and during this has been responsible for:
· Overseeing the production of herbal medicines and macerated oils
· Working with our customers to develop and refine new products
· Analysing plant ingredients from an organoleptic perspective – fusing her love of plants with scientific analysis
· Providing specialist guidance to our herbalist customers
Jane passionately believes that herbal traditions should be passed down through the generations so everyone can heal themselves from the plants around them. Jane also runs a small community practice from her “Apothocaravan” and almost off grid home in Somerset and has a small physic garden providing some cultivated plants for tincture & oil preparation.” For more info see here.