Wild Ideas
Our Seasonal Blog
October 2026
Here in Northumberland the recent spell of surprisingly cold night-time temperatures has hastened the arrival of autumn in the garden, with leaves turning yellow and red and falling. We especially appreciate the rowan, the sumac and the brave flowers which cling on in the herb garden: calendula, nasturtium, feverfew and rose amongst others. It is always a beautiful and somehow poignant time of year as we enjoy its beauty, whilst sensing the bleakness of the winter approaching. The plants have a wonderful capacity to embrace this cyclical process of death and rebirth and perhaps we have something to learn from that. It brings to mind Mary Oliver’s lovely ‘Song for Autumn’, which we share here:-
Song for Autumn by Mary Oliver
Don't you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don't you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for
the birds that will come - six, a dozen - to sleep
inside their bodies? And don't you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little
longing to be on its way.
Product of the month
NEW PRODUCT AND SPECIAL OFFER
This month we are excited to introduce a new product. We have developed a cough syrup made with raw unrefined honey, vegetable glycerine and a combination of effective herbs that Ross has used in his clinic over many years to support patients with dry, irritating, spasmodic and congested coughs. It contains herbs to help clear the infection, expectorants to help loosen and expel mucous and antispasmodics and demulcents to ease spasms and soothe the mucous membranes of the airways.
The syrup tastes warming and comforting and is also calming, as there is sometimes a sense of anxiety with coughs. The herbal tinctures we have included are hyssop, elderberry, mullein, wild cherry and lobelia.
If you would like a natural and effective cough syrup for the medicine cabinet this may be just what you are after!
WE ARE OFFERING 15% OFF OUR COUGH SYRUP TILL THE END OF OCTOBER
WITH CODE WINTERWELLNESS
Herb of the Month
Ross has elderberry as our herb for October
Even though the last elderberries are now being eaten by the birds I wanted to share a little about this remarkable tree. Elder is often considered a ‘medicine chest’ by herbalists as it has so many medicinal uses and all parts of the tree are used medicinally. I may talk more about this tree in future posts, but this month I would like to focus on the berries as these are an important ingredient in our cough syrup, chest tincture and of course our elderberry syrup.
The berries are very rich in vitamin c and anti-oxidants, they are also widely used to help overcome viral infections (coughs, colds and flu in particular). Research has backed this up and identified several constituents that may play a role in this. The berries can also encourage sweating with a fever, helping the body overcome an infection and they are also expectorant, helping expel phlegm .
We often add a couple of handfuls of berries (stripped from their stalks) to apple pies. The berries can’t be eaten raw or in large quantities, but once cooked in combination with other fruit they are delicious.
