growing forage herbs & plants for animals & yourself

In their natural wild pastures, animals have a whole range of plants to forage. Over millions of years, at their mothers sides they have learned and evolved highly developed instincts for the foods they need whatever their situation. Animals are often nomadic, regularly visiting certain areas at specific times of the year, drawn by habit, instinct and the need for food of the season in a particular location.

In her groundbreaking book "Wild Health" Cindy Engel published much research on the subject of how animals self-medicate at times of ill health and how they also cleanse themselves of parasites and worms.

Whenever we remove animals from their wild forage food supply, we need to look at how we can continue to meet their natural food needs. Fencing and single species grasses are not sufficient to supply all of the nutrition of forage animals such as Horses, Cattle, Donkeys, Goats and Sheep. Dogs, Cats and other small animals also require a diversity of fresh seasonal forage food to remain well.

The season of winter and start of Spring is a wonderful time to browse plant nurseries, seed catalogues & to ask family and friends to bulk buy or swap seeds & plants to help you establish fresh forage for all your own use and for your animals.  Autumn is the best time to plant hedgerows, shrubs & trees.

Growing can be very simple, a few different herbs can be easily grown in old feed buckets, troughs or around the stable in hanging baskets. Many can also be directly planted in the ground in grazing fields, or placed in buckets around the edges or for small animals, planted into a small accessible patch in the garden or by the back door. Cats especially enjoy a lush area of herbal plants growing together, they like to roll in the leaves which releases aromatic oils and scents into their fur and often lie snoozing in a herbal plant bed occasionally waking to enjoy nibbling a leaf or two. Depending on your situation, the animals you have and your time and budget it is easy to give them at least some fresh forage.

Some plants can take hold pretty fast and can spread out of control, read up on what you intend to plant, find out if it is better planted into a bucket/pot or put into the soil freely able to spread. Mints are always better contained whereas Chamomiles can spread slowly in a meadow or garden.

Start with the basics and be sure to check the variety of plant carefully with it's Latin name; this will ensure the plant has the correct properties you want. Buying from specialist nurseries and seed companies will tap you into more knowledge and a basic guide to Native plants of your region or country will give you plenty of ideas.

Check out plants bursting with helpful nutrients and natural healthful properties such as English Chamomile, Red Thyme, White Thyme, Peppermint, Spearmint, Cat-mint, Lavenders, Golden Marjoram, Oregano, Wild Garlic, Wild Roses for their berries, Hawthorn for berries and leaves, Nettles for a useful supply of Iron in their Spring growth tops; animals love to graze nettles, a handful is great for us too in a Spring soup.

Herbs in pots need watering and herbs grown straight onto land will need some weeding and water as they establish.

Growing such plants for your animals to help themselves to is one of the BEST things you can do for their long term health.
You are gifting them their birthright, to self medicate and feed from their natural world.

Next blog, choosing quality plants and the most helpful ones for your animals and how to attract pollinating insects and butterflies.

Starting a new chapter ...

Sunrise

Whilst every day brings a new sunrise and a fresh start .... some days feel more like beginnings of a whole new chapter. It's a month since at last a homely space to live opened up. Much unpacking, organising & reflection has been happening ... my body seems to have recovered from the accident last year, it has taken far longer than i could have known. So, now it is time to finish work plans and start over.

Since the accident turned my life & plans upside down, it has taken some time to feel able to commit to new plans & to find ways to allow them to unfold. This autumn a govt scheme is unrolling to support new business start ups giving my approach a focus & i get a free mentor who in theory will be supporting me through the paperwork process. Recession is probably helpful; many people will be happy to learn there are simple, inexpensive ways to keep their animals healthy preventing expensive visits to their vet.

Workshops, appointments, online courses, talks and my first book look at ways of improving animal well being, by taking advantage of their evolved instincts and learning how to easily give animals access to helpful natural superfoods and approaches they naturally know how to work with.  

Gaining insights into their natural abilities is so empowering for us, we can learn how to help them stay well by being guided by their instincts which have evolved over millions of years. Most of us feel a lot happier when we know there is always something we can do that helps our animals whatever is happening to them. Complementary approaches offer first responses in emergencies which are safe, gentle and work with the animals own body while you wait for veterinary help and are also concerned in the long term with nutrition and physical balancing to enhance condition and resistence to ill health.

Simple strategies include looking at the animal in the wild and what it chooses to eat during the different seasons, what it's natural life would be about and how to introduce wild forage foods and aspects of their natural life into their life with you.

Seeing the reaction of an animal to different plant extracts can reveal any stressful imbalances in nutrition or lifestyle which can easily be worked with. Whether weakness is rooted in emotional, physical or psychological causes does not matter, there is always a way of dealing with imbalances and negative effects.

 Animals often mirror our own selves, in learning more about natural nutrition and different approaches, many people gain insights which are useful for themselves. One client wrote to say, " Dear Kryssie, we have loved introducing natural feeding to our dog !  He really savours and enjoys his food with huge enthusiasm and in just 8 weeks appears healthier and younger. We have come to realise he is now eating like a gourmet while we eat junk, we would love another appointment to learn how we can eat as healthily as our dog "  

Another wrote, "Dear Kryssie, Thank you for the trauma relief Oils for our dogs emotional distresses.  My wife has been offering them to him by hand every day as instructed. The dog is much less traumatised and happier and i now also have back the lovely woman i married minus all her grumbles, tears and health moans. I guess they worked on her too !" 

Rewarding work, starting again, very soon :))

For more information, watch this space and you can contact me by email kryssie@kryssie-francis.com

   

Way back then ......

A village called Alas on the Camino pilgrims route in the French Pyranees

A short chapter of my life adventure happened here !

Maggies cottage where i stayed, my bedroom french doors visible on the ground floor.

Maggies used the wonderfully quirky bedroom with a balcony, inspired buildings !

Diversity of housing in a small hamlet

The owner of this Yurt is a writer who lives part time in Paris and enjoys her summers in Alas

Typical local home

The centre of Alas showing the blue shuttered Gite centre where i stayed

for my last weeks in the area