a damp warm June & herbal aromatics for uplift

June 2026 newsletter from Community Apothecary

An intoxicating summer bouquet of Jayne (Lemon Verbena, Apothecary Rose, ‘Attar of Roses’ Pelargonium) - May 2026

Dear friends, it’s summer!

The heat something fierce and now big rainwash coming to soak the land. The extremities are confusing, week before last the Elderflowers were opening perfect and delicate, and now they are largely brown and crisped - a period that would have been a gorgeous harvest time, missed in this hot city.

However we have been gathering of those that remained fresh for our stocks of medicine - cooling, clearing, decongesting, protective of our immune systems in viral infection, such a generous clever and healing plant being that is abundant up and down the land, but in conversation last week about the sun and heat, our grower Jayne wondered if they would survive our climate changing (although the Mulberry garden with its forest mix and established perennial herbs she said feels resilient and thriving in these days of high temperature, and in the other gardens where the plants are living in diversity with each other and the soil is well protected and mulched, it is similar).

Our human lives often run parallel, not so close or entangled with the plant world as they could be in urban settings and there can be disconnection even in rural ones, but yet these fellow earth-dwellers are the source, the precursor, the vitality of our lives, of our being alive. Here is a meditative, beautiful and informative online talk hosted by Herban Cura that explores the grief and loss we feel with the decimation of our wild and cultivated habitats, and the way this is intrinsically tied up with human hierarchising of each other’s lives and removal of people from place along with razing of wildness, and ill-treatment of both in environmental care.

Communities are continuing to value and honour our plant elders though, carrying ancient respect and seeking healthier knowledges, and ever more gardens are being visioned and made. How do we learn lessons of what is in our lineages and grow healing roots together in these spaces, so we don’t continue and replicate these harms? As we continue our work, we hold this question.

Below you can find some Community Apothecary gardens and apothecary news, and also wider upcoming herbal happenings of the summer in our networks where you can connect with land and community, deepen your learning and skills and take part in healing activities. We hope to see you! If you are new to this mailing list, warm welcome, and send us an email if you want to get involved with our activity, we will fill you in on the different parts of the project and how to join.

love, Community Apothecary crew (Rasheeqa, Jayne, Jonny, Odhran)

Gardens update:

In mid-May we held our summer open day at Mulberry garden on a cool and gentle Saturday, with a brilliant gathering of regulars and new visitors, for sharing of tasty food, site tour, plant and remedy sales, workshops in natural inks and dyes, immersive Spanish learning around plant leaf id, and crafting with healing plants from valued members of our community - and a joyful resting into the land with mutual connection. The abundance of the plant nursery of new green babies lovingly propagated by Jayne, Jonny and the garden volunteer crew was a pleasure to see and well appreciated by visitors who went away with lots - much nourishing herb and veg life to come in peoples’ growing spaces :))

At our other gardens, cultivation continues with stocks of herbs coming in for the Apothecary remedies and we welcome people to all 4 of our sites in Leyton, Chingford & Walthamstow on different regular days - you can see all details here of how to get involved, we’ll be happy to see you if you’re able to come join us. The Cheney Row garden in Walthamstow, on fortnightly Fridays, especially could do with more hands - Donna from Time To Grow along with some of our regulars have been working hard planting in a whole lot of new food plants thanks to supplies from Waltham Forest Food Growers Network, who continue strengthening our web of resource-sharing and cross-polllination in this borough.

Apothecary update:

May was busy at the Apothecary with learnings and makings around nervous system health and herbs to support, celebration of Lemon Balm in its glory season and making of an ancient recipe Carmelite water. The next couple of months we have some exciting sessions planned including connecting with Rose (June) and sharing cultural and land justice solidarity through herbalism by learning about, making, and hearing the stories of Za’atar (July). You can see details here of the upcoming programme at Hornbeam and how to join.

Summertime Herbal (and connected) Happenings

Basket Weaving Classes with Mark Bushell at 228 Chingford Mount, 2nd-13th June - learn willow weaving skills with this traditional maker who has kept this family heritage alive from Leigh-on-Sea. £20 per morning or afternoon or £40 full day - whatsapp Mark on 07702 417203 to book a session.

Wise Ram Theatre are running a Climate Scriptwriting Workshop at the Hornbeam in Walthamstow this Thursday 4th June, 6.30 to 8.30pm. Over two hours, we'll explore how to create compelling narratives, complex characters and enjoyable scenes from the climate crisis. This will be a practical and fun session with a variety of activities. "A really nourishing, supportive, playful and welcoming atmosphere". You don't have to have experience, just enthusiasm and interest in creativity & climate. Get £2 off a standard ticket using the code: WF200 - book here

Walthamstow Art Trail Tours with Sue Wheat of Good Life Tours: 5th-14th June, 2026 – 10 days, 10 tours > Banish the Art Trail Overwhelm! Good Life Tours will conduct daily tours during the Walthamstow Art Trail, curating a selection of picks and routes throughout.
Led by long-time resident Sue Wheat who conducts inspirational tours of artists’ studios, community and green spaces in the borough throughout the year. Walking tours daily 1-4pm. Pay-what-you-feel. See daily routes - this will be fun! Meeting point: Every day outside Walthamstow Central Library main entrance, by the post boxes, High St, E17 7JN. Venue #83 - Arrive 12.50pm for prompt start at 1pm. Booking recommended. Email: bookings@goodlifetours.org

Saturday 6th June, 12noon-5pm - Summer Garden Party with Core Landscapes & ecoActive! Core Arts Community Garden, behind St Barnabas Church, Homerton High Street E9 6DL (part of London Open Gardens weekend) This is gonna be a good day: a gathering of Hackney and north London greening projects and people, with workshops, talks, stalls, music, plant sales, food & drink - a richness. Community Apothecary will be taking part with a herb walk + workshop on drying and blending seasonal herbs for healing uses, from 12.30pm and Nat of Hackney Herbal leads a session on herbs for the skin and making lip balm after that… Come join!

Monthly Market of Waltham Forest Food Growers’ Network, Saturday 6th June, 3-6pm at Tilbury Yard, Leyton E10 6RE - selling plants and produce from across the borough! All locally grown, organic, and buying them helps sustain the community food growing movement in Waltham Forest. It’s the perfect time to be getting plants in the ground. Come along to find something to plug any gaps that you’ve got in your home garden or at your allotment! The market will feature contributions from OrganicLea, the Community Apothecary, the Sunken Garden, the Leyton Boundary Garden and Time to Grow! — which means it’ll also be a great moment to find out more about community food growing opportunities near you. This venue is also a fun spot to hang out with food and drinks and space to roam and play for families.

From Wednesday 17th June, 6.30pm: 6-WEEK WOMEN'S HOLISTIC HERBAL HEALTH COURSE with Instrumental Health (herbalist Kandake Makonnen & Paulette Henry of Black Rootz) A journey into ancient wisdom and natural healing, approaching women’s health through a range of approaches - in Kandake’s words ‘this immersive programme weaves together herbal medicine, womb ritual, emotional release, practical knowledge, and traditional healing practices. You'll be supported on every level: physical, emotional, and spiritual.’

Saturday 20th June, 10.30am-1pm, Clissold Park: Radicle Plant Walk - join Than & Clare for the next in their series of storying walks weaving botany, horticulture, herbalism, foraging and social history to explore local plantscapes in their fullest sense. Will be a treat.

From 20th June, Hawkwood Nursery, Chingford: Organiclea Weekend Workshops - a range of in-depth day sessions focusing on specialist food or land-based skills, from soil science to salad to mushroom cultivation. Will be rich and knowledge-sharing like nowhere else!

Sunday 21st June, 11am-6pm: Nourished Communities Food Festival at Big Penny Social, 1 Priestley Way, Walthamstow E17 6AL- joining up local food culture and community projects with 100+ producers, talks and workshops, tastings, circus and more! Sounds like tastiness…

Saturday 27th June, 1-4pm - WildWays Along the Ching: Medicinal Plants at The Reapers Community Garden, Bateman Road Allotment, Burnside Avenue, Chingford, E4 8YJ: As part of a workshop series connecting the river Ching, community food growing and ecosystem health, Community Apothecary bring a seasonal session exploring the powers of herbs in our human bodies and in the wider body of the earth. We’ll meet plants in the garden that have co-evolved with us and a host of creatures, map out a medicine garden and taste seasonal infusions. Book here

Tuesday 23rd & 30th June, 11am-12.30pm: Herbal Tea Blending with Common Root in Newham - slow and mindful learning about and blending calming and uplifting herbs for health and wellbeing - make your own mix to take home. At Custom Made, 25 Freemasons Road, London E16 3AR

Braiding Sweetgrass Reading Circle - ‘We continue our slow reading of this beautiful book at Stave Hill Ecological Park. On Sunday 28th June, we'll be reading chapter 12 'Epiphany in the Beans'. In this sharing circle, we hope to:

✩ˎˊ˗ co-create a nourishing, gentle environment for building connections and intergenerational healing
✩ˎˊ˗ explore, deepen, reclaim, and re-imagine our relationships to land and to “nature”
✩ˎˊ˗ celebrate the abundance of life all around us and within us (and to hold space for those of us that aren’t able to access these feelings right now)

BPOC only - free ticket link here

Feral Crust callout for support: ‘We are a small DIY autonomous collective in Davao, Philippines. Together with local farmers, we are currently working on a small land project situated in the countryside of Davao City.
https://www.facebook.com/feralcrustinfoshop
Would you mind if we ask support in terms of mutual donation from you so we could able to purchase seeds, saplings, cuttings of medicinal herbs, flowers, grasses, and trees that commonly grow in the Philippines and are common or known and used by local peasants, indigenous folks and herbalists. We'd like to grow beneficial crops in our land project demonstration site that will later become accessible to people who need holistic ways of healing and nourishment while also giving back and restoring the land. We needed many kinds of beneficial plants for growing and to encourage biodiversity and wildlife.’ If you'd like to offer help with any amount of donation, herewith our Paypal account: hanamelcanonigo@gmail.com - your support is definitely a huge help for now and will go a long way.

You can now join the Waltham Forest Food Growing Network as an individual! This network is how support each other as a local movement for food sovereignty. Whether you’re part of a community garden, school, allotment, herb patch or just love growing food in your own garden, you’re welcome to join.

There are 3 tiers of membership for accessibility, starting at £2 per month, with benefits including drop-in discussion sessions, access to tool and seed library (from early 2027), earlybird booking for events like skills workshops, community meals, discounts at the WFFGN market stall… info here and you can also contact coordinators Greg, Reign and Carla at walthamforestfgn@gmail.com to ask questions!