Two of the principles of Permaculture are: Produce No Waste, & Turn the Problem Into the Solution.
Part of our business at Grass Roots Remedies Co-operative is small scale manufacture of sustainable herbal medicines to use in our community clinic in Wester Hailes. We are big believers in forming links with other community projects and creating as short a supply chain as we can. This month we were pleased to receive a ‘gift’ from our neighbours and friends the Granton Community Gardeners. They carefully harvested a giant bag of couchgrass (Elymus repens) from their veg patches for us. Most gardeners will know couchgrass as a pernicious weed that always manages to find a way of returning. You might be pleased to know that for us herbalists, couchgrass is a nourishing kidney herb useful for chronic urinary infections. You can also eat it – the rhizome is hearty and nutritious (albeit a little tough).
