Where it all began...

 

Hello! I'm Mila and I grew up living beside an ancient woodland filled with oak, hornbeam, silver birch, ash, sweet chestnut and hazel trees. The woods were my favourite place I would retreat to where I could happily be my neurodivergent self, free and wild and curious, and where I would practise the ancient Japanese art of forest bathing, shinrin-yoku, years before I knew it was a thing. 

 

I was the kind of kid who'd invite my friends over for sleepovers to make swirling, glittering bath potions, and once I set up a garden shop encouraging bemused family members to buy my foraged mud pies. On Christmases and birthdays, people would receive my wonky, but lovingly handmade candles, bath bombs and cosmetics. 

 

Even though this creative spirit and connection to nature had always been part of me, it wasn't until I was an adult that I fell down the herbalist and forager's path and started my own apothecary journey. 

 

 

 

The weed that changed everything

 

One summer's day, as a way to escape from the stresses of my life, I was taking my daily walk in the woods and meadows behind my home. Except this day was different.

 

I began to notice a plant growing out of the dry, cracked earth and realised I had been seeing it everywhere. Out of curiosity, I bent down and picked one of the plant's flowers, and suddenly had a strong urge to crush it and bring it up to my nose to sniff it.

 

When I did, my nose was filled with the aroma of sweet pineapples. Completely intrigued with how anything in the wild spaces of England could smell like a pineapple, I thought about it all the way home.

 

On a whim, I decided to look the plant up later that evening and found out that it was a common weed and medicinal herb called pineapple weed.

 

Delving deeper, I read that pineapple weed was a folk remedy drunk as a tea to help ease stress and anxiety. This came as quite a surprise, since I was suffering with chronic stress and anxiety at the time.

 

And so, the next day, I brewed my first wild herbal tea since the time I had made nettle tea as a child with my cousins.

 

 

 

Realising the land can heal us

 

As soon as I found out about the medicinal properties of pineapple weed, I understood that discovering this plant was more than just a coincidence. I was hurting and the land had been trying to show me how it could help me heal, and this time I had finally taken notice.

 

I began to find all of the medicinal plants that grow in our meadows — camomile, plantain, comfrey, yarrow, elderflower, rose, hawthorn and more. I became enamoured with folk herbalism and foraging, devouring all the literature I could on these topics.

 

Once I was confident with my identification skills, I started to make simple herbal remedies for my family and friends to try, like yarrow and plantain balms, rose sugar scrubs, camomile bath salts, elderberry syrup and more.

 

 

 

Harnessing the healing power of nature

 

I saw how effective my homemade remedies were for myself and my family, and so, after much research and testing, decided to formulate my own range of skincare and herbal drinks so that others could experience them too. I combined scientific research with my knowledge and love of medicinal plants to create effective natural products that nourished the skin as well as the mind.

 

After several years of sell out restocks with hundreds of products made, bringing calm into the everyday chaos of people's lives and helping people to have easier periods, better sleep, and glowing healthy skin, I decided to press pause on my product-making. 

 

A new path was calling me, one where I connect with people out in nature. I became a foraging tutor and member of the Association of Foragers, sharing my love of wild weeds and mushrooms with people so that others can connect with nature like I have. Nothing beats sharing herbal stories together out in the wild, learning from each other and seeing the wonder and awe on people's faces when they meet a wild plant for the first time. I hope you can join me on one of my future walks!

 

Love, 

 

Mila x