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Herb Gatherer?
- Thread starter Tinpot
- Start date
Watercress?? From beds near the river?
Eliza James sold watercress in Birmingham from age of 5 and eventually founded a business in London.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_James
Eliza James sold watercress in Birmingham from age of 5 and eventually founded a business in London.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_James
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I'm not sure watercress would count as a herb though there was a ready market. Some other possibilities https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/victorian-homes/herbs-the-victorians-used-for-medicinal-properties/
At that time people were prepared to walk distances to get to their work, so I do not think that the herbs he collected would necessaril be close to Rea St. At the time there were two herbalists in Moor St and one in Worcester St, both quite close and so he might be supplying either of those close to his home
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
“…trout from the Tame were served at Queen Victoria’s coronation dinner in 1838.”
www.tamevalleywetlands.co.uk
River Tame | Tame Valley Wetlands
www.tamevalleywetlands.co.uk
Foxglove tea and poppy flowers!
What a fascinating story of Eliza the Watercress Queen. Watercress was my first thought too.
Eliza had an extraordinary life. But I think the herb gatherer would collect everything in season. I imagine there would be a market for anything green and medicinal, this was an age of adulterated food, bulking out bread with chalk. I doubt they would be put off by sewage in the water either! A settlement pond and filter bed would help too.
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Thanks Pedrocut. The details from the Bedfordshire Times is a great reminder of the resources from the hedgerows and fields. Dandelion and burdock, herbal remedies, syrups, lozenges, dyes, perfumes, teas etc.Tinpot
I am reminded of a holiday in France where the rabbits were kept in the barn on the farm and the old granny would go out every day to collect food from the fields and hedgerows for them.
Lucky rabbits, until it was time for the pot! When my children had rabbits I learned to recognise different wild plants for them to eat.
izzy eckerslike
master brummie
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In botany the word herb refers to any herbaceous plant without a woody stem and which dies back in winter.
Contrary to popular belief Bananas don't grow on a tree but are classed as a perennial herb with old foliage dying off and new shoots appearing each season
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If you look at the map even now there are still the remnants of a river valley/flood plain which goes on through to Moor Green and Stirchley.
