Here I’d like to introduce another interview project participant. When I took the herbalism teacher training course in Vorarlberg in 2007, we had several instructors. One of them is still very vivid in my memory, namely Ingeborg Sponsel. As a trained medicinal plant specialist and gardener, she shared her knowledge of wild Alpine herbs and plants with an unrivaled blend of kindness, wisdom and cheerfulness. Ingeborg accompanied us through the annual cycle with rituals, taught us almost forgotten stories and quite a few recipes relating to the plants.
We roamed through the mountain meadows, moors, forests and fields, and got to know the diversity of the plants and their active ingredients.
Then again, we collected wild herbs,
flowers, and wild vegetables and Ingeborg
showed us how to
prepare tasty dishes,
we stirred ointments from freshly picked plants
and roots and learned about other facets of the herbs‘
effectiveness when smudged. This mixture of told tales and practical
experiences dug into me like fibrous roots and continues
to blossom anew at regular intervals. Above all, after all
these years, the acquired knowledge fills me with deep
gratitude. I was especially pleased when Ingeborg agreed
to take part in the project. From many of the answers, I was able to learn something again. Maybe it will be the same for others? For more information about Ingeborg Sponsel and what she does, see: www.naturweise.de.
And now it’s off to the garden!
About nature’s wisdom
