The Celtic Herbalist's Gardens
- Where are the gardens?
These monthly bulletins about the Celtic Herbalist's gardens come from the four and a half acres farmstead upon one of the limestone plateaux (or causses) in the Midi, near Toulouse, in S.W. France where the gardens are being installed
This land, with its amazing wealth of flora, was woodland that was settled by the Celts in the 8th century B.C. The Volcae and the Tectosages deposited quantities of treasure in their sacred lakes around here in tribute to their gods. They called themselves Celtae. The Mediterranean peoples, whom they invaded, called them Galli, or 'strangers'. Julius Caesar wrote "we call them Gauls".
Full plan of gardens in Field One (two acres)
The Gauls from this region sent their sons and daughters to Wales (U.K.) to train as Druidic physicians, or 'Ovates'. It is from Wales that we gleaned the Celtic plant list (the Materia Medica) that Rhiwallon of Myddfai codified in the 13th century, collating this together with his great Herbal of Celtic remedies.