I’ve always been drawn to healing. I was offered a place at what I consider to be the best school of nursing here in Western Australia (WA), but at the time, I could not afford to pay the tuition fees upfront as expected. So in 2000, I began my degree at a University closer to home, but before the end of the first year, I deferred, jaded by the imbalance between practical & theory work. I’ve often toyed with the idea of going back to Nursing, but I’m no longer cut out for hospital politics. 

Life took its undulating dips and turns, then one day my Grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. This was a pivotal event for me. I wanted to understand as much as I could about the disease, so I joined an online support group, because the first hand experience of others is invaluable. At the time, most of the science was directed at genetic predispositions, but I found a study from Taiwan that suggested environmental factors may play a crucial role. This made sense to me. Our bodies can only filter out so many toxins. The rest slowly build up in fatty deposits around the body. The human brain is 60% fat. So when the cumulative burden is finally too much for our body to keep in check, we reach our toxic load limit, and disease can manifest.

I got busy with the task of removing as many toxins as practical. First from diet, then home. I committed myself to the laborious task of becoming a label reader. Years on, it’s something of a skill now.

My Grandfathers death was bittersweet. The Voluntary Assisted Dying bill was passed here in WA on the same day in December 2019. Thousands of people suffering just like him, would now have legal autonomy over how they leave this world. To witness how he became a prisoner in his own body, with complete awareness as his mind was as sharp as ever, will forever steer the choices I make. 

It was early Autumn, yet in WA, that means it’s still sweltering and the land thirsty. The year was 2020, and we were in lockdown. I needed to fill a preventative inhaler prescription for my children, but chemists everywhere were out of stock. How could this happen in a modern, 1st world country? I realised then, that allopathic medicine, wasn’t just a life saving privilege afforded to those who live in privileged places, but something that is foolishly taken for granted.

I felt betrayed by the system, but that betrayal opened the door to alternatives. I probably would have ended up on this path at some stage, but nothing spurs a mother on like the need to safeguard her children’s ability to breathe. I read about a readily available herb that acts as an expectorant & antispasmodic. Hyssop. I bought a plant, made tea from it as needed, and once I saw it helped ease their symptoms, that was it, my eyes were open to a whole new world. 

I now keep bees & chooks, and have ripped out both my yards, changing the landscapes from a variety of low maintenance plants purely there to ‘dress’ the house, to a tiny collection of purposeful plants which are either edible, medicinal, or feed pollinators.

Beekeeping has been a thick & steep learning curve, which has further propelled my interest in developing low tox remedies. Bees are capable of high functioning in a world where the air, water & plants are often laden with chemicals. Like cells in a human body, they keep doing their job efficiently till the toxic load is too much, and the colony begins to collapse. 

I’ve been tinkering with plants & herbs, or Kitchen Witching, as I like to call it, for a while now. Some might call it a passionate hobby, others a quiet obsession, but I just LOVE it.

Backyard Remedy is much like my veggie patch, - it has been nourished & allowed to grown in its own time, organically. It is the product of my own lived experience, which in all honesty, I never thought would turn into a business, and I can’t even pinpoint how this has happened. 

In a plastic fantastic, enhanced & altered world, this is where you will find some Earth Magic. I call it that, because I grew up in a highly medicalised family, and thought plant medicine was woo woo. But, now I know better.  

My intention is steadfast & transparent, share knowledge on what is possible without toxins, and provide delicious remedies for those that do not have the time or inclination to deep dive into the world of herbology. As an example, let’s look at Meadowsweet - Spirea Ulmaria. A herb rich in acetylsalicylic acid, used throughout the ages for pain & fever relief. Isolated, and synthetically reproduced, in 1899 Bayer birthed the pharmaceutical revolution by registering a new compound named Aspirin. A for acetyl, and spir for the first part in Meadowsweets scientific name. An Aspirin pill is a tiny delivery package of synthetic chemicals, but a cup of organic Meadowsweet tea, is just plant & water. There are numerous drugs which would not exist if it wasn’t for Mother Nature. Seems pretty magical to me.

My statements are not approved by the TGA. And, I do not claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. However, what I will do, is offer you the opportunity to peruse the scientific evidence supporting my use of each herb, giving you the power to truly make an informed decision on whether or not my remedies are right for you. 

I will continue my Kitchen Witching, and hope that my journey, as needed, can support you on yours.

Thank you so much for coming along for the ride.

In the spirit of better health, clearer minds, and happier souls, I wish you wellness.

Warmly,

Tiff.