The Midwife’s Garden

A is for anise, sweet relief for the bowels
B is the butcher’s broom to shrink the womb down
C is for cayenne, its heat stays the blood
Dandelion greens should be boiled some good

E is for eggs, one a day cooked ‘til hard
Fennel brings mother’s milk and a woman’s blood
G’s the gooseberry, for pie or for jam
Hyssop, tansy, and mugwort for taking a bath
I’s the Irish Moss for blanc mange and stew
Juniper without berries is for making tea too
K is for kelp, when it’s dried it will keep
Labrador tea if you’re needing some sleep

M is for mustard, on her belly makes her bleed
N’s for the nettle, just the leaves, not the seed
Onions to the feet will bring down a fever
Pennyroyal’s tincture makes a tiny baby leave her

Queen Anne’s lace is poison, it’s not caraway
Red raspberry tea should be drunk every day
S is for sage, which makes the milk go
Thistle, that’s blessed, makes the milk flow
Unicorn, false, with bed and capsicum
Very good at keeping the babe inside his mum
Wintergreen tea is best made in the spring
X-cept for making jam, for the berries you must bring

Y is for yew, its stone will bring strife
Zest comes from lemons, oranges and life!

(i did nOt make that up...
but who knows,
maybe i'll have a garden like this one day!)