Long Islands Medicine gardens, 31 May 2015, Langeland, Denmark

Langelands (Long Islands) Medicine gardens are a very impressive voluntary initiative. The intention of the Medicine gardens is to build and develop a collection of medicinal plants, as well as to tell about medicinal plants and herbal medicine from a historic and scientific perspective. The aim is also to create a new tourist attraction on Langeland. May 31, 2015 the Medicine gardens association held a garden market to celebrate the initiation of Garden 3. The Medicine gardens association had invited local garden-enthusiasts to put up a stall with their products. The gardens tells plant history of medicine, and not least, they show the many medicinal plants that have been used and are still used to cure our many diseases and fragilities. There are 6 thematic gardens including: • The garden of the respiratory and circulatory system diseases with 178 different plants • The garden of diseases in the urinary and reproductive tract with 108 different plants The gardens are taken care of by dedicated volunteers from the association's membership. The Medicine gardens association has about 100 members.

Herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare known to mankind. Herbs had been used by all cultures throughout history. Much of the medicinal use of plants seems to have been developed through observations of wild animals, and by trial and error. As time went on, each tribe added the medicinal power of herbs in their area to its knowledgebase. They methodically collected information on herbs and developed well-defined herbal pharmacopoeias. Many drugs commonly used today are of herbal origin. Herbal medicine is a major component in all indigenous peoples’ traditional medicine.