“There is scarce a cottage in most of the southern parts of England but has its proportion

“There is scarce a cottage in most of the southern parts of England but has its proportionable garden, so great a delight do most of men take in it” - English agriculturalist John Worlidge, 1677
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In 17th Century England, virtually every house would have had a kitchen garden where both culinary and medicinal plants would be grown. In some cases – like onion or garlic – they would serve both purposes. Recipes for herbal treatments passed down through generations began to be compiled into handy compendiums in England such as Gerard’s Herbal (1597), Culpeper’s Complete Herbal (1653), Gervase Markham’s The English Housewife (1615), and The Gentlewoman’s Companion by Hannah Woolley (1673). These texts helped people prepare medicines for their families and neighbors, but even if they could not afford a book many households would use simple family recipe books, often called ‘receipt books’, to which they would add their own contributions.
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Food was thought to have curative effects and different foods were ascribed properties similar to the traditional 'four humours’. They could be hot and dry (mustard, onions, or garlic), cold and wet (fish, lamb, cucumbers), or cold and dry (beef, legumes, or bread). The idea was to counteract the abundance of one humour by consuming a diet that included foods with the opposite properties.
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