People interested in growing their own food can still sign up for a five-part course to be run in Stratford.

The course, called A Foundation In Self Care with Food & Herbs, will be run on Saturday mornings from 10.30am until 1.30pm from September 7 until October 5. The courses will be based at the Medicinal Herb Garden at the University of East London in Water Lane. The course will be led by practising medical herbalist Gail Farrow.

It will cover:

• a simple food/herb self-care kit of skills for everyday health

• your own health and food intake

• how our health is influenced by the soil, environment, emotions and other factors

• the healing qualities of plants and foods and how they act on our bodies/minds

• learning how to choose the appropriate food or herb for a specific condition

• mapping local food/herb growing and green spaces