Paul Richards’ love of plants began in early childhood when walking the lanes and fields of the wild Welsh border country around Knighton with his father, and inspired by his uncle who was a keen recorder of native plants.

He went on to study Botany at university in Bristol, then spent three years researching Plant Physiology in Aberdeen and a further year at the Institute of Plant Physiology in Moscow.  His time in Russia, where they maintain a very strong tradition of herbal healing, deepened his fascination with the herbal uses of native plants and strengthened his existing interest in the herbal traditions of his native Wales.

His first foray into organic herb growing started in Aberdeenshire in 1974, growing and using comfrey on a smallholding shared with others.  At that time, Lawrence Hills, founder of what is now Garden Organic, was championing its use as plant feed, animal feed,  and for its healing properties both internally and externally – and organic comfrey became a favourite herb for Paul.

The dream of a plot of land for growing organic herbs seriously was realised in 1983 – having by then moved to Herefordshire to be nearer family – when he bought a cottage with three quarters of an acre and purchased adjoining land  to give a  total of four and three quarter acres.

One of the first tasks along with cultivation was to register his land with the Soil Association to convert it to organic status.  During the two year conversion period,  a drier for the herbs was designed and built with the help and support of good friend and local retired architect Brian Richardson, a well-known ambassador for ‘self build’ organic comfrey was one of the first herbs Paul produced commercially.

The leaves were dried for Comfrey Tea and the roots to make a powder for animals suffering from arthritis.  Large quantities of the root were also sent to Potter’s Herbal Supplies for use in their Comfrey Tablets – which are sadly no longer available.  Paul grows the organic comfrey variety ‘Bocking 14’ selected by Lawrence Hills as the best for gardeners,  but also a variety with a high content of allantoin – one of the principle components that make comfrey so good at promoting cell renewal.  Both organic leaf and root were used to make organic Comfrey Oil and Ointment, and both are still sold through the Garden Organic catalogue. 

Paul also supplied many thousands of organic plants to gardeners both directly and through Garden Organic. Paul went on to develop a range of healing organic ointments (now known as Balms) using combinations of organinc herbal oils made on the farm, notably Calendula,  Chickweed,  Marshmallow and Hypericum.  

Ethnobotanist James Wong filmed the making of the blood red oil of Hypericum (St John’s Wort) on the farm for the second series of Grow your own Drugs on BBC2.
Customer feedback and the continuing success of the organic Balms highlighted the skin benefits of these and other  herbs grown on the farm,  inspiring the creation of  the herbfarmacy range for everyday organic skincare.   

The organic skincare products  harness  moisturising, anti-inflammatory and replenishing properties of key herbs to nurture and protect the skin. The original range was developed over one year of trials and research by Paul, his wife Carol, and the herbfarmacy team.
When Paul started growing and drying, he sold many different organic medicinal herbs to herbalist Hein Zeylstra who strongly encouraged him to explore growing Echinacea purpurea.  Back in the 1980s, this herb was popular in Europe but little known in this country.  For several years Paul carefully washed and sent around 70kg of the fresh whole plant to Hein for tincturing. The popularity of Echinacea exploded in 1990s and production increased to a peak when over 3.5 tonnes were grown for tincturing, supplying several brands. One of these was Postlethwaite’s, a brand subsequently acquired from founder and herbalist James Postlethwaite. The Postlethwaite’s range  was increased to over 20 organic tinctures made from fresh herbs grown on the farm.

In 2004, new herbal legislation was enacted in Europe in the form of the THMPD (Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive) which gave 7 years for companies to register tinture products as Traditional Herbal Remedies (THR), a process costing at least £15,000 per product.  For herbfarmacy this meant a potential fee of around £1/4 million – a sum quite out of reach for a small company.  Paul combined forces with three other small companies to explore joint registrations of tinctures made from freshly-harvested herbs, but in spite of this collaboration, only one product is likely to achieve a THR registration – potentially a tragic loss of many valuable home-grown herbal remedies.

The seven-year compliance period come to an end on the 30th April 2011, although shops can continue to sell existing stock.  This means Paul will continue to supply organic tinctures to his many customers whilst stocks last.

Meanwhile, the herbfarmacy organic skincare range has blossomed with several award-winning products, and in 2010 Carol and Paul opened their herbfarmacy shop in Hay-on-Wye.  It seems fitting that part of the business has come back to the Welsh side of the border where Paul’s interest in herbs was born.

In April 2011, herbfarmacy had two products selected in a shortlist of only four for the Best Organic Facial Skincare Award at Natural Products Europe. JUST EYES, a fragrance-free eye cream, won the award, and the other shortlisted product was a 100ml Spritzer version of herbfarmacy ROSE & ECHINACEA TONER.

Additionally herbfarmacy Organic Skincare ROSE FACE OIL won the 'Best Facial Skincare Award' at the Green Parent Natural Beauty Awards in 2011 and Paul and Carol Richards were voted in the Top 3 in The Natural Beauty Yearbook 2012 Who’s Who.

New products in the herbfarmacy organic skincare range continue to be developed with several due for launch in 2012.