The Rhythm of the Year with Hanka Zemanová – June

The white flowers of the elder tree seem to open a symbolic gateway not only to bright, warm days, but also to the best time for gathering and drying medicinal herbs. Nature is at its peak. Energy flows outwards, and flowers are fragrant and radiant across the landscape, just like us. For women who honour the monthly cycle, June is something like ovulation. It's when our charisma shines brightest; according to Chinese medicine, this is the time of fire, the heart, and the small intestine. • What foods and drinks naturally cool us down in the heat without disrupting our internal balance? • Which herbs belong in a home pharmacy, and which ones help teenage girls and women at every stage of life? • How can you prepare the best fermented cordials from elderflower, rose, or linden blossoms? • Why is the state known as 'heart coherence' so healing for us? And when do we experience it in our daily lives? Hanka Zemanová She graduated from the Faculty of Education, but instead of teaching children in school, she teaches people how to eat more healthily and naturally. She has written four bestselling books: The Organic Cookbook (Biokuchařka), The Organic A–Z (BioAbecedář), and The New Organic Cookbook (Nová biokuchařka), which have sold almost 80,000 copies. In 2021, she completed her most beautiful and comprehensive book to date, Rhythm of the Year (Rytmus roku). Hanka was involved in the founding of Pro-BioLiga (now Lovime.bio) and Biopekárna Zemanka. She loves the saying: 'Though the father of the disease be unknown, the mother is always diet,' and therefore considers honest food the simplest way to reduce the 'chemical cocktail' in our bodies and in nature. She shows that organic is not a trend or an unnecessary luxury, but an ever-increasing necessity—for the soil, groundwater, biodiversity, and for our own resilience and immunity. Hanka comes from Prague but has lived in the countryside near Sedlčany since 2006. She is the mother of two daughters, Natálka and Eliška.