Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide

I absolutely love this book for so many reasons. I got really lucky, as this is my first book on this topic. I was not familiar with the Herbalist/author to be honest, but I'll be keeping an eye out for her books now! Okay, here's some things I love about the book: Perfect for beginners! I've been looking on Facebook, blogs, etc at herbal remedies and wanted so badly to get started but sometimes the "hows" can be overwhelming. This author takes all the fuzziness of the how-to's and spells out everything clearly. The first section of the book is fantastic because it gives EASY and specific directions on how to make: herbal teas, syrups, oils, salves, tinctures, pills, even herbal baths, poultices and compresses. She also includes some general information on dosage & duration for treatments too, and there's a random pages about storing, some basic items you'll need, measuring tips, etc. The beauty of this front part is that you can learn to make a tincture for example, and then go apply that to whatever herb or herb combination you want, with the herbs in this book, or with herbal things you find online or elsewhere. You can now easily look at an herb and know how to prepare it in tincture form (or other forms). The rest of the book is divided up into 33 common herbs (a few are spices) and information about them. Photos, a few words on growing (not instructional as much as a summary, ie; this herb likes dry sandy soil and spreads easily, etc), medicinal uses and then recipes using each herb. To be clear, it's not a full recipe book, so she simply throws in 2-3 recipe for each herb, medicinal or topical, to get you started. So you can pick an herb, choose a recipe or easily make it into a tea, tincture, etc with your new know-how from the first section of the book. I love it! I admit ignorance here, but I was amazed at how I could walk around my yard on the day I got the book and find several of the herbs she talks about! Growing right in front of my eyes all summer as "weeds" and I had no idea how useful they were. She covers 33 common ones, but if you're looking for an herb encyclopedia/A-Z book this isn't that. Finally I want to point out that the book style itself is great; a nice size, large enough to hold in your lap and read but small enough to carry around the yard to identify herbs as I did with it. Durable glossy cover and nice photos inside of the various herbs, methods, directions, etc. I especially appreciate the formatting style, using various fonts, sectioned off tidbits and tips, separate recipe graphics, the sides of the pages are marked with herb names, etc. A good index too. It makes it a perfect book to open at any page and peruse without needing to read from beginning to end. Today I wanted to see if vinegar can be substituted for alcohol in a tincture and I was easily able to flip to a page and see that yes, it can be substituted. It is well written and well designed and the author gives a nice little personal touch here and there that make you feel like a valued friend or relative is sharing her secrets with you. It's really the most impressive beginner reference book on any topic I've gotten lately. I find myself randomly picking it up to admire again, if only to familiarize myself with some herb photos or to see how to make a solar-infused oil with the dandelions I picked. I've only had the book for a few days and already I've learned so much! This book made herbal remedies far less intimidating and complicated for me and I see now how easy it is to make various remedies and with very little equipment or spending. Her suggested equipment list is a very basic list of just a few common kitchen items, nothing over-complicated. I can get so overwhelmed with grand ideas in books that I sometimes don't dare try anything for fear of messing it up or wasting a bunch of money. This book has given the perfectionist in me permission to be MUCH more relaxed in my approach to medicinal herbs and realize it's NOT so complicated after all to at least get started with the basics. Love this book!

Oh my God, I love this book! It clearly tells you what you need to plant and how to use it what parts and how to prepare it. And then it goes a step further and gives recipes for using it. I love the fact that it tells you what it helps with and I’ve already bookmarked several pages Now I just need to add to my garden the things I am missing. Thank you so much, Rosemary.

lots of information and a very nice book

Perfectly laid out. Easy to follow and has start to finish on ins and outs of growing, what for's & how to. And websites in the back of book in case ya just wanna buy herbs and also learn more info too. Her book is THEE BEST book out of the books I bought. It's so well put together with pics just so easy to get it done. Nice looking book too. The only down fall is I want it to be bigger with more in it or a series or more books like this one!

No one can dispute that Rosemary Gladstar knows her stuff. She writes about the uses of medicinal plants with the familiarity of someone who has used and understood them for a long time. As a budding herbalist (please pardon my pun), I have been slowly collecting books, recipes, and information to begin my own journey of familiarity. I enjoy the literary company of someone like Gladstar because she writes her books conversationally, making me feel like I can access this information and methods. This beautifully printed book is a sort of ten-feet-wide-two-inches-deep approach to herbal medicine (as it says, its a beginner's guide). I am using it as a launching pad to know which plants to cultivate (because it's really hard to choose!) and what methods to experiment with. Her recipes are simple, easy to follow, and though some use plants that I'll have to do some legwork to locate, I really like that the majority of the plants featured are ones that can be cultivated in most backyards and greenhouses with little trouble. I would love to give this book five stars, but I am hung up on the occasional, out-of-place mentions of fantasy. Alongside good, solid information about the cultivation of herbs, the chemical compounds that give them their potency, and effective ways to share them with your family, I stumble across lines like "It is whispered that fairies like to drink [lunar infusions]. Uses? Whenever a little magic is needed." I roll my eyes and feel that her credibility is lessened, albeit just temporarily. It's so hard to find a solid book on herbal medicine that doesn't stray toward some sort of superstitious/occultic weirdness. I enjoy books that explain how plants have healing properties...just not healing powers.

It's informative, doesn't cover all the herbs, but it gives you info for making tinctures and a variety of things for home health.

Sooo.....those weeds you have out in the backyard that are wreaking havoc are actually useful! Nettle even has its uses and me and that weed are definitely NOT friends! Then those bright yellow annoying demons that pop up EVERYWHERE...yup...you can make tea with them. And lets say your hiking and a swarm of mosquitoes attack you...got itchy skin or burning skin? Rip some of that Plantain you see literally everywhere off and apply it to that bite....Yes I've done it and yes it works! You can also make a Plantain salve with uses for burns, bug bites, rashes, minor skin irritations and itchy skin. I'm not new to the holistic health world. I own a ton of essential oils and a ton of herbs and love all the varieties of uses with either one or the other or combining them to make something useful. This book is perfect for beginners as well as novices. It lists the name of the plant, its uses, safety information, how to harvest and grow it, lots of color pictures and many amazing recipes that are really simple to make. Alot of the other ingredients you can find at your local whole foods store or order everything online. She breaks everything down so its easy to understand. Seriously, this book is perfect for anyone wanting to start using a more holistic approach to their health and well-being. When you look at all the toxic chemicals we eat and breathe, the pesticides we are ingesting, the unnecessary cocktail of medications the pharmaceutical companies shove down our throat and we basically are slaves to society about how to live, eat and take care of ourselves, this book is a welcoming breath of fresh air. It teaches us how to use simple plants and incorporate that into our lives. Even if you just take baby steps and incorporate a few things in the holistic way, your body will thank you for it and so will your pocketbook. Living holistically doesn't have to be expensive. Yes, there are a gazillion books on natural health, essentials oils, herbs etc but one of the MAIN things you want to look for is the credibility of the author writing it. Too many times I've seen books and e-books, online articles about ways to use essentials oils, herbs, tinctures, lotions, etc, but the dosing is wrong and there is no safety information. Just because its natural does NOT mean its safe!! So do your research, always, always, always!!! Rosemary GladStar is an excellent author and has been working with herbs for years. She also has a few other books as well and I would highly recommend them also!! Sorry this is long, but I wanted to be able to share a good review. I definitely don't leave good reviews for everything. I'm always honest and up front about the books, items I purchase. I hope my reviews are able to help you make a decision!

Wonderful book! Clear, concise and so informative- I’m excited to follow these recipes!!