People are always asking me what books I recommend or what herb book to start with. The answer used to be simple, there were only a few good herb books and I had the same referrals for years.
In the past ten years there has been an explosion of interest in and information about herbal remedies. If you are just getting started on your herbal medicine journey, trying to figure out which herb book to buy turns out to be a monumental task. The amount of herb books out there now is nothing short of overwhelming!
Never fear! Do I have a great list for you!
You will find this list of my favorite herb books useful because I cut to the core, describing the gems of each book and why I like it.
Let’s just say I have lots of herb books. Multiple walls, shelved from floor to ceiling filled with colorful books about plants. Did you know that purple and green are the most common colors used for herb book covers? One glance at my shelves will illustrate the orchestration of multiple shades of green and purple chosen for herb books.
Most of these treasured books I have read, some I have not read and may never read. Then there are those books that I have used so much that the pages are taped and re-taped, worn and falling apart.
I never get bored of my library. The last time I re-organized it, it took me days, I just kept stopping and reading and thinking about how interesting it all is. The earth gives us the amazing gift of the plants for us to cook, clean, heal and create beauty with.
My grandfather gave me my first herb book when I was 20 years old. Wild Food Plants of the Sierra by Mary Thompson. Only to his dismay when he discovered that I left a good job to spend the summer in the high Sierra identifying and eating wild plants. It was the beginning of my herbal adventure and it continues to this day. That one little book helped to change the course of my life.
When I first started studying herbal medicine there were a few books available, The Herb Book by John Lust, A Modern Herbal Maude Greives, Herbs, Partners in Life by Adele Dawson and then of course the famous book by Jethro Kloss, Back to Eden. If you dug deep you could find old materia medica from the eclectics medicine practitioners, health practitioners who practiced herbal medicine in the United States up until the early 1900’s.
There are LOTS of new herb books. Herb books for identifying medicinal plants, herb books organized by ailment that list herbs for specific illnesses. Herb books that are alphabetically organized by common name of healing plants. Ayurvedic herb books, Chinese medicine herb books, herbal cook books (like The Herbal Kitchen☺) and herbal crafting books. The list goes on, where should you start?
Well, here you go!
Check out my Recommended Health and Wellness Books list. I have four categories in this list:
1) Herb books
2) Food wisdom books
3) Children’s health books
4) Health and Wellness
5) Women’s health and empowerment
Have fun!
HI Sue, Great I am glad you are enjoying The Herbal Kitchen!
High praise for that light green book front and center ” the Herbal Kitchen ” I use it all the time! Thank you for such a great book,s it is only a year old and is sporting many dog ears and spatters!