Well-Worn Pages & Herbal Wisdom: My Favorite Books for Building Your Home Apothecary
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From the Bookshelf
There’s something sacred about a book that’s been pulled off the shelf a hundred times. Dog-eared corners, smudges from soil-covered hands, maybe a few splashes of tea across the pages… these are the marks of a book that’s been loved, lived in, and leaned on in seasons when you just needed answers—fast.
Whether you’re brand new to herbalism or you’ve already got a shelf of mason jars filled with tinctures and dried herbs, having a trusted stack of books nearby makes all the difference. These books have walked with me through sick days, scraped knees, anxious hearts, and many, many cups of tea brewed with purpose.
So, for the budding home herbalist—or even the one who’s a few years into this journey and wants to deepen their roots—here’s my list of tried-and-true herbal books that have shaped my own apothecary practice.
I sited the descriptions from the publishers so you can get a good sense of what each book provides.
My Favorite Books for the Home Herbalist
By JJ Pursell
“A brilliant addition to any library.” —Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and bestselling author
More and more people are exploring the healing possibilities of plant-based medicines, and health shops across the country now stock their shelves with natural remedies, but treatments can easily be made at home. The Herbal Apothecary profiles 100 of the most important medicinal plants with striking photographs and step-by-step instructions for making herbal teas, tinctures, compresses, and salves to treat everything from muscle strain to the common cold or anxiety. This holistic guide also includes advice for the home gardener on growing and foraging for medicinal plants.
Incorporating traditional wisdom and scientific information, The Herbal Apothecary provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to plant-based medicine. With the guidance of naturopath JJ Pursell, herb enthusiasts can learn how to safely create their own remedies using plants they know and love.
(Source:Publisher)
‘The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook’
By James Green
Create a holistic, at-home pharmacy tailored to your lifestyle with this definitive resource for making affordable herbal remedies that can restore gut health, lower blood pressure, combat anxiety, and more, from the renowned herbalist and co-founder of the American Herbalists Guild.
Herbal medicine-making has been a fundamental staple of human nutrition and health for millennia. In The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook, celebrated herbalist James Green explores the numerous benefits of plants and herbs and shows how you, too, can harness them in your daily life. Budget-friendly and easy to make, herbal remedies have extraordinary capabilities for alleviating insomnia, treating infections, soothing headaches, and many other vital benefits. Learn how to erase the stresses of modern life with this invaluable handbook that includes:
• Comprehensive charts of different herbs and their healing properties
• A short list of easy-to-find equipment for making solvents, infusions, tinctures, creams, lozenges, and more
• Instructions on how to garden, harvest, and store your own herbs
• Recipes for anti-fungal lotions, cough-suppressing syrups, earache-relieving oil infusions, and pain-relieving poultices, to name a few
• And so much more!
Armed with The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook, you’ll gain the confidence and knowledge to create your own natural remedies at home so you can combat any ailment that comes your way.
(Source:Publisher)
‘The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using Plants as Medicine’
By Matthew Wood
Hailed as a “classic” by leading herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, this botanical compendium provides a wide-ranging history of herbalism and useful guidance for healing with herbs
Matthew Wood is one of the United States’ most renowned herbalists and the author of Seven Herbs: Plants as Healers, a watershed book in teaching herbal healing as a part of total wellness. With The Book of Herbal Wisdom, he continues and expands this study, creating a must-read guide for anyone who works in the natural health field or is interested in self-healing with herbs.
Wood creates a vast and sweeping history of herbalism, drawing on Western botanical knowledge, homeopathy, Traditional Chinese medicine, and Native American shamanic botany. Detailing the history and use of more than forty plants, he shows how each tradition views a plant, as well as its use in cases drawn from his own herbal and homeopathic practice. An initial section describes signatures, similar, and patterns in these traditions, and elements, temperaments, and constitutions. Wood has two objectives: to demonstrate how herbal medicines are agents of healing and wisdom, and to give the reader a useful catalog of plants for medicinal uses. His clinical observations of his patients bear the wry wisdom of the country doctor; his love of plants is evident in lush botanical descriptions, which show the connection between remedies—whether homeopathic, Chinese, or Native American—and the plants from which they are derived.
(Source:Publisher)
By: Rosemary Gladstar
Herbal remedies can provide safe and effective treatment for common childhood ailments ranging from diaper rash and teething to sore throats and conjunctivitis. In this Storey BASICS® guide, Rosemary Gladstar shows you how to prepare soothing salves, syrups, tablets, and teas that support children’s health. With simple instructions, clear dosage guidelines, and in-depth profiles of 24 medicinal herbs, you’ll soon be confidently easing your child’s achy flu with some hibiscus tea and using the healing properties of nettles to combat bouts of hay fever.
(source: Publisher)
By: Amy Fewell
The Homesteader's Herbal Companion is a beautiful guide for the modern day homesteader. From learning how to incorporate herbs and essential oils around your home, to learning how to enhance your family's health and well-being, this book is the go-to guide for those wishing to live a more natural homesteading lifestyle. This book takes readers through the basics of herbalism, including the different types of herbs and the uses for them around the homestead. It also breaks down how herbs are used in tinctures, salves, essential oils, and infused oils. Better yet, if you're a homesteader with livestock, you'll learn how to maintain their health holistically as well. With an array of beautiful photos and easy to read terminology, just about any homesteader, new or seasoned, can learn from The Homesteader's Herbal Companion, and finally feel comfortable incorporating the many wonderful qualities of herbs around their homes.
(Source: Publisher)
The Earthwise Herbal Repertory: The Definitive Practitioner's Guide
By Matthew Wood
Discover the healing applications of a wide variety of medicinal plants with this first comprehensive herbal repertory from an internationally known herbalist
Expert herbalist Matthew Wood takes the guesswork out of the application of medicinal plants. Here, he provides an invaluable cross-reference of constitutional types, energetic categories, and specific systems—so herbalists can more easily identify the right remedies for a specific condition. Unlike many reference books in which medicinal plants are defined simply by condition or disease name, this book offers tools for differentiating between remedies and analyzing each case in a holistic fashion. While this system of cross-referencing is well known to homeopaths, it is less frequently used by herbalists.
The Earthwise Herbal Repertory seeks to bridge the gap between different healing systems, incorporating knowledge from ancient Greek and traditional Native American medicine, nineteenth-century botanical medicine, homeopathy, and modern biomedical research. This definitive repertory proves useful for homeopaths and herbalists, professionals and home practitioners alike.
(source : Publisher)
Want More Herbal Wisdom?
If you’re hungry for more real-talk herbal education, seasonal tips, tried and true recipes, homestead goodness and old-fashioned home care (without the noise of social media), join my email list over at A Heritage Life. I send out recipes, practical how-to’s, and the kind of front-porch encouragement we all need a little more of.
Let’s keep growing, friend.
With muddy hands and a grateful heart,
Jen
