Herbs: Healing Gardening and Cooking with Wild Plants

Description

- Clear directions for growing and using many wild and cultivated herbs. - Detailed pen-and-ink drawings help readers identify 70 herbs. With irresistible enthusiasm and an endless store of knowledge about the plant kingdom, herbalist Adele Dawson traces the human-plant relationship through the seasons, providing practical and enlightening information about every aspect of herbalism, including spring foraging, summer gourmet gardening, the preparation of remedies in autumn, and the brewing of healing potions in winter. The mysteries of preparing infusions, decoctions, tinctures, and essences are unraveled through the author's clear and cohesive chapters on how to identify, collect, and preserve herbs. Detailed pen-and-ink drawings show the essential elements of flower and leaf anatomy as well as 70 wild and cultivated plants in their budding, blossoming, and dormant stages. Sprinkled throughout the text are recipes for impromptu wild feasts such as milkweed buds tempura, directions for soothing hand lotions of marigold and milk, and an enormous variety of medicinal and culinary teas. In equal measure an herbal encyclopedia, a health-food cookbook, and a nature guide, this book deserves a place on the reference shelf of both the new and experienced herbalist.

Adele G. Dawson was a renowned herbal elder and wise woman who lived in the hills of Vermont.

"A classic and masterpiece, like the author herself, Herbs: Partners in Life is eminently useful, practical, and full of wisdom and wit. It holds an honored place on the shelf of almost every herbalist I know." * Rosemary Gladstar, author of Herbal Healing for Women * "A book with substance written by a true herbalist." * Making Scents, Winter/Spring 2002 *