Healing Herbs: How to Grow, Store, and Maximize Their Medicinal Power

Description

Dig into the world of herbal medicine with this complete guide to cultivating and harvesting plants with healing properties. For thousands of years, people have been utilizing herbs and cultivating weeds found to speed the healing of wounds, soothe skin irritations, calm uneasy stomachs, and ward off illnesses. In these pages, you'll learn the basics of gardening in your backyard-or on your windowsill or porch-including instructions for: Garden design Composting Garden maintenance Harvesting Recipes for salves, lotions, and poultices And more! You'll also find profiles of useful herbs that are easy to grow or wildcraft, along with inspiring stories, medicine-making instructions, and recipes for your home medicine chest. Known to boost immunity, reduce blood pressure, aid digestion, and relieve arthritis among other medicinal properties, powerful plants such as garlic, Echinacea, yarrow, elderflower, mint, elecampane, and many more are included in this illustrated guide.

Dede Cummings is the author of The Organic Composting Handbook, The Good Living Guide to Beekeeping, and coauthor of The Medicinal Gardening Handbook. She is a publisher, book agent, avid gardener, and healthy living enthusiast. She lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, in a house built by her husband, Steve Carmichael. Alyssa Holmes is the herbalist and apothecary manager at the Brattleboro Holistic Health Center in southern Vermont. She is the coauthor of The Medicinal Gardening Handbook. Her training includes studying with Rosemary Gladstar of Sage Mountain Herbs, Barbara Fahs on the Big Island of Hawaii, and the American Institute of Vedic Studies. Alyssa grows medicinal herbs and makes medicine for her clients and family on her homestead in Brattleboro, Vermont.