Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide {Book Review}

Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs {Book Review}

Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide {Book Review}
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Print Friendly

As an herbalist, I absolutely adore reading all about herbal medicine and plants. And as a bookworm, I love whenever I can get my hands on an honest to goodness, crisp pages, colorful pictures, real life herb book. That’s why I was so excited to take a look at Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs, A Beginnner’s Guide.

My first introduction to Rosemary was when my husband gave me her book of Herbal Recipes for Christmas a few years ago. Since then, she’s become one of the herbalists I look up to. Her vast knowledge and understanding of herbal healing make her one of the greatest herbalists of our time in my opinion. Being a good herbalist is more than just head knowledge of a subject, it’s about having experience, over time finding what works, and that little bit of pixie dust where you just “know.” To me, Rosemary is one of those people.

Not only does she have over 35 years of experience in the field, but she co-founded the Traditional Medicinals Tea company AND Mountain Rose Herbs. Both of these companies sell amazing products that I use almost daily.

The Medicinal Herbs book showed me yet again just how much I love Rosemary’s work. The pages are filled with gorgeous photos, and the layout is very crisp and clear. It’s easy enough for an absolute beginner to understand, but it has plenty of recipes that will benefit even experienced herbalists.

Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide {Book Review}
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Print Friendly

The book starts off with what herbal medicine is; it’s rich history; and how we can keep the healing traditions alive. Rosemary even talks about how to start your own herbal garden, making these remedies even more affordable. I found her tips on how to properly dry and store herbs in this chapter particularly helpful.

The book then moves on to “Herbal Medicine 101.” In it, Rosemary covers how to properly make infusions, tinctures, decoctions, salves, syrups, pills, compresses and more. Even though I’ve been making herbal remedies for years, I still found this section helpful as a reference. Everything is clearly laid out and explained.

The bulk of the book though is a description of  33 different herbs, some of their uses and plenty of recipes to accompany each one. She begins by covering more common herbs, like basil, cayenne, rosemary (of course!), sage and thyme. She then moves on to lavender, chamomile, chickweed and tons of other plants.

Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide {Book Review}
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Print Friendly

I didn’t find very detailed guides on identifying the various parts of the herbs. However, there was a general overview of the plant appearance. The book also includes plenty of helpful tips on how to grow the herbs and lots of recipes.

There were plenty of recipes that used the herbs to help with medical complaints, like acne, slow liver function, arthritis, bug bites, menopause, and other issues. More than that though, there were lots of nutrient dense ways to use the herbs in food. Some of the ones I’m really looking forward to trying are ginger jam, pickled garlic, root beer tea and dandelion mocha! She also included some of her popular, time tested body care recipes, like her famous face cream.

I have a growing collection of herbal books on my shelf, but Rosemary’s continue to be some of my absolute favorites.

Check out the many DIY herbal remedies right here on Scratch Mommy!

Also, you should check out the herbal remedies in the Pronounce Skincare Shop (like my lavender-infused lotion.

Comments 12

  1. As a true beginner in this area, I am eager to learn as much as possible, starting with the drying and storing of the herbs. I figure if I can’t get this right, I won’t be able to make anything! Would love to have this book to start my journey into medicinal herbs.

  2. I look forward to learning anything from her. I have been following her for years now, but to have a tangible book in my hands is a very precious thing to me. Thank you for the chance to win such a wonderful prize, and whatever you add in with it, from your products will be awesome too, I know.

  3. Just starting on the journey of learning about herbs and how to use them. I am enjoying every bit of information I can find, so amazingly interesting! Love finding new ways to keep my family healthy, my home clean.

  4. This looks like a great read! I love finding new ways to keep our home and health natural and safe! I’m just beginning to learn and would love to win this book to help me on my journey! Your products would be an awesome addition!

  5. I am such a fan of Rosemary Gladstar and have one of her books, already, but I am excited about her guide to growing the herbs, as the book I have doesn’t go into that. I also would love to read her personal anecdotes, as those are my favorite parts of the other book.

  6. This seems just the book to start out with. Well explained and set out with enough ‘meat’ to get your teeth into. Would love to win it but it has gone on my TBR need to buy list anyway. Thanks for the opportunity.

  7. I just took my first traditional herbs and medicines class at a local historical village and would love a herbalism book to start my library!

  8. Thankful for this chance to learn more. I recently discovered the amazing blessing of herbs. They are in our everyday lives and the amount of toxins we can rid of our homes and bodies with Herbs is mind blowing and to be honest, very overwhelming. I have a desire to learn more especially about Rosemary and Plantain, the medicinal herbs that pack a serious punch! Ok, and Chamomile too!

  9. Funny, I was just talking with my husband about making a plantain salve. We have bees and we reach for the fresh plantain (he does the mouth poultice, I just crush it in my hands) but was looking to make something that was easier to use on the kids. Perfect timing! By the way, bee balm is also amazing for bee stings! Maybe I’ll do a batch with each herb and see how they compare. I’ll let you know the results!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *