Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs
On the book theme, after it was mentioned about what herbal books I love, I thought I should review them. I also bought several when Book Depository was closing and I have been so restrained to have put them away somewhere safe until the time I immerse myself in them. There are a lot of interesting ones out there and I know we are fortunate to have a wonderful herb library in Christchurch at the Avice Hill Centre.
Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs is one I often refer to. She is an American author and a well known herbalist. I have more than one of her books. She's very folksy with her ideas and I think that's more helpful and appealing for the home herbalist.
She features 33 herbs in her recipes and all but one of them are easily obtained in Canterbury. I think we can grow all that she mentions in our area, except Goldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis (and some of the tropical spices like cinnamon). Goldenseal is on the CITES endangered list and this makes it illegal to export the plants and seeds from the US and Canada. I actually think it's unethical to use it in practice (Coptis chinesis is a good substitute for me when I am making a formula for a client). She also features herbs and spices we can buy in most supermarkets.
Her growing instructions are useful for the backyard herbalist for troubleshooting in the garden. I think even those without green thumbs would be able to grow some of those she discusses in the book.
I love her information about herbs like Elder. This is a herb that has been revered in old times and such an important one to have, in my honest opinion. It is a relatively safe and oh so supportive of the immune system, I can see why for centuries it was considered magical.
She delves into the history of use and modern uses of the herbs she has featured and the resulting recipes are simple with lots of dedlious herbal teas, syrups and herbal pills.
I think my one gripe with this book is that it's compact at around 200 pages! Mine is a well thumbed volume and I have recommended it to many friends and clients.
It is available from bookstores like Fishpond.
https://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Rosemary-Gladstars-Medicinal-Herbs-Rosemary-Gladstar/9781612120058
