Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide

I absolutely love this book for so many reasons. I got really lucky, as this is my first book on this topic. I was not familiar with the Herbalist/author to be honest, but I'll be keeping an eye out for her books now! Okay, here's some things I love about the book: Perfect for beginners! I've been looking on Facebook, blogs, etc at herbal remedies and wanted so badly to get started but sometimes the "hows" can be overwhelming. This author takes all the fuzziness of the how-to's and spells out everything clearly. The first section of the book is fantastic because it gives EASY and specific directions on how to make: herbal teas, syrups, oils, salves, tinctures, pills, even herbal baths, poultices and compresses. She also includes some general information on dosage & duration for treatments too, and there's a random pages about storing, some basic items you'll need, measuring tips, etc. The beauty of this front part is that you can learn to make a tincture for example, and then go apply that to whatever herb or herb combination you want, with the herbs in this book, or with herbal things you find online or elsewhere. You can now easily look at an herb and know how to prepare it in tincture form (or other forms).The rest of the book is divided up into 33 common herbs (a few are spices) and information about them. Photos, a few words on growing (not instructional as much as a summary, ie; this herb likes dry sandy soil and spreads easily, etc), medicinal uses and then recipes using each herb. To be clear, it's not a full recipe book, so she simply throws in 2-3 recipe for each herb, medicinal or topical, to get you started. So you can pick an herb, choose a recipe or easily make it into a tea, tincture, etc with your new know-how from the first section of the book. I love it! I admit ignorance here, but I was amazed at how I could walk around my yard on the day I got the book and find several of the herbs she talks about! Growing right in front of my eyes all summer as "weeds" and I had no idea how useful they were. She covers 33 common ones, but if you're looking for an herb encyclopedia/A-Z book this isn't that.Finally I want to point out that the book style itself is great; a nice size, large enough to hold in your lap and read but small enough to carry around the yard to identify herbs as I did with it. Durable glossy cover and nice photos inside of the various herbs, methods, directions, etc. I especially appreciate the formatting style, using various fonts, sectioned off tidbits and tips, separate recipe graphics, the sides of the pages are marked with herb names, etc. A good index too. It makes it a perfect book to open at any page and peruse without needing to read from beginning to end. Today I wanted to see if vinegar can be substituted for alcohol in a tincture and I was easily able to flip to a page and see that yes, it can be substituted.It is well written and well designed and the author gives a nice little personal touch here and there that make you feel like a valued friend or relative is sharing her secrets with you. It's really the most impressive beginner reference book on any topic I've gotten lately. I find myself randomly picking it up to admire again, if only to familiarize myself with some herb photos or to see how to make a solar-infused oil with the dandelions I picked. I've only had the book for a few days and already I've learned so much!This book made herbal remedies far less intimidating and complicated for me and I see now how easy it is to make various remedies and with very little equipment or spending. Her suggested equipment list is a very basic list of just a few common kitchen items, nothing over-complicated. I can get so overwhelmed with grand ideas in books that I sometimes don't dare try anything for fear of messing it up or wasting a bunch of money. This book has given the perfectionist in me permission to be MUCH more relaxed in my approach to medicinal herbs and realize it's NOT so complicated after all to at least get started with the basics. Love this book!

Rosemary Gladstar is a renowned herbalist and teacher who's had more than 40 years of experience working with herbs. She is highly respected by herbalists around the world, and she grew up around nature and herbs. Rosemary knows exactly what she's talking about, and I love reading this book and highlighting pertinent information. It's easy to simply read from front to back, it's filled with bright pictures and glowing compassion, and all the basic knowledge you need to begin making your own herbal medicine.There are plenty of great recipes for natural salves, lotions, teas, tonics, tinctures, herbal remedies, bath products, poultices, liniments, cough syrrups, herbal pills, and more in this book, followed by easy instructions and thorough explanations. Although this book is perfect for beginners, I believe it's useful to have on hand for those who are more experienced herbalists. It's a handy reference book that covers various important medicinal herbs, followed by original recipes for bodycare products and herbal teas.Rosemary Gladstar is very honest, passionate, and poignant in her writing, readily admitting to her own mistakes and disorganization. I find her openness and creativity endearing; it adds warmth and humanizes this wonderful book. It feels as if she's talking directly to you, helping you make herbal remedies, right at your side. "Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs" is a beautiful, informative book that every student of herbalism should own. And if you want to begin your own herbal garden, this is the perfect place to start. She's got your back. 💖

Lots of great recipes and beginners information!

Was actually going to buy a different medicinal herb book but decided to try this one instead. Glad I did. Very well written and easy to understand. The quality of this book is better than any of the other ones I’ve bought and it was half the price. Beautiful color pictures. Good resource for anyone starting out in med herbs.

No one can dispute that Rosemary Gladstar knows her stuff. She writes about the uses of medicinal plants with the familiarity of someone who has used and understood them for a long time. As a budding herbalist (please pardon my pun), I have been slowly collecting books, recipes, and information to begin my own journey of familiarity. I enjoy the literary company of someone like Gladstar because she writes her books conversationally, making me feel like I can access this information and methods.This beautifully printed book is a sort of ten-feet-wide-two-inches-deep approach to herbal medicine (as it says, its a beginner's guide). I am using it as a launching pad to know which plants to cultivate (because it's really hard to choose!) and what methods to experiment with. Her recipes are simple, easy to follow, and though some use plants that I'll have to do some legwork to locate, I really like that the majority of the plants featured are ones that can be cultivated in most backyards and greenhouses with little trouble.I would love to give this book five stars, but I am hung up on the occasional, out-of-place mentions of fantasy. Alongside good, solid information about the cultivation of herbs, the chemical compounds that give them their potency, and effective ways to share them with your family, I stumble across lines like "It is whispered that fairies like to drink [lunar infusions]. Uses? Whenever a little magic is needed." I roll my eyes and feel that her credibility is lessened, albeit just temporarily. It's so hard to find a solid book on herbal medicine that doesn't stray toward some sort of superstitious/occultic weirdness. I enjoy books that explain how plants have healing properties...just not healing powers.