Hi! I was wondering if you could help me a little? I just started getting into herbalism and I just love it, thought I don't know much, do you have good recommendations on books to read? Or any places to start to learn? Thanks! I love your blog by the way :)
Hey there! I’m so happy you want to learn more about herbalism! I love herbalism books so I’m happy to point you toward some favourites! Most of these are books required by my course (through The Living Centre, in London Ontario) and some are just ones I really value.
Alchemy of Herbs by Rosalee de la Forêt - I /love/ this book. It’s so practical and handy, especially for kitchen witchery or just working herbs into your every day use.
The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook by James Green.This one is a little more involved and had tons of amazing info! Not the prettiest book, but the info it contains is so so varied and thorough.
Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health by Rosemary Gladstar - This is a great little reference book with lots of recipes and a very good list of herbs and their uses and photos in the back, and i highly recommend anything that Rosemary Gladstar writes. She actually wrote the course that I’m taking.
Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs (Third edition) by Steven Foster and James A. Duke. A Field guide is invaluable to an herbalist. Not only for identifying plants but knowing their uses historically, and currently. Never rely solely on a field guide for identification though, always know with 500% certainty what a plant is before you use it.
Planting for the Future - edited by Rosemary Gladstar and Pamela King. this one concentrates on a few plant species that are native to North America and really goes in depth about those plants. You get a ton of info on each, and it’s especially important to know how to harvest native plants responsibly or else we end up with situations like goldenseal (wild populations are basically gone compared to how abundant it used to be.) It’s not just about harvesting though, it’s also so so in depth about uses and whatnot.
Culpeper’s Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper - This book is super old (originally published in 1653) so it’s scientific/medicinal information shouldn’t be trusted on it’s own, but it’s a fantastic reference book and piece of history. He also put planetary correspondences in there and such so it’s amazing for witches as well as people interested in herbalism!
One of my favourite ways to work herbalism education into my day to day life is through podcasts. I /love/ listening to fun podcasts that also teach something.
I highly recommend Real Herbalism Radio. They’re based in Eugene, OR and are funny people with deep, practical knowledge of herbalism and they bring on some great guests. To access all of their past podcasts (instead of just what’s currently available on their itunes or stitcher list) you can join their ‘Herbal Nerd Society’ and you get a ton of extras and lots of info.
Another favourite is HerbMentor Radio and while I’m not sure if it’ll be updated again, there’s still a ton of free podcasts to listen to available. These ones are a bit longer, but the guests he has on are /amazing./
And last but not least, Mountain Rose Herbs has made some of their talks available in podcast form through Herbal Radio. Though they aren’t uploaded all that often, it’s amazing to get the change to hear conferences, speakers etc at places that you couldn’t be in person. Rosemary Gladstar has done some on there and I just think she’s the greatest. (Especially because she’s witchy as well as practical.)
I hope this was helpful to you! Feel free to ask me about any of these, or other questions you might have!
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