It's getting to be that season, the time of year when we make big steaming pots of healing broths on the stove and bundle up in woolen scarves and hats, trying to evade the ever present germies lurking in the air. I've got some essential oils and special throat drops headed this way and I'm feeling the urge to start brewing up some home remedies just in case.
My wonderful mother-in-law got me The Herbal Home Remedy Book by Joyce Wardell and while I haven't tried out the recipes yet, I have lazily thumbed through the pages, dog-earing ones here and there and making mental lists of supplies.
The book has a comfortable, homey feel to it. The notes and stories feel as if they were passed down from wise old grandmas. The simple illustrations give the impression that this is not rocket science, but something natural that even a child could (and should) learn. While being simple and direct in its teaching style, the book is still quite comprehensive. It covers everything a home herbalist would really want to know, from gathering your supplies to preserving and then using the herbs.
Some of the recipes I'm itching to try are the cold season remedy (this seems like a good thing to make a lot of and keep on hand!), the fast-healing salve (it promotes rapid cell growth to heal wounds quickly with less scarring), herbal pastilles. She recommends lavender, mint or rose petals for the pastilles- yum! And mentions that the material is much like play dough and can use the energy of many little hands to roll it into tiny balls. What a perfect rainy day activity that would be for house bound little ones.
I love that she has a whole chapter on stocking the herbal medicine cabinet, such that a novice like myself has somewhere to start from. The book is completely accessible for a beginner without being condescending. And towards the end she has a thorough A-Z guide for curing what ails you. It's a lovely and useful book and I'm so glad to have it in our family library.
A wonderful source for herbs and various supplies is Mountain Rose Herbs. And if you aren't up to making the concoctions yourself, they have organic lotions, potions and tonics all mixed up for you!
images from Avena Botanicals, another great source for herbs and products and one of my favorite places to stroll through when home in Maine.
