The Herb Gardener's Essential Guide: Creating Herbal Remedies and Oils for Health & Healing

by Sandra Kynes

This straightforward guide provides readers with a fundamental understanding of how to use twenty eight common herbs to treat everyday ailments. It includes in-depth information on the herbs and their essential oils, instructions on making and using remedies, recipes for cooking with them, and a detailed guide to creating a garden.

Genres: Gardening

264 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2016

About the author

I describe myself as an explorer of myth and magic. My inquisitiveness has led me to investigate the roots of my beliefs and to integrate my spiritual path with everyday life. I like to develop creative ways to explore the world, which serves as the basis for my books. I have written nine books; numbers ten and eleven are in progress. In addition to writing, I am a yoga instructor and Reiki practitioner.

Reviews

[Dawn Thomas]

The Herb Gardeners Essential Guide by Sandra Kynes

264 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications, Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd
Release Date: April 8, 2016

Nonfiction, Health, Mind, Body, Outdoors, Healing, Nature, Plants, Herbs

The book is divided into the following parts and chapters.

Part 1: Creating an Apothecary Garden
Chapter 1: A History of Herbal Medicine
Chapter 2: Garden Design Past and Present
Chapter 3: Choosing Your Plants
Chapter 4: Bugs and Birds
Chapter 5: Tools and Personal Gear
Chapter 6: Let’s Get Going
Chapter 7: Preparing the Soil and Planting
Chapter 8: Maintaining Your Garden
Chapter 9: Window and Porch Gardens

Part 2: Preparing Herbs for Storage and Making Herbal Remedies
Chapter 10: Harvesting the Bounty of Your Garden
Chapter 11: After the Harvest
Chapter 12: Essential and Carrier Oil Basics
Chapter 13: Making Your Own Herbal Remedies
Chapter 14: Other Forms of Remedies
Chapter 15: Culinary Uses of Herbs for Good Health

Part 3: Herb Profiles

The book covers 28 easy-to-grow herbs. The author provides general precautions for using the herbs and encourages the reader to research herbal remedies before using any of the recipes in the book. To me, that is a responsible author. The book flows from creating a garden, to harvesting, and a list of herbs used for culinary and magical purposes. If you have an interest in herbs, this is an excellent resource.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for my collection. Taught me quite a bit about what I can use in my cabinet and my garden to help aid healing and health.

[Corinnagoodwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Felt like a textbook

[Elite Group · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going to be my all-time bible to the use of herbs.

What a truly fantastic book to find if, like me, herbs are an essential part of your life.

I discovered by accident, that I could keep my chronic fatigue and reasonably under control by going through my herb garden and picking a leaf off some lemon balm, or pennyroyal and rubbing the leaves or taking in their aroma and that this simple act had profound healing properties I hadn’t expected.

Sandra Kynes has taken growing herbs to a whole new level and more. She has written a book that is easy to read and easy to put into practice. There are chapters devoted to the care of the herbs while growing and others devoted to infusions or using the herbs in aroma therapy.

She never advocates that she knows more than a medical practitioner but what struck me was how we, here in the twenty first century have forgotten that for thousands of years’ healers across the continents have used herbs not just for flavouring cooking but as medicines. Herbs are still essential to us in this day and age and hopefully through reading this book, you too will start a herb garden and reap the benefits from it.

Congratulations Sandra Kynes, you have produced the ultimate guide for all to use in their discovery of how important herbs are in our lives.

Treebeard

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review. This book was probably one of the best all around herb gardening books I have read recently and certainly the most comprehensive for before and after the harvest: gardening, drying, and storing herbs to essential oils, and making herbal remedies. Although I am a huge fan of pictures, which this book does not have, it was so full of information that I let that slide. It even had an in depth plant profile.

[Polly Krize · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A nice, simple guide for beginning herb gardening, including drying and harvesting; also contains invaluable information for making tinctures and foot soaks. Even without photographs, this is an essential book for any gardener. Recommended.

[Linden · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent resource for gardening and harvesting herbs for medicinal and cosmetic use. Learn how to make tinctures, foot soaks, and more.