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Are you wanting to learn more about herbal remedies? Herbs can really help your body heal faster, you can amaze your family as you learn about the different herbs for healing common health issues arise from time to time. You just might want to add all of these 7 amazing must get beginner herbal books for your own library today.
I’ve been dabbling in herbal remedies for years and years. You can find a strange assortment of “witchy stuff” as my dad calls it tucked in the dark corners of my kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Anything from jars of dried herbs hanging here and there, to jars of green liquid with twigs, leaves, and flowers floating in them that I’ve gathered from my herb garden over the year.
How Do I Become A Herbalist?
Well, it’s really trial and error.
Not all of the herbal remedies has turned out for me, like last years project of lovely jars of herbs in different oils, but I have no idea what’s in them. All of my labels weren’t protected from the oils running down the side of the jars and before I knew it, all my writing was gone. I had to chuck the whole lot.
But I’ve made some winners over the years and my most prized concoction was the year I made herbal salve with echinacea and lavender. Recipe in this book.
It was amazing!
And the best part was I had enough to give to my family to use and everyone loved it. Yay!
What Are The Best Books For The Aspiring Herbalist?
If you love books and are an aspiring herbalist like myself then the first thing you’re thinking is to get a good herb book to read. I find that I learn more from several books, than just looking on the web.
I have a boatload of herbalism books. I confess to being a book hoarder. Don’t get me wrong I love love my kindle but not for books that I need to work in, like crafts and herbs.
I wanted to put a list of herbal books together for this post, the ones that are really the best that I have myself in my own library. the ones that I just love and refer back to over and over again. It was hard to just pick 7 of them. But I narrowed down my list thinking of the aspiring herbalist and this is the book I use the most out of all of them.
7 Herb Herbalism Books For Beginners
The following is a list of 7 herbal books for beginners and the one book you should get first. It was hard to pick just one from my collection. And I’ve been doing this for a while now.
Best Herbal Remedies Books By Rosemary Gladstar
Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs is considered the bible of herbology. Not only does she take you through different herbs and their uses. She discusses how to extract what you need from the herbs.
Growing methods and techniques that will help you yield the most bounty during their harvest. It is the Go-to book that is ideal for aspiring beginners, but can also benefit seasoned professionals.
What Makes this Book Different
The completion of the book is what makes Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs stand
out from others. Most herbal books on the market are either very basic, telling you only
what the herb does and a few applications, or they stick to just growing methods.
Very few offer what her book does by giving you everything from start to finish that you need to know about the herb and herbal practices. Now, it does not go over every herb of course, but it does give you an overview of the ones that are common and can be used in a number of ways.
I found out about Rosemary when I first started to learn about herbs, she has such a wonderful way of teaching.
I bought all of her books and bought more than one copy of her Family Herbal Book so I could give one to my family. I loved it that much.
Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs Book
When it comes to learning the art of medicinal herbs, herbology, and the growing and usage of herbs there is one name that stands out. Rosemary Gladstar is the leading authority in the field of herbal remedies and medicine. Her books and techniques are used in herbology programs around the world and by solo practitioners who want to learn on their own from the best.
It is no surprise that her book, Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs is a best seller and a staple in many libraries around the world. If you have not read this book or you are considering purchasing it for your own studies, here are some things to know.
This book is practical for everyday use and reference if you plan on using herbs for medicinal purposes. It can help you extract what you need, learn your herbology craft, and really develop your own tinctures and supplies.
If you are planning on just using herbs to cook, it can be helpful for you if you will be growing and storing your own herbs. Rosemary is just that Awesome! So are her books!
Old School Type Herbal Remedies Book
The 
How To Herb Book I’m so excited to see that you can buy it again at a reasonable price! Last time I looked you couldn’t buy one for under $100. This is one of the best old herbal medicine book! While you still can. It is one of the best books I have, as you can tell by the picture it is really beat up. Written in 1984 it is a treasure trove of information. I didn’t know it at the time, but I wrote about my gallbladder problem. I should have just looked in this book!
It’s almost the very same thing I did to get rid of my gallstones. This book is Amazing! It has an index in the back of the book for easy to find issues. Like Food Poisonings it just says -Eat 1 or 2 head iceberg lettuce. Yep that will have you running to the bathroom in no time. 🙂 Simple yet effective advice. I call it my Grandma Doctor Book! Really you need to get this book for sure!
For The More Advanced Study
Practical Herbalism, I’ve had this book forever. It was printed in 2004 by Philip Fritchey MD. This book tells you how to make herbal Remedies like salves and ointments, Tinctures and all the herbal preps, then it tells you what each herb does, like the “Actions” or what the herb is good for like “Digestives”. Then it gives you what the most common herbs will do for you like “Poke” My Grandmother loved this plant, I did to, I used the berries as ink, when I played outside as a kid. The book gives you a table of what you can use it for and any precautions, like (Internal- Infusion, Powder, Tincture and then External).
Also, what to use it for such as Arthritis, Blood Toxicity and Constipation, then it tells you what to use such as Infusion, Tincture and what herb you can combine with. I would say this is for the more advanced herbalist and have headache bookmarked, but don’t really use it much, it does have nice pictures of the plants, colored in the front of each chapter about the plant. And it has a bunch of information and different illnesses in the back of the book for easy reference to the book. It would really be nice in your library of herbal medicines.
What Are 10 Medical Plants?
Making Plant Medicine I have the older 2000 addition of this book, it’s nice reference book on plants and its uses, also the basic herbal remedies 101 on tinctures and such, that you can find in most herbal books. I bought this because I bought some of my seeds from them years ago. They have an updated book but it might have the same information, not sure.
Edible Wild Plants A North American Field Guide This is a must have book if you’re going to look for herbal weeds to harvest in the wild. The pictures are colored and wonderful. I’ve used it to look up all kinds of weeds to see what they are and if I can use them. Also the all important section on poisonous plants in the back. Very important.
Wise Woman Ways, Real Witchy Stuff Here
Wise Woman Herbal Healing Wise Susan Weed is an AMAZING Herbalist Some of her stuff is a little strange. But she knows herbs and how to use them. I’ve made many of her herbal nourishing drinks for years. I need to make some more nettle “pond water” my hubs calls it. But it makes us feel awesome. Anyway her books rock! My Green allie is Chickweed! What’s yours?
For DIY Homemade Herbal Products -This Book Is AWESOME!
101 Easy Homemade Products for The Beginner Aspiring Herbalist
101 Easy Homemade Products For Skin, Health & Home I just found Jan Berry in my homesteading network, she has the blog The Nerdy Farm Wife. When I saw her book I bought it right away. I’m drooling over some of the recipes she has in this amazing book. I can’t wait to make some lotion bars. I’ve always wanted to make them and Jan has a recipe for just that and Five Thieves Vinegar Spray. Can’t wait to tell you all the things you can do with it.
How Do I Become A Herbalist?
You don’t have to go to school to become a herbalist. It’s more like a lifetime of study, learning a little bit here and there, from different books or just from going out and trying different things, on yourself first of course. Then over time, when things work out you feel more confident sharing these findings with your friends and family. But you can say your a herbaist without any collage credit or degree.
And it’s not just about growing herbs, which you can if you want to, it will help you learn easier, just studying one plant at a time. But you can also just learn about herbal supplements to help you become healthier, or to treat a cold. Herbal remedies are amazing and the rewards from using them are too.
There’s just no one size fits all. Do it the hippy way and learn about herbs and mother nature on your own. One step at a time. But if you do want to learn from a more professional system. I recommend the following.
What is the best herbalist school?
If you would rather learn from a school type environment then I suggest you learn online. That way you can study at your own pace in the comfort of your home. I recommend Herbal Academy as they have several different online courses you can take, starting with the beginner course. They come highly recommended from the herbal community. Find out more in the link below.
Click Here >>To Learn More About The Herbal Academy Introductory Herbal Course
Herbalism for beginners PDF
If your looking for a great place to get resources to help you learn more about herbal medicine then this list is perfect place to start. There’s a great list to get you going in the right directions, from downloads to Facebook groups. Be sure and bookmark that page and visit it again and again.
Click Here for >>25 Free Herbal Resources
Conclusion
I hope this has helped to get you started in this facinating world of herbs and mother nature. If you have a secret passion to learn more about them just start reading about one plant that has tickled your fancy lately and I be you find out that it might be just what your body needs right now. Chances are it’s growing right by your door on in your garden already. Herbs are amazing and they will find you if you only take a look around and listen when they whisper in your ear, they have a message for you.
Happy Herbal Healing!
Michelle 🌸
Related Blog Posts You Might Be Interested in Reading
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Hi! I'm Michelle. You can find me planning, cooking, and often wrangling chickens in my spare time (who am I kidding? I have no spare time). I am the CEO and creator for homesteadingforwomen.com. All posts are reviewed and updated personally by ME - if you have any questions, feel free to contact me here.
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