Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use

225 Pages·2016·37.97 MB·English

by  Rosemary Gladstar

Rosemary Gladstar’s
MEDICINAL
HERBS
A Beginner’s
Guide
ß
Storey Publishing
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Edited by Deborah Balmuth and Nancy Ringer
Art direction and book design by Jessica Armstrong
Cover photography © Jason Houston: front (top left & right, bottom left), back
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(top center, bottom right)
Interior photography by © Jason Houston, except as noted on page 218
Indexed by Nancy D. Wood
© 2012 by Rosemary Gladstar
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gladstar, Rosemary.
Rosemary Gladstar’s medicinal herbs : a beginner’s guide / by Rosemary Gladstar.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-61212-005-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Herbs—Therapeutic use. 2. Materia medica, Vegetable.
I. Title. II. Title: Medicinal herbs.
RM666.H33G538 2012
615.3'21—dc23
2011053101
To my lovely grandchildren,
Andrew Ethan Colvard and Lily
Marie Carpenter, the herbalists
of tomorrow
COnTEnTS
CHAPTER 1
Welcome to the Wonderful
World of Medicinal Herbs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
What Is a Medicinal Herb? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
How Is Herbal Medicine Used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Benefi ts of Herbal Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Starting a Home Medicine Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHAPTER 2
How to Make Your Own
Herbal Remedies
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Setting Up Your Kitchen Pharmacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Herbal Teas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Syrups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Oils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Salves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Tinctures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Herbal Pills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Baths, Poultices, and Compresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The Skinny on Dosage and Duration of Herbal Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4 |
CHAPTER 3
9 Familiar Herbs & Spices
to Grow and Use
Basil, 53 Garlic, 70 Sage, 86
Cayenne, 60 Ginger, 78 Thyme, 90
Cinnamon, 64 Rosemary, 83 Turmeric, 94
CHAPTER 4
24 Safe & Effective Herbs
to Know, Grow, and Use
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Aloe Vera, 102 Hawthorn, 144 Plantain, 188
Burdock, 107 Lavender, 149 Red Clover, 192
Calendula, 112 Lemon Balm, 156 St. John’s
Wort, 197
Chamomile, 117 Licorice, 161
Spearmint, 203
Chickweed, 121 Marsh Mallow, 166
208
Dandelion, 124
Echinacea, 129
Elder, 134
Goldenseal, 139
Resources
Credits
Index
CHAPTER 1
Welcome to the
Wonderful World
of Medicinal Herbs
RECOGNIZED AS THE OLDEST SYSTEM OF HEALING on the planet,
herbal medicine traces its roots back to the earliest civilizations.
Today, herbalism continues to flourish as a people’s healing art. Even
with the amazing technological advances of conventional (allopathic)
medicine, herbalism — the
art and science of healing
with plants — is still widely
popular. And its popularity
is gaining, not waning.
According to the World Health
Organization, 80 percent of
the world’s population used
some form of traditional
medicine in 2008, and its rate
of affordability, availability,
and accessibility is surging.
So it’s no wonder you’re drawn to these healing plants and
curious to learn more about them. But perhaps you’re nervous about
trying herbal home remedies: What are these herbs? Are they safe?
Do they work? Can you grow them at home? Can you make your own
remedies? When and how do you use them? How easy is it to get
started? These are some of questions we’ll address in this book.
6 |

My Story
I was one of the lucky ones. When I
was a child, my grandmother took me
into the fields and showed me the wild
plants she knew. Quietly, with a gentle
but stern voice, she taught me their
healing powers. When she weeded her
garden, I was often kneeling beside her,
watching her carefully sort the plants
she pulled. I learned early which herbs
went into the edibles basket and which
went into the compost, and, as impor-
tantly, I learned why.
We were a farm family growing up
in the wake of World War II. Resilient,
hardy, and handy, we were taught to use
what was available, useful, and inexpen- Here I am with my younger sister and one of the
calves on our family farm.
sive. Herbal remedies were one of those
things. My grandmother had up her
sleeve an armory of useful herbal rem-
edies that she had learned over a long
BOTANICAL BOOM
and difficult lifetime. She was a survivor
of the Armenian genocide of World War
I, and she told us grandkids that it had According to The Natural Pharmacy,
been her knowledge of plants and her by Schuyler Lininger et al., one
faith in God that saved her life. out of every three adult Americans
As kids, we suffered few illnesses or uses complementary/alternative
accidents that our grandmother and medical care. Sales of botanicals
parents weren’t able to treat effectively have increased more than 300 per-
at home with herbal remedies. In fact, I cent since the 1990s and currently
recall only two incidents that required are an $8 billion industry.
a doctor’s care: when my younger sister
swallowed rat poison (she survived,
by the way) and when my older sister five active farm children . . . and good
fell off the family horse and broke her testament to the effectiveness of herbal
hip. Not a bad record for a family with home remedies.
8 | welcome to the wonderful world of medicinal herbs
What Is a Medicinal Herb?
If you use herbs in cooking, then you’ve cabbage (a singularly effective poultice
already taken the fi rst step in using for shingles and hives).
herbal medicine. All of our common culi- But wait, you might say, aren’t some
nary herbs and spices are among our of these plants vegetables and not
most important and esteemed herbal herbs? Botanically speaking, an herb is
medicines. And if you garden, tucking an herbaceous plant with a nonwoody
herbs here and there in your vegetable stem. However, when herbalists speak
and fl ower beds for their added scent of medicinal herbs, they are basically
and beauty, then you also have been including any plant that can be used in
“practicing” herbal medicine. healing. Remember, herbalism is an art
Garden herbs such as lavender, that evolved over centuries around peo-
thyme, sage, basil, rosemary, mint, yar- ple and people’s needs. It only makes
row, and peppermint are some of our sense that people would use what they
most trusted herbal medicines and have had available, in the kitchen or in the
long histories of use as teas, salves, backyard. Many of the most common
poultices, and tinctures for healing plants are still our best and most popu-
purposes. Open your refrigerator and lar remedies for common ailments.
you may fi nd more common herbal rem- So even without knowing it, you may
edies, including horseradish (one of the already be a practitioner of herbal home
what is a medicinal herb? | 9