The herbal handbook for home & health : 501 recipes for healthy living, green cleaning & natural beauty

1697 Pages·2015·10.04 MB·English

by  Waller

“Zowie! One of my favorite herbal authors hits a home run again! I didn’t know
you could do so many things with herbs. Pip Waller stretches the herbal
imagination!”
Matthew Wood, herbalist and author of The Book of Herbal Wisdom
“Another wonderful, very useful, and incredibly beautiful book from Pip Waller.”
Stephen Buhner, herbalist, earth poet, and award-winning author of The Lost Language
of Plants
“Pip, a successful and experienced herbalist, has put together a wonderful
compendium of her own and her colleagues’ favorite recipes.”
Eliot Cowan, founder of the Blue Deer Center, New York, and author of Plant Spirit
Medicine
“This is an amazing resource full of recipes for a wide variety of daily living and
healing products. Great for our health and the environment! I recommend it to
anyone who wants to live well and develop a deeper relationship with the products
that they use.”
Michael Vertolli, founder of the Living School of Herbalism, Canada
“This book of recipes has many gems, which will delight everyone from
experienced professional herbalists to herb-loving beginners. A truly creative and
inspirational book.”
Lucy Harmer, author of Shamanic Astrology
“Having known Pip for approaching thirty years, her ongoing commitment to
herbal medicine and health care is as fervent now as it was then. Drawing on her
own and colleagues’ knowledge, The Herbal Handbook for Home and Health offers a
practical, encyclopedic guide on how to make, prepare, and use home remedies.”
Steve Kippax, former president of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists
“This essential compendium will delight and excite each and every reader, whether
they are an herbalist or have a more general interest in the subject. It is an
indispensible guide with easy-to-follow recipes and lovely illustrations. A must-
have text for anyone interested in domestic alchemy.”
have text for anyone interested in domestic alchemy.”
Dedj Leibbrandt, fellow of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists
THE
HERBAL
HANDBOOK
FOR HOME & HEALTH
501 Recipes
for Healthy Living, Green Cleaning
& Natural Beauty
P I P W A L L E R
Designed for the whole family, including pets, The Herbal Handbook for Home &
Health shows how anyone can harness the power of plants to reduce the amount of
toxins and allergens in their environment. Expert herbalist Pip Waller provides
501 plant-based recipes for cleaning products, food and drink, medicines, beauty
products, and more in this beautifully-designed compendium.
With recipes from the author’s own library, and from other leading herbalists, this
handbook offers detailed yet easytofollow advice on sourcing, growing, and
preserving herbs. An illustrated herb directory introduces readers to essential
plants with details about their histories, uses, and preparation. Packed with
information about everything from tinctures to tonics to teas, this guide gives
readers resources to start their own green revolution.
For Krishna, who is “the potency of medicinal herbs, the dearest well-wishing friend, the inexhaustible seed.” BG.9.16.
Text copyright © Pip Waller 2015
Design and layout copyright © Ivy Press Limited 2015
All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise—without the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.
Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
PRINT ISBN: 978-1-58394-892-7
EPUB ISBN: 978-1-58394-893-4
This book was conceived, designed, and produced by Leaping Hare Press
Creative Director Peter Bridgewater Publisher Susan Kelly Commissioning Editor Monica Perdoni Art Director Wayne
Blades Senior Editor Jayne Ansell Designer Andrew Milne Color Origination by Ivy Press Reprographics North
Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website
at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Waller, Pip.
The herbal handbook for home and health : 501 recipes for healthy living, green cleaning, and natural beauty
/ Pip Waller.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-58394-892-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-58394-893-4 (ebook) 1. Herbs--Therapeutic
use. 2. Herbs--Health aspects. 3. Materia medica, Vegetable.
4. Herbal cosmetics. 5. Cleaning compounds. 6. Beauty, Personal. 7. Natural products.
8. Organic living. I. Title.
RM666.H33W33 2015
615.3’21--dc23
2014018903
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: The following information is intended for general information purposes
only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any suggestions
made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is at the reader’s
discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
THE POWER OF PLANTS
Chapter 2
SOURCING HERBS
PICKING HERBS IN THE WILD
GROWING HERBS
Chapter 3
KITCHEN SET-UP
KEY PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK SUCCESSFULLY
THE RECIPES
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS
ECO-LAUNDRY PRODUCTS
KEEPING WELL
FIRST-AID PLANT POWER
KITCHEN PHARMACY
FOOD & DRINK
BEAUTY, BALMS & PERSONAL CARE
VARIOUS ODDITIES
HERB DIRECTORY
Contributors
Sources & Further Reading
Index
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
The Power of Plants
. Throughout history
HERBAL LORE BELONGS TO US ALL, A GREAT AND LASTING LEGACY
and across cultures, plants have been used for food, shelter,
clothes, and medicine. Plants contain the proteins and other
nutrients that all animals need to thrive, so we depend on them
for our survival. The soil itself is nourished by living plants, and
even when they die, they decompose to form soil from which
new plants can grow. Plants sustain all life; everything we need
can be obtained from plants.
Today, however, the central role plants play in human lives has
been almost forgotten in the Western world. After several
generations of urbanized living, those in modern industrialized
countries are far removed from nature, creating a damaging
imbalance and further misuse of our greatest resource. Even
most of us living in rural areas no longer regularly cultivate,
gather, and use the helpful plants that grow all around us.
ALCHEMISTS OF THE NATURAL WORLD
Herbs are the wondrous “alchemists” of the natural world. They take carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere for their energy production, and give back the
oxygen that we need to breathe; they take nitrogen from the air and use it to make
amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Plants build all kinds of chemicals,
and they do so in constant relationship to the circumstances in which they find
themselves, and in communication with each other. They make medicines—for
themselves, for other plants, for the soil and environment around them, and for
us.