The Complete Guide to Growing Healing and Medicinal Herbs: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

Natural solutions for health and healing are gaining even more attention today. Whether it’s the high cost of western medicine or the myriad of side affects from synthesized drugs, many people want to know how to grow and use herbs for well being. This book by Wendy Vincent does a great job of sharing what you need to get started caring for your own health out of your garden. One of the best features of the “Back to Basics” series from Atlantic Publishing is the layout. Ms. Vincent’s book proves how effective this approach to useful books can be. She provides logical sections to the book so you can move around different areas as questions come up. Another great aspect is the wealth of information created as easy-reference pages. You can scan through a table about healing herbs and quickly find out if you want to grow the plant, will it work where you live and other concerns. The beneficial plant pairings were very helpful. Often, if you want to pair herbs that naturally combat the pests attracted to each, extensive research is needed to figure out the combinations. Once again, the Back to Basics format makes it fast and easy to figure out this kind of planting information. Ms. Vincent also addresses yard-hogs. Many people who begin planting herbs just aren’t aware some plants can literally take over your entire herb bed and yard. With this book you can learn which plants have this tendency (all of the mints, and even a few others) and how to control the over-growth. You’ll also read effective introductions to composting, greenhouses, and the questions to ask if you’re thinking of an herbal business. If you have lots of questions about creating an herbal garden, what to plant, how to use those plants, and wonder what kind of herbal gardening is right for you, , I highly recommend starting with this book. Recipes for healing applications are included right in the book. For more advanced readers and gardeners, the reference tables are well-worth buying the book. Sometimes you just want to scan and get your answer. On the other hand, if you have more in depth questions, see the entire chapter that describes one herb at a time and how to harvest your herbal bounty. As someone who reads and hands on most of the books I get, I’m happy to say this one will be staying around a long time.

“The Complete Guide to Growing Healing and Medicinal Herbs” by Wendy Vincent is a book in a series called “Back to Basics” by Atlantic Publishing Group. The book starts out with answering questions such as what an herb is to how to use herbs to treat common ailments. Ms. Vincent then goes into detail about determining where to plant your garden based on what zone you live in and the contents of the soil. She briefly touches on the different types of gardens such as container gardening, raised beds, or gardens that you put directly into the ground. Then comes my favorite part where she lists and gives details about different herbs. Each herb includes a description, when to plant, sun and soil, when to harvest, parts used and medicinal benefits. She includes eight pages of beautiful photographs (with names) of the herbs. As the title implies, she does inform the reader as to how to improve your health uses specific herbs for and different ways to prepare them (in food, in a bath, as a compress, etc.). This is an excellent book to have on hand when deciding to grow herbs and how to use them when they are ready to be harvested.

With the popularity of using herbs for healing on the rise and many of us wanting to get back to the basics by growing our own this book is a timely addition. Depending on the area you live in it's possible to have a good variety of herbs in the garden. The author, Wendy Vincent, has been growing herbs for a long time. Her expertise, combined with research, comes through in "The Complete Guide to Growing Healing and Medicinal Herbs." The information is concise and the contents are user friendly. The index is especially helpful. I specifically liked the chart at the back of the book giving growing zones, light, soil, moisture, spacing, etc. There is no point attempting to grow an herb if the soil isn't correct or there isn't enough light. The book not only contains a list of herbs and information about them, Vincent also provides information on propagation, garden care, harvesting and using the herbs. The center section includes colored images of a variety of common herbs. As well, the author provides case studies that readers may be able to relate to. I do recommend this book to anyone wanting to start growing their own herbs. It's a great beginner book but it's also a good resource for those that are already growing herbs. Green thumbs up!