The Homesteader’s Guide to Growing Herbs by Kristine Brown

The Homesteader’s Guide to Growing Herbs by Kristine Brown ISBN-13: 978-1647393724 Paperback: 167 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: July 7, 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Amazon:
Growing herbs means growing your own food, medicine, home remedies, beauty products, and more. The Homesteader’s Guide to Growing Herbs is packed with expert information on planting, caring for, and using herbs to nourish and nurture yourself, your family, your pets, and even your livestock.

Learn about cultivating herbs on your homestead and get a step-by-step guide to creating your own herbal preparations—from teas and infusions to tinctures, syrups, and salves. Explore an informational index of common household herbs, including the parts used, plant properties, safety considerations, preservation methods, and much more. Try dozens of recipes for everything from homemade marshmallows and basil-infused cooking oil to sunburn soother spray, furniture polish, and natural deodorant.


My Review:
The Homesteader’s Guide to Growing Herbs is a book about growing and using common herbs. The author started by briefly talking about why you would want to grow herbs and how you can use them. She then talked about good locations for an herb garden (space needed, soil type, etc.) and how to prepare herbal medicine (teas, syrups, tinctures, poultices, salves, infused oil). She provided profiles for 20 common herbs: basil, black walnut, chamomile, comfrey, echinacea, elderberry, fennel, garlic, lavender, marshmallow, mullein, onion, peach, peppermint, raspberry, rose, sage, stinging nettle, thyme, and willow. She included a picture the plant (though not always suited for identification purposes) and information about the parts of the plant that you use, growing tips, how to preserve it for future use, medicinal uses, preparation tips, dosing, and safety considerations.

She also included recipes using the profile herbs along with other herbs. She included 20 recipes for eating (herbed butter, green man pesto, etc.), 25 recipes for healing and wellness (fire cider, flu fighter tea, tummy tamer tea, etc.), 8 recipes for housekeeping (surface cleaner, furniture polish, etc.), 7 recipes for beauty (tooth powder, mouthwash, etc.), and 15 recipes for pets and livestock (wound powder, flea powder. etc.). I had expected this to be a gardening book, so I'm disappointed that the focus seemed to be more about uses for herbs. Overall, though, the information is good though mostly an overview of a variety of topics.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Holistic Health Handbook by Kim Lam

Holistic Health Handbook by Kim Lam ISBN-13: 978-1647396084 Paperback: 236 pages Publisher: Rockridge Press Released: June 16, 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Amazon:
Treating your body as a whole—not just your symptoms—is a powerful health strategy. Experience the benefits of holistic care with The Holistic Health Handbook, a collection of alternative practices chosen to address common ailments of the body and mind. Its wide variety of holistic health treatments includes mind-body interventions, bodywork therapies, energy healing, and more to help restore balance in your body—and provide the relief you need.

Get introduced to specific effective healing tools like aromatherapy, herbal medicine, breath work, acupressure, and meditation. An overview of each common holistic health practice teaches you the basics, helping you choose what to integrate into your personal treatment plan.

The Holistic Health Handbook includes: Flip directly to A-Z entries for specific ailments like allergies, back pain, cold and flu, depression, migraines, insomnia, and stress. Each entry contains three holistic health remedies, most of which you can do at home using whole foods, herbs, exercises, massage, and other accessible resources. Learn how to help prevent future issues by improving your environment, digestion, sleep, nutrition, and more.


My Review:
Holistic Health Handbook provides an overview of holistic practices to treat common ailments. The author started by talking about the difference between holistic and conventional medicine, by giving a brief history of holistic medicine, and describing Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. She then gave an overview of different types of therapies and talked briefly about acupressure, acupuncture, healing touch, massage, meditation, visualization, guided imagery, self hypnosis, essential oils, aromatherapy, flower essences, herbal remedies, nutrition therapy, chiropractic manipulation, tai chi and qigong, yoga, reflexology, exercise, Reiki, crystals, and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy.

She then had entries for specific conditions with suggestions on how to treat it with herbs, essential oils, foods, and practices like meditation, massage, and guided imagery. She included recipes for things like face masks and smoothies, step-by-step instructions for practices like a guided visualization, yoga move, or self massage, and tips on types of exercises that would best help condition. The conditions she covered were: acne/skin, addiction, allergies, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, cold and flu, constipation, Crohn's disease, depression, grief, headaches and migraines, high blood sugar, infertility, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, memory loss, muscle spasms, nausea, nerve pain, osteoporosis, psoriasis, stress, thyroid imbalance, and urinary tract infections. Overall, if you are new to holistic practices, the overview of possibilities provided by this book may be helpful.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.