Rosemary Gladstars Medicinal Herbs: A Beginners Guide by Rosemary Gladstar

Rosemary Gladstars Medicinal Herbs: A Beginners Guide Reviews

• 
  Rachael MacLean

  I have mixed feelings about this book. I bought it quite a while ago when I was at the height of my environmental activism and general witchiness and it has a lot of elements from that time period I like -- comprehensive descriptions, a real attention to the natural world, and a holistic ethos that routinely advocates for discussing with medical professionals. However, since then I have seen the rise of anti vaxx and related movements that make rampant use of this kind of information and as a result I have come to see it's major flaws -- the cherry picking of research, the primacy of faith and tradition over effectiveness, etc. Its well and fine to read about the stomach soothing properties of peppermint and the use of cayenne for clearing up a stuffed nose, but hearing about elderberry's anti viral properties just hits different in 2020 when elderberry syrup has been mass marked to the frightened and belligerently anti-mask alike. I got some fun ideas for a spa night from this book, some great gardening tips, and some good tips and tricks for the occasional headache or sore throat, but I did not get medical advice, and I feel like making that distinction much clearer than this book does is incredibly important right now.
• 
  Isaac

  what could have been a decent book turned quickly into a pretty crappy read very quickly. I Immediately lost interest when she suggested that leaving teas and tinctures to sit in the moonlight amplified their healing abilities. There are some unquiet recipes and herb usages but this is easily overshadowed by the fact that she lists the same general statement of "immune system booster" and is "is great for colds, coughs, & sore throats" for the medicinal use for almost every herb listed. worthless in the fact of what each herb does, where and when to find it, or how to even identify it.
• 
  lauren

  This is a nice little introduction to using medicinal herbs. I like how it focuses on a limited number of herbs and gives a pretty thorough description of their properties as well as how to cultivate them. There are also some easy recipes to get started in making tinctures, salves, infusions, and all sorts of other things. It made me want to make stuff.
• 
  Doug Miles

  Way before all of us were bombarded with countless ads for so-called wonder drugs on television, people turned to nature for remedies. Rosemary Gladstar has written a useful guide, “Medicinal Herbs, Learn How to Ease Common Ailments Naturally” which describes how to grow, harvest, prepare and use 33 of the most common healing plants. It is written in an easy to understand style with plenty of pictures. Highly recommended.
  
  I spoke with Rosemary Gladstar about her book and that conversation can be heard here:
  
  http://dougmilesmedia.com/?p=1949
  
• 
  Abigail Burdett

  I loved this book! It was informative, easy to follow, and contained beautiful photography. She makes herbalism feel attainable and doable and I’m excited to put what I’ve learned to use.
• 
  Molly Lackey

  As a long-time herbal tea drinker, I've become lately curious about why exactly chamomile makes me feel calm and lemongrass perks me up. I thought it would be fun to read about how people have traditionally used herbs for home remedies and day-to-day maintenance, and settled on this book. I really quite enjoyed it. Rosemary Gladstar is very thorough, but she keeps this book accessible enough for someone who's totally unfamiliar with herbs, gardening, and herbal medicine. The book is really pretty, too, with lots of beautiful photography that helped me connect what's in my teacup with what's in the garden (or the side of the road!).
  Additionally, as a Christian, I can say that this book checks all my "not woo-woo" boxes. There was no implication that one must buy into new age spirituality or witchcraft in order to get into medicinal herbs. The book is just about plants, their uses, and recipes/instructions. Gladstar is very straightforward and practical, offering lots of solid wisdom and advice on when an herbal remedy could help and when to seek medical intervention. I enjoyed that the book was part-overview, part-reference guide, too. I have the suspicion that I will be referring to this book in the future, as I'd like to start growing my own herbs for teas and other uses.
  I'd recommend this book to anybody who likes drinking herbal tea and wants to know more or who is curious about the uses of medicinal herbs to help with aches, pains, coughs, nervousness, or blue moods.
• 
  Deborah Davis

  After reading one of Rosemary Gladstar's books, I went looking for others. In this book she provides pictures so you can recognize the plants, explains which parts are useful in which capacity, and even has safety sections. You will find many helpful uses for the spices you use for cooking. An excellent resource.
• 
  Alexandra

  This is an excellent introductory and/or summary guide for incorporating medicinal herbs into your lifestyle. I appreciate that the author does not discount or disapprove of modern medicine and/or visiting your doctor for greater complications but instead advocates for simple herbal remedies one can try in replacement of over the counter medication for minor problems (headaches, digestive pains, burns and itching) and as preventatives. This book is highly accessible to anyone interested in learning about medicinal herbs.
  
  The only annoyance I had with the text was the author not including references to certain claims for particular herbs. I would have appreciated the ability to access that literature esp. when she writes a statement such as, "Scientific research has proved.../shown.../demonstrated that herb X can..." We know there is evidence for the potency of medicinal herbs but not treating information as scientific (by referencing it appropriately) creates problems with understanding. Then again, this is a book for the layman and not the scientist so this may be my issue.
• 
  C. S.

  Herbalism doesn't have to be complicated and scary. Rosemary's advice is to start with just a few herbs - ones you know well, that grow near you. In this book she talks about growing and using such common garden sights as yarrow, St. John's Wort, dandelion, and basil. Basic, easy-to-understand directions for the common preparations are included right up front - tincture, salve, infusion, decoction, poultice - all in plain, non-technical language. Rosemary's signature wise-elder style comes through in her writing, so reading the book gives you a little bit of that magical feeling of just listening to a wise old aunt or granny talk you through your first few recipes.
• 
  Amy

  Beautiful book on how to grow and use medicinal herbs. Gorgeous pages all full color! She's simple but knowledgable. She's from my awesome state of Vermont! I got this for a great price on Amazon! A gem!
• 
  Amy

  This book offers simple practical instructions for tinctures, various remedies, and insights on commonly used medicinal herbal plants. Many or most of the plants referred to are likely accessible to you in some form regardless of locale.
  
  As you turn the pages you feel the vibrance of who Rosemary Gladstar is renown to be. She has created a warm read for the plant lover at heart, someone starting into the practice of herbalism, or the experienced herbalist to use as a reference. This book will serve my family and I for a lifetime in natural, reliable, back to nature ways to promote health and vitality.
  
  
• 
  Joshua J

  An amazing, easy to read and simple guide to herbs for any beginner.
• 
  Martha

  Such a beautiful and approachable guide. Rosemary got me inspired to brew and decoct all weekend long.
• 
  Eric

  This is a beginner's guide as stated in the subtitle. So it is neither comprehensive in its list of herbs nor in its list of applications.
  
  I do believe that Ms. Gladstar has done an excellent job of explaining the benefits of herbs for health. Also in selecting some of the most readily available herbs, in North America at least, for readers to purchase or grow their own.
  
  You will learn the difference between an infusion and a decoction and how to go about making them. Or simply making your own herbal teas and flavorful foods. There is discussion of medicinal oils, syrups, salves and tinctures and what each is good for.
  
  You will also learn how to apply remedies by bath, poultice, or compress and considerations for treating children, and chronic or acute problems.
  
  That said, you will probably not learn these all on your first read. I read this as a Kindle book and believe that would be the best format to own it in. This is a wonderful beginner's reference and the page links in the table of contents and the great index will help to quickly find what you need when you need it.
  
  If you find yourself referring to it often you'll probably have the interest in a complete herbal manual. However, you won't find a better place to start your adventures in herbs.
• 
  Daniela

  This was my first book about herbalism and I am pleasantly surprised.
  For one, the layout is really beautiful and modern, with lots of full color photos, unlike many of the older herbalism books that I looked at at the library. Especially for beginners I think it is very nice to have a book that is not too heavy on the text.
  The beginning of the book is dedicated to making different herbal medicines, like tinctures, infusions and even herbal pills. The remaining part of the book (about three quarters) is dedicated to 33 differents herbs and spices, including a description of their medical properties and some recipes to try at home. Most of these are common herbs one can easily find at the health food store.
  What I enjoyed very much was that a lot of the recipes contain only 3-5 ingredients. If you are a beginner herbalist you don't want to have to buy ten different herbs just to make one formula.
  So far I made the Dandelion Burdock Tincture for the liver and I plan on trying the Cayenne Rub next.
  
  I really don't see anything wrong with this book and would recommend it to every beginner interedted in learning the basics of makinf one's own herbal medicine.
• 
  Nicole

  The recipes and information in the book was great and incredibly helpful. However, my biggest issue with the book was that she did not have a bibliography or citation of sources.
  
  Throughout the book Gladstar walks through different herbs/plants, their chemical makeup, medicinal uses (often supported by "some studies" or "several studies"), and several recipes. While I understand that these are recipes passed down from years of her practice, if you're going to cite clinical studies and list chemical compounds in plants, you need to cite your sources.
  
  If I need to use the recipes in this book, I now feel I need to compound that knowledge with additional sources and research.
• 
  Emily

  Loved this book! I've read it several times over the years and have tried several of her recipes. Fantastic beginners guide. Our favorite is the candula salve- we use it on a regular basis and it works very well. Her instructions on picking and drying the flowers and clear. Instructions for making salves is easy to follow.
  
  I also really enjoy the Chamomile tea for sleep. I have several of the herbs she recommends now growing in our yard and I look forward to finding more favorite uses from them. Highly recommend for anyone interested in getting started with medicinal herbs.
• 
  Tracey

  What a treasure.
  
  I have to admit, when I read the book's enthusiastic encouragement to use this herb or that, in this preparation or that, for anyone, adult or child – I was a little uneasy. I know herbs have been used for millennia, but I also know that the traditional medical community gets a bit shirty about self-doctoring; I also know children have very different needs and tolerances. But this isn't a casual hobbyist's manual – at least, it can be read that way, but it was not written so. It is a thoroughly knowledgeable guide to safe use of herbs., and lovely to look at.
• 
  Karin

  Gentle and affirming
  
  This is a lovely overview of some of the most readily available and helpful herbs. So many herbalists have Ridgid lists of how to prepare, what the herb is good for and how to cultivate. Gladstar recognizes that there is not a whole lot of consensus with these common herbs and honors their hardiness in cultivation. I love her attitude towards her plants and her garden. I only wish she had gone further into the energetics of the herbs. She only does this with a couple of them.
• 
  Laura

  This book was great as an introduction to herbalism. Rosemary gives the concrete knowledge of what each plant does, its history, how to grow it, and ways to use it/what to make it into - all in lovely, easy to read prose and with plentiful photos to inspire. I also appreciate that she does not dismiss western science, but rather shows what's been done for centuries and how the two practices can work in conjunction with one another (though herbalism can be more preventative than western medicine). I will definitely be using this book as a source for years to come.
• 
  Anna

  Enjoyed this book. Lots of god, basic information. It did cover a lot of what I already knew about general preparation (making infused oil, tinctures, salves, etc). The instructions were simple and will be a good reference.
  
  I loved the pictures of all the herbs. The visuals made me realize how common a lot of herbs are. I was able to recognize a few by sight, but never knew they had medicinal qualities. Love it!
  
  I would recommend this book.
• 
  Rachel

  Love.
• 
  Rosemarie

  This was the first book on medicinal herbs I've read. It came highly recommended as a great beginner's book, and I can see why. Very simple explanations of the most common and useful herbs, beautiful pictures, and plenty of recipes with instructions on infusions, decoctions, tinctures, and salves all make this a must-have tome on a homesteader's book shelf.
• 
  Lisa

  Fantastic resource and a book that you will return to time and time again.
• 
  Connie

  Really loved the information given. I don’t know if I could consider this a beginners guide. Some of the herbs mentioned in the book don’t grow well in my area and some recipes seem a bit out of reach for my humble budget and kitchen herb garden. I was looking for a very in-depth look at a few herbs and this really wasn’t it. The section on Thyme was redundant. I also think it’s a bit reckless to put St. John’s Wort in a beginner guide. Also I really don’t understand why there are herbs that aren’t featured in the book, included in ingredients for someone of the recipes. ??
• 
  Megan

  I bought this book after making the thyme cough syrup that was excerpted in Mother Earth News. Holy crap, that is GOOD stuff. As in, it is delicious, child-safe, and it actually helps me feel better. This book is full of more great recipes, using relatively common ingredients.
  
  I also appreciate that Gladstar emphasizes in the introduction and throughout the book that these remedies are for the small stuff and promoting good health, and that more serious physical or mental illnesses should be brought to a medical professional.