Book Reviews
By Bountiful Gardens Staff

Growing Medicinal Herbs in as Little as Fifty Square Feet: Uses and Recipes
by by Louisa Lenz-Porter, illustrated by Sue Ellen Parkinson (Ecology Action, 1995).
Available through Bountiful Gardens

Grow most of your medicinal herbs in as little as 50 square feet. This can become an herbal "medicine cabinet" of 24 common, easily grown herbs. The booklet describes propagation, harvest, processing and use. The instructions, recipes, and bibliography take an easy approach to an enjoyable activity and include a sample 50-sq-ft bed with ideas for personal modifications.

Louisa is a revered former Garden Manager at Ecology Action and now has a self-sufficient farm in southern Oregon where she teaches GROW BIOINTENSIVE and basket making. .

IMAGE CREDIT: : www.bountifulgardens.org/products/BEA-0027

Making Plant Medicine
by Richo Cech (Horizon Herbs, 2000).

The new 2016 edition has just been released! It will soon be available through Bountiful Gardens.

As in his other books, Richo introduces big topics by means of wonderful stories and personal anecdotes. But don't be fooled by the folksy humor or funky drawings. This is a precise guide to healing with plants. Part one explains why and how to make tinctures, teas, decoctions, glycerites, succi, oils, and salves. Both precision and free-form methods are discussed, with suggestions for when each is appropriate.

Part two is a formulary listing 116 plants: when to use them, in what form, exactly how to make the medicine, and suggested dosage. If you've ever tried to use an herbal medicine book that suggested using an herb, and then avoided giving specifics for fear of liability, you will love this book.

IMAGE CREDIT: www.bountifulgardens.org/products/BGE-1583

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