Herbalism for Beginners by Indie Leaf Press

Herbalism for Beginners
A Practical Guide on How to Improve Your Health Using Inexpensive, Accessible Herbs
Indie Leaf Press

Publication Date: September 7, 2022

Pages: 350

BLURB:

How to use medicinal herbs to boost your health — let you and your loved ones stay healthy by being connected to nature

While conventional medicine is essential in treating many health problems, it’s reassuring to know that you can also find relief through natural alternatives such as medicinal herbs.

Are you interested in using medicinal plants, so you won’t have to depend on pharmaceuticals to remedy every minor ailment? 

Do you want to restore your vitality and improve your health in a natural way?

According to Healthline, at the beginning of the 21st century, 11% of the 252 most essential drugs were exclusively of flowering plant origin.

And the World Health Organization reports that 80% of the world's population is using herbs to address their basic healthcare needs

Aside from being inexpensive, herbs have also been used since the dawn of mankind.

Those herbs that add flavor to your food are actually potent in boosting your health and helping you combat different ailments… only if you know how to use them.

But how will you know which herbs help with your health concerns? You might be wondering how you can prepare, store, and consume them to maximize their health benefits.

You may even be thinking about how you can easily source them and choose only those of the highest quality.

Look no further because this book will show you the way. Inside, you will discover:

• What herbs to use for some of the most common ailments — and how to use them for the best results and in a safe manner
• Straight forward herbal formulations — with step-by-step instructions on how to prepare them for the best results
• 46 herb profiles with suggested plant pairings, safety precautions, and the health issues they address
• Why some herbal products on the market are ineffective — and how to choose high-quality herbs, as well as the best ways to handle and store them to maintain their medicinal properties
• How to best extract the herbs' powerful constituents to make your formulations more potent
• What factors to consider when evaluating the quality of a medicinal herb
• How to safely source quality herbs if you don’t want to buy them from the health stores
• 15 phytochemicals found in medicinal herbs that give them potency — and what specific health benefits they offer
• What not to do when storing herbs if you want to prolong their freshness and flavor

And much more.

You don’t need any sophisticated equipment to create these remedies. You most likely have the necessary things at home already, such as a blender, a jar, and a wooden spoon – it can truly be this simple.

Nature already offers what you need to stay healthy – you just need to know how to harness its relieving power.

MY THOUGHTS:

I was really impressed with Herbalism for Beginners. I wasn't expecting such a comprehensive book at such a good price. This book rivals the Herbalism course I took from a well known online school and I won't even mention how much I paid for that course! 

The book starts out with the basics and explains in depth all that one would need to know about starting using herbs, what tools are needed, definitions of all the terms one needs to know, information and photos of the herbs themselves, medical interactions, growing, preparing and even dosages! Seeing the dosages really pleased me, as that is something that is not normally found in most herbal books!

There are so many details in Herbalism for Beginners and even after all the courses I've taken and books on herbs and their usages that I've read in the past, I learned a lot from this book. I cannot sing praises for this book enough. It is well thought out, well researched, and truly made for the beginner to sit down and learn using it! 

I love that Herbalism for Beginners focuses on herbs that easily obtained. I've taken some past courses where I had to buy all the specialty herb that ended up costing a minute fortune and I still haven't used them all, except for those "special" preparations. This book focuses on things you may have on hand, grew in your garden or can buy at a reasonable price and be able to use them. Finally, someone who cares about the average herbalist!

I will say that one should always cross reference plants and herbs with other books by well-known and trusted herbalists. There is always a chance for an error as well as a possibility of not including everything you might need to know about a specific herb or plant. That's just a safety precaution that should be followed when learning about any new herb. I sit with many books around when studying a new herb that I will be using. There are times when there could be side effects with prescribed medications or medical conditions, so please take the time to know this before using something new. 

Herbalism for Beginners comes highly recommended and will definitely be useful to both the beginner as well as the seasoned herbalist. It really is worth its weight in gold!!

I received a copy of this book through BookSirens. I was not required to post a positive review - but one of my honest opinion. 

Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee

Finally! After a long, dreary winter, spring has arrived! My favorite part about the spring is gathering up the fresh greens and flowers that are packed full of vitamins and minerals and are super tasty. This year I have dried my dandelion leaves, flowers and made the roots into a wonderful roasted "coffee".

The "coffee" is a not actually coffee but makes a wonderful substitute. It has a nice flavor - a somewhat coffee, caramel and chocolate flavor combination. It's hard to describe, but with a little bit of cream and a touch of honey - it's pretty much heaven! The spring crop of roots are much more mild than the fall crop. The fall is more robust and bitter and packed with more vitamins and minerals because the roots are storing all the nutrition required to make a strong plant in the spring. Fall is the best time to harvest for drying roots for their medicinal value and for the most robust coffee, but I love the spring harvest as well! 

I dig up my dandelions whole and try to get as much as the root as possible. They are long and do easily break off. I found it best to try to run a long screwdriver or a dandelion removing down next to the root as closely as possible and break the ground around it by wiggling it back and forth. If difficult to remove, I will do this around the plant. A shovel works, too, but it leaves a lot more mess to deal with and depending where you harvest your plants, you may not want to leave holes behind.

After digging the dandelions, I pre-rinse with a hose to get rid of as much dirt as possible. Then I put the whole plant in a 5 gallon bucket and rinse, drain, rinse, drain, rinse, drain.... until the water looks quite clean. Next, I cut off the top part of the plant and put in two separate piles.

I then put the roots in a bowl and soak for a little bit. Then I rinse a few more times and try to swish off as much of the remaining dirt as possible.

I then use a scrub brush to take off the remaining dirt. I like putting a small cutting board in the bottom of the sink to have something to scrub on. If the roots have a lot of off-shoots, I'll break them apart to get in between them.

Then I put them in my food processor and chop until the pieces resemble brown rice.

Next I pour them on a cookie sheet and put them in a 225 degree oven and let them dry. This can take about an hour. 

I then check to see how they are drying by stirring every 10 to 20 minutes or so. Drying times will depend on the day, your oven, how large the pieces are, etc.

After the pieces are dry, I increase the oven temperature to 325 and continue to bake. Now the roasting process has started. I kept a close eye on it and mixed every 10 minutes. I love this part because when the root is almost ready to remove from the oven, it has the most amazing aroma of baking a chocolate cake or brownies! 

Some people will remove the root as soon as they see small wisps of smoke coming from the root. I put mine back in a bit longer. I like a darker roast. I find it to have a bit more of a robust flavor. 

After removing from the oven, I let it cool and then put it in a jar. The contents in the jar are much more true in color to the actual end product. 

To use:

Put water in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the dandelion root, stir well and boil for 1 minute. Make sure it doesn't boil over because it will produce foam on top. You will need 1 tsp. of Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee per 8 oz of water (adjust to taste). Serve with a little cream and honey if desired.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a qualified/licensed instructor or certified to teach wildcrafting, using herbs or explaining how to identify any plant I use or speak of in these posts. This is only describing what I did and how I use the item described in MY home with MY family. I am not to be held responsible for any misinformation or any mishaps if anyone decides to try this at home. If you decide to try this method - it is at your own risk. Please research and study any plants, methods and side effects of the plant describe in this post.