Tina Sams - The Healing Power of Herbs: Medicinal Herbs for Common Ailments

Copyright 2019 by Althea Press, Emeryville, California

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Interior and Designer: Emma Hall

Photo Art Director / Art Manager: Karen Beard

Editor: Vanessa Ta

Production Editor: Erum Khan

Photography 2018 Marija Vidal. Food styling by Cregg Green.

Illustration Foxyliam/Shutterstock.

2018 Maryanne Schwartz.

ISBN Print 978-1-64152-239-7 | eBook 978-1-64152-240-3

To chamomile, elder, holy basil, and mimosamy favorite teachers. To Molly and Maryanne for keeping me laughing.

CONTENTS

I stumbled into herbs in the early 90s with my sister Maryanne Schwartz when we opened an herb shop at a renaissance festival. At the time, herb people were just figuring out how to offer medicinal herbs for sale, and our learning curve was steep. This led to several years of studying, living, and breathing herbs. A couple years later, we opened another shop called The Herb Basket, where we offered classes every Friday night to our small community. In these classes, we shared the wonderful healing aspects of herbs through soap making, incense making, kitchen cosmetics, herbs for stress, and natural remedies for winter immunity. To keep customers up to date on the classes and goings-on at the shop, we published a bimonthly newsletter. When we eventually sold the shop, that newsletter morphed into The Essential Herbal, the magazine that I still publish to this day.

When my sister and I realized the shops were burning us out and made the difficult decision to close them, I couldnt imagine not working with herbs. By then, I was used to being surrounded by jars of herbs, tinctures, potpourris, essential oils, resins, and the fresh plants. Once youve walked outside and gathered yard weeds and a pinch of thyme for an omelet, cooking is never the same. After your child has asked for your own blend of herbal tea that makes her feel better, you know what a superhero feels like. Spreading the word about these very simple things and demystifying herbs and their benefits became my lifes work. Its why I publish the magazine, and why I am writing this bookto share the wonderful world of herbs with you, too.

A lot has changed since I first got into herbs. Its hard to believe, looking back, but herbs were considered very much like snake oil. Even culinary herbs were kind of edgy. There were a few good sources of bulk herbs, but for the most part, it was difficult to find them fresh. Most people didnt realize that the dandelions and chickweed in their yards were the same herbs they were reading about in the very few books on herbs that were available. Regulations were nearly impossible to find, making it difficult to follow the rules, so most shops erred on the side of caution. Sellers could not tell a customer what might help a certain ailment.

Interest in herbal medicine has exploded in the past 15 to 20 years, which has fortunately forced every aspect of herbalism to improve. Now you can find fresh herbs at the farmers market and even your local grocery store, excellent herbal remedies are widely available to purchase, and there are plentiful resources to help you learn how to grow your own herbs. Most people today cook with herbs and may not even realize the healing benefits of doing so!

There are as many herbs as there are plant varieties. It can be completely overwhelming, but thats where this book comes in. My intention is to strip away some of the mystery and show you how youre already using herbs in your daily life. I believe herbal medicine is like home cooking: Just as everyone should be able to prepare a few nutritious meals, everyone should be able to make a few natural remedies for first aid and self-limiting illnesses. You dont need to become a chef or a clinical herbalist to feed and nurture yourself and your family. Having basic knowledge of the healing benefits of herbs is empowering.

In the following pages, I explain the benefits of medicinal herbs, where to look for them, and how to make all kinds of herbal preparations such as teas, tinctures, syrups, oils, salves, pills, baths, and more. Youll learn how to use specific herbs and how to select the best herbs for your needs and constitution. I also include a guide to 30 essential medicinal herbs. I intentionally chose herbs that are easy to find, and a few that are meant to be surprising, such as oats and peppers, in that they are typically considered food instead of medicine. My hope is that by the end of this book, youll understand that herbs are powerful, all around us, and always our allies in good health.