Pip Waller - Domestic Alchemist: 501 herbal recipes for home, health & happiness

Inspiring and practical, The Domestic Alchemist is a wonderful collection of healing recipes that will benefit every home. If you have any interest at all in natural remedies and a green approach to health and wellbeing, then Pip Waller has written an indispensable resource for you. Highly recommended. William Bloom, author of The Endorphin Effect. Zowie! One of my favourite herbal authors hits a home run again! I didnt know you could do so many things with herbs. Pip Waller stretches the herbal imagination! M atthew W ood , herbalist and author of The Book of Herbal Wisdom Another wonderful, very useful, and incredibly beautiful book from Pip Waller. S tephen B uhner , herbalist, earth poet and award-winning author of The Lost Language of Plants Pip, a successful and experienced herbalist, has put together a wonderful compendium of her own and her colleagues favourite recipes.

E liot C owan , founder of the Blue Deer Center, New York, and author of Plant Spirit Medicine This is an amazing resource full of recipes for a wide variety of daily living and healing products. Great for our health and the environment! I recommend it to anyone who wants to live well and develop a deeper relationship with the products that they use. M ichael V ertolli , founder of the Living School of Herbalism, Canada This book of recipes has many gems, which will delight everyone from experienced professional herbalists to herb-loving beginners. A truly creative and inspirational book. L ucy H armer , author of Shamanic Astrology Having known Pip for approaching thirty years, her on-going commitment to herbal medicine and health care is as fervent now as it was then. Drawing on her own and colleagues knowledge, The Domestic Alchemist offers a practical, encyclopaedic guide on how to make, prepare and use home remedies.

S teve K ippax , former president of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists This essential compendium will delight and excite each and every reader, whether they are a herbalist or have a more general interest in the subject. It is an indispensible guide with easy to follow recipes and lovely illustrations. A must-have text for anyone interested in domestic alchemy. D edj L eibbrandt , fellow of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists The
DOMESTIC
ALCHEMIST Herbal Recipes for Home, Health & Happiness PIP WALLER Leaping Hare Press Green cleaning meets plant powered medicine cabinet meets all-natural beauty in this extraordinary compendium of herbal recipes. Herbalist Pip Waller draws from her own extensive recipe file, and those of world-renowned herbalists, to offer 501 plant-based recipes for the whole family to use, including your pets. There is also advice on growing and sourcing herbs, as well as essential techniques every herbalist needs to know, from making tinctures to tonics and syrups to creams.

Add to this a herb directory, introducing you to just some of the stars of Mother Nature, and youve all the tools you need to start your own green revolution. For Krishna, who is the potency of medicinal herbs, the dearest well-wishing friend, the inexhaustible seed. BG.9.16. First published in the UK in 2015 by Leaping Hare Press 210 High Street, Lewes East Sussex BN7 2NS, UK www.leapingharepress.co.uk Text copyright Pip Waller 2015 Design and layout copyright Ivy Press Limited 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage-and-retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright holder. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library PDF ISBN: 978-1-78240-254-1 EPUB ISBN: 978-1-78240-252-7 MOBI ISBN: 978-1-78240-253-4 This book was conceived, designed and produced by Leaping Hare PressCreative Director Peter Bridgewater Publisher Susan Kelly Commissioning Editor Monica Perdoni Art Director Wayne Blades Senior Editor Jayne Ansell Designer Andrew Milne Colour origination by Ivy Press Reprographics Distributed worldwide (except North America) by Thames & Hudson Ltd., 181A High Holborn, London WC1V 7QX, United Kingdom 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 While the publisher and author have made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate and presented in good faith, no warranty is provided nor results guaranteed. The publishers and author exclude liability to the fullest extent of the law for any consequence resulting from reliance upon the information contained herein.

Readers should always consult a qualified medical practitioner or therapist before undertaking a new diet or health programme. CONTENTS Chapter One The Power of Plants HERBAL LORE BELONGS TO US ALL, A GREAT AND LASTING LEGACY. Throughout history and across cultures, plants have been used for food, shelter, clothes and medicine. Plants contain the proteins and other nutrients that all animals need to thrive, so we depend on them for our survival. The soil itself is nourished by living plants, and even when they die they decompose to form earth from which new plants can grow. Plants sustain all life; everything we need can be obtained from plants.

Today, however, the central role plants play in human lives has been almost forgotten in the Western world. After several generations of urbanized living, those in modern industrialized countries are far removed from nature, creating a damaging imbalance and further misuse of our greatest resource. Even most of us living in rural areas no longer regularly cultivate, gather and use the helpful plants that grow all around us. ALCHEMISTS OF THE NATURAL WORLD Herbs are the wondrous alchemists of the natural world. They take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for their energy production, and give back the oxygen that we need to breathe; they take nitrogen from the air and use it to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Plants build all kinds of chemicals, and they do so in constant relationship to the circumstances in which they find themselves, and in communication with each other.

They make medicines for themselves, for other plants, for the soil and environment around them, and for us.