We highly recommend the following books for instruction in herbal medicine, gardening, cooking, health care, women's issues, and modern/traditional herbalism. Links are given where available.

Cordials From Your Kitchen: Easy, Elegant Liqueurs You Can Make and Give. Pattie Vargas and Rich Gulling. Storey Publishing, Massachusetts. 1997.

This is a great reference for making cordials, and I have used it with great results, especially for fruity liqueurs and those made with exotic spices. Easy to follow recipes, easy to alter, lots of ideas.

Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health and Vitality. Rosemary Gladstar. Storey Books, Massachusetts. 2001.

I used to think Rosemary was a fad; I avoided her books and words for years. I wish now that I hadn't, because after reading her work and meeting her, listening to her lectures and taking her classes, I am convinced she is the cornerstone of the American Herbalist movement for a very good reason. Rosemary is a phenomenal ambassador for the plant world, and she is a competent, persuasive and worthy teacher. It would be enough that she has campaigned for plants for decades and co-created the United Plant Savers, but in addition to all that she has devoted her life to bringing people and plants together. I wholeheartedly recommend any and all of Rosemary's books; I have multiple copies and they are all dog-eared with years of use.

The Green Mantle: An Investigation Into Our Lost Knowledge of Plants. Michael Jordan. Cassell & Co., London. 1991.

For the student of mythology, especially the lure, lore and love of plants, this book is a must. Explores the inter-cultural religions of vegetative gods and goddesses, and how people have related with plants on a religious/ceremony/spiritual level since the beginning of time.

Green Pharmacy: The History and Evolution of Western Herbal Medicine. Barbara Griggs. Healing Arts Press, Vermont. 1981, 1997.

An encyclopedic study of herbal medicine from Galen and Paracelsus to the Regulars of Twentieth Century America. An excellent resource for dates, people, doctors, events, discoveries, inventions, fights, heroes, and disasters of phyto-medicine.

Healing Lyme: Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis and Its Coinfections. Stephen Harrod Buhner. Raven Press, Vermont. 2005.

The last word on Lyme disease, as well as how to approach its prevention and cure naturally, but with all the scientific oomph provided by the laboratory community. Very scientifically written, it takes focus to follow, but well worth it. All of Buhner's books are valuable for any herbalist, as well as any doctor.

Herbal Healing for women: Simple Home Remedies for Women of All Ages. Rosemary Gladstar. Fireside/Simon & Schuster. 1993.

See above.

The New Age Herbalist: How to Use Herbs for Healing, Nutrition, Body Care and Relaxation. Collier/Macmillian Publishing, New York. 1988.

Thorough, with illustrations as well as photographs. Covers many topics not only by plant but also by pathology.

Plant Spirit Medicine. Eliot Cowan. Swan Raven & Co., Oregon. 1995.

A revolutionary book that will make you shiver and smile at how obvious--and beautiful--plant communication is. It will make a true believer out of anyone that the plant world is intelligent, spiritual, and completely connected to our own.

The Roots of Healing: A Woman's Book of Herbs. Deb Soule. Carol Publishing Group, New Jersey. 1995.

Owner of Avena Botanicals, Deb Soule is reknowned for creating a successful botanical medicine on only 1 acre of land, and maintaining a thriving business with it.

The Village Herbalist: Sharing Plant Medicines with Family and Community. Nancy and Michael Phillips. Chelsea Green Publishing, Vermont. 2001.

Nancy gives informative lectures about general health, especially making food at home (such as kimchee) that is healthy and preventative.