Herbal Book Resource List

As requested from a recent medicinal herb walk, here is a list of some of my favorite herb books and authors. 

Medicinal Plant Books:

• Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants of the Midwest by Matthew Alfs - good local info on using herbs as medicine and  food, very well referenced. 
• Herbal Medicine from the Heart of the Earth by Sharol Tilgner - excellent resource for medicinal aspects of plants and combinations for particular ailments. 
• The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook by James Green - good for how to "make medicine" from tinctures to salves. Not the best for medicinal aspects of plants themselves. 
• The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using Plants as Medicine by Matthew Wood - Amazing prospective on herbal medicine from a well known and respected herbalist. Any other book by Matthew Wood would also be good. 
• Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West by Gregory L. Tilford - Although this book is based out of the West many of the plants are here in the Midwest as well. I started learning herbs with this book and love it for that use. Good pictures and easy quick information. 
• Botanica Poetica by Sylvia Seroussi Chatroux - Fun poetry book to learn herbs in an artsy sort of way. 
• Dandelion Hunter by Rebecca Lerner - A novel about living off the land in an urban setting with medicinal tips. Fun read if you are into herbs. I also like her website and blog firstways.com

Other general book recommendations regarding plants and nature:

• If you are looking to get into more information about edible wild plants check out the author Samuel Thayer
• Get as many identification books as you can to compare from multiple sources
• Check out Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv on how to save our children from nature deficit disorder!

Of course this is just a short list of my favorites and I am always finding more. If you have a favorite list it in the comments below!

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