I've grown a few of the more common herbs -- basil, dill, cilantro, thyme -- but I have been more interested in reliably growing staple vegetables up until now.

This year I have the vegetable garden pretty well figured out, and while I will continue to learn and improve in this area, I am now ready to expand my knowledge of herbs, their cultivation, harvest, preservation, and uses both culinary and medicinal.

I generally start a project like this at the library, but my local library, with just one very slim superficial book on the subject, is lacking.

I've culled all the herb articles from OG and Mother Earth News and digested them into a notebook, but now I am wanting a good, comprehensive book on the subject.

What is your favorite book on the subject of herbs?

Gosh - that's a difficult question to answer because there are just so many. I'm a hardcore book collector - mostly cookbooks & gardening books. I probably have 50-75 books devoted to mainly herbs in my collection.

One thing I will say is that as far as usage of any herbs you plan to ingest, you only rely on VERY RECENTLY PUBLISHED volumes for information. Many herbs that were once thought perfectly safe have now been found to have carcinogenic or other toxic properties.

Ah, there's a problem isn't there! I've also visited the library in the big city and their herb books all have copyright dates in the 1970's. I did have a vague feeling that there was a reason to shy away from the older titles and you have nailed it.

Maybe I'll just write my own, starting with Anise, Basil, Coriander, Dill...

While I agree with Breezy about current info, I also believe older copyrighted works and classics are useful. Two that I always liked, no doubt both out-of-print, Are Virginie and George Elbert's Fun with Growing Herbs Indoors(got me started back in the 70s) and Ben Harris' Better Health with Culinary Herbs. I also love getting Richter's Catalog.

the Moosewood series has a garden & cooking combo book published in the late 80/90's. They cover veggie and herbs a little beyond the basic. it's been my bible and I love it to death. I highly recommend it as they truly have been there done that, grew it and ate it a lot! hope this helps. you should be able to find it used online for a good price.

i just checked w/ Barnes & Noble and the Moosewood Kitchen Garden book was revised in 2005. I'm going to have to get a new copy now!

Get a French cookbook

What aspects of the book are you interested in? Do you want pictures? Useful information on all aspects of herb usage, medicinal, floral, legendary uses, cooking, fragrance?

I haven't been into using "Medicinal" herbs because... it is a little like voodoo (IMO) when you start using things that aren't in the culinary category. That's not to say that I don't recommend herbs for medicinial uses.. I just stick with the ones you will find in a cookbook. say garlic, thyme, sage, oregano... just to name a few.

The National Herb Society may be a source for books on herbs. They do not recommend herbs for medicinal purposes.

I think on the subject of medicinal herbs, people and Herb Societies are reluctant to get into the medical aspects of herbs due to the risks of liability--what if someone took their advice and died? But culinary uses are another story.

--J--

IMO.. there is the risk of "liability". But I also like to avoid the "Blarney Stone" effect that seems to possess a lot of folks who get in to "Herbs" with that $ Dollar sign and a Rasputin crazed look in their eyes.

As I was taught, "stick with what you know with your own eyes."

Let me add that some older, cheap, books were available, like one Ortho put out in 1980's, that offer a lot of fun information and culinary uses, herbs to make dyes, herbs for soap making, tussey mussies which got into the language of flowers, and various theme gardens for planning an herb garden.. I got into the medieval herb gardening.

I thought John Lust's "THe Herb Book" was my bible. I did read all the information and definitions of all of those things like "Carminitive" "Diaphoretic", etc. etc. long before I went to Nursing school, and didn't try aything medicinial. But a lot of the information in that book was very useful.

I would still recommend the book to learn everything you can, but perhaps reference a more recent publication before delving into medicinal uses.

That book really went into tinctures, infusions, extracting essential oils even, on and on..

You raise good points Wabbit.

I guess my first priority is to select a variety of useful culinary herbs and to grow, use, and preserve them successfully.

Second would be to grow some of the more decorative and ornamental herbs capable of surviving in my climate with reasonable protective steps such as cloches, etc.

I would not be trying to use them medicinally, but it would be fun to be able to show off the plants and tell how some of them were once used in medicines and folk remedies.

I'm thinking in terms of creating a small botanical museum where I display a number of living examples of a variety of interesting and unique plants. As I continue with the process of turning my classroom in to a combination of laboratory and science museum, I think it would be fun to include a wide assortment of plants, in containers, that are safe and which have either current common uses, or once did (Bee balm for example, is still planted in the garden to bring in bees and butterflies, but once was used to brew tea in avoidance of the stamp tax).

If my students encounter a plant, mentioned in their literature books, that has particular qualities, I'd like to be able to look it up and determine if it is a kind of plant that could be grown in our classroom, and grow an example so that my students can begin to recognize a wide variety of plants. Then too, I'd like to have some knowledge of the ethnobotony (how plants were used by different native peoples) of the various plants that were cultivated or collected from the wild by tribes or cultural groups.

Eventually I would like to learn how to extract essential oils and that sort of thing, but mostly I am after the fun of growing a variety of interesting plants and being able to accurately and knowledgably tell how they are or once were used.

The best herb book I've ever seen is Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs. Photos, clear directions, all kinds of uses, etc. I use it frequently.

Typical home gardeners concentrate on culinary herbs; other uses are a matter of choice. Mine are multipurpose not just culinary. Prior to moving I loved making simmer scents, milkbaths, and incense (never time now... ). However, I don't make specific medical recommendations beyond identifying some herbs that one could ask a naturopathic doctor or licensed herbalist about.

The idea of a botanical "museum" (don't quite like that word choice) is great. With research you'll find "herbs" include a wide range of vegetation (even carrots and tulips). But I'd forget about learning essential oil extraction. It's extremely expensive and time consuming. Study aromatherapy generally instead.

After going through the herb books that I have unpacked (I have boxes & boxes of them still sitting from our last move), I'd have to say that the tome I probably enjoy referring to the most is "The Complete Book of Herbs & Spices" by Lesley Bremness & Jill Norman. This is a large absolutely gorgeous book with detailed closeup photographs of each plants individual parts & how they are (or were) used, along with lots of recipes for culinary, medicinal, & decorative craft uses. Also covers cultivation & a bit of history as well. An extremely nice all-purpose volume.

It's actually a compilation of two volumes "The Complete Book of Herbs" & "The Complete Book of Spices". The two together are much nicer than the individual books (I have one of them). Plus, since the originals were published in 1988 & 1990 respectively, the 1995 compilation was updated a bit.

It may not be currently in print, but is definitely worth searching out online.

As far as herbal "theme" gardens, they were the backbone of the small herbal landscaping business I started in NY.

I designed & planted kitchen gardens, medicinal gardens, Shakespearean gardens, biblical gardens, dye gardens, tea gardens, bee gardens, etc., etc. They can be a lot of fun, & one is never at a loss for material because so many of the plants overlap in use.