[Herbalist] Beginning an herb garden

[jenne@fiedlerfamily.net]

> Sunset has a great starter book on herbs, even garden plans, but it depends
> on if you want culinary herbs, tea herbs, dyeing herbs, etc., and if you
> want more formal gardens, or kitchen garden or cottage style garden.   The
> Sunset Herbs has descriptions of the standard herbs and what they need to
> grow (temp, soil, etc.) and a little history and use.  If you are looking
> for medieval references, I don't know of any that are good beginner books,
> but I am no expert on these references and others on this list I'm sure will
> have recommendations.  I find the Brother Cadfael book a good reference for
> knowing what was in period, but is a secondary source.

It's also important to either be familiar with the Brother Cadfael
mysteries or read carefully, because in many cases references to something
being advocated in period texts are mixed in with references to things
done in the fiction series.

I have an old Sunset book on herbs and still find it helpful as a beginner
book.

For beginners, Rosetta Clarkson's _Magic Gardens_ and _Green Enchantment_
both from the 1930s, and the work of Eleanor Sinclair Rohde, from a
similar time period, is both fun and informative.

Published in 2001, Werner Telesko's book _Wisdom of Nature: The Healing
Powers and Symbolism of Plants and Animals in the Middle Ages_ is antohter
good place to start.

I also like Sarah Garland's _Complete book of Herbs and spices_

> there.  Lemon balm is good for tea as well (it's a mint variety, so keep in
> a pot).

by the way, Lemon balm doesn't spread much from rootlets, but from seed,
so potting it isn't really as useful in controlling it as simply weeding
it when it comes up in other parts of the garden.

I have an article about herbs for the small garden online, I don't know
how much it would help:
http://gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/smallherbs.html

-- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
"If God is satisfied with the work, the work may be satisfied with
itself."  --  C.S. Lewis