Health & Wellness

Herbal Handbook is a charming, information-packed guide to 51 herbs and their uses illustrated with rare botanical art from the renowned archives of The New York Botanical Garden.

Did you know that woodruff was used as a room freshener in the Middle Ages; that crushed bergamot leaves can soothe bee stings; and that dried fenugreek seeds were found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen?

Herbs are magical, and their uses myriad. Inside Herbal Handbook are fifty-one herbs portrayed in words and rare botanical art curated by experts at The New York Botanical Garden. Some, like saffron, are treasured and rare; others, like purslane, grow by the roadside. They all have a place—in the garden, in the kitchen, in the bed or the bath. Use Herbal Handbook to explore their history, how to grow them, and how they were used in the past and present. Then bring them into your daily life; each herb’s profile offers a recipe or project that highlights its unique properties.

So cleanse your face with calendula when you wake up, sip a bergamot tea at breakfast, have a lovage tuna sandwich for lunch, and mix a caraway cocktail at the end of the day. Let Herbal Handbook delight your senses as they have done to others for thousands of years.

First and foremost, The Herbalist’s Kitchen is a cookbook, with 200 fresh and delicious, health-supportive recipes including an Asiago, Apple, and Sage Tart Tatin; Rosemary-Roasted Vegetable Spaghetti; Thyme and Pear Cake; Lemon Glazed Scallops with Citrus Salsa; and Elderberry Chicken Tagine. But it goes beyond food, with information and preparations for 40 herbs—from angelica, bergamot, calendula, and chamomile to lavender, tarragon, thyme, and turmeric—that work not just in the kitchen, but also as tinctures, infusions, and essential oils.

This revolutionary way to grow vegetables has helped millions of home gardeners enjoy their own organic, fresh produce in less space and with less work than traditional row gardens.

New and experienced gardeners will love the charts, photos, illustrations, and how-to tips in All New Square Foot Gardening, 3rd Edition—including 42 veggie-specific planting, growing, and harvesting guides—that make growing your own food fun, easy, and productive.

Perfect for experienced gardeners or beginners, you’ll learn the three simple steps to Square Foot Gardening: build a box; fill it with Mel’s Mix™; add a grid. No digging, no tilling, no fertilizing, no guesswork—less watering, waste, and weeding! There’s so much more packed in this 272-page instructional book—boost your organic vegetable harvest with inspiring how-tos such as:

– Adding trellises and archways to grow up and maximize your space
– Installing automatic watering systems
– Growing vegetables in dense urban areas with little or no yard
– Feeding your veggies the organic way with Mel’s Mix™
– Teaching STEM to kids with Square Foot Gardening—perfect for little hands
– Protecting your plants with shade and frost covers
– Managing pests in the garden with natural methods

Join the millions of gardeners around the world who grow their own organic, fresh produce with Square Foot Gardening, and make next season your best veggie harvest ever.

How do plants work? How can I grow tomatoes? How can I encourage garden wildlife? RHS Get Growing will answer all these questions in a fun and accessible guide.

Perfect for parents and children who enjoy engaging with the outdoors and want to do more activities together, or for beginner gardeners just starting out, this book explains how plants work, describes the building blocks of gardening, and shows how to grow everything from cacti to cucumbers.

With great facts and practical projects, giving the reader a lot of information, it’s an ideal, hands-on introduction for complete beginners, and designed to inspire a life-long love of gardening.

In this book, you will learn to:
– Learn about the plants and animals that make up the ecosystem of any garden
– Plant seeds together with your children and watch as they grow
– Carry out experiments – from making a wormery to mapping rain shadows
– Make delicious recipes from your home-grown produce

The projects and experiments are bite-sized and self-contained, ideal for weekends, holidays and even home-schooling.

This book is ideal for parents and teachers who want to get kids connected with nature, experiencing the world and relating to the food that they eat. All the guidance is backed by scientific and educational research, drawn together by the team of RHS experts.

Get your children growing shoots and seeds, whatever their ages, and watch them fall in love with the natural world with RHS Get Growing, the complete family gardening guide.