Originally Posted by
sewingpup
I have several books on herbs and their uses. I find it fascinating. Years ago, when I had a lavender patch, I made lavender wands to place in linen cabinets, drawers etc. You pick an odd number of lavender sprigs, gather them together, place a ribbon just below the heads, knot it, then bend the stems back over the flower heads and weave a "basket" over the heads with the ribbon, when done, tie a pretty little bow with the remaining ribbon and let dry. I also learned that it was best to cross check any recipe with other books as sometimes one book would recommend a particular herb for one thing and then another book would describe the same plant as poisonous. Harvesting herbs for ingestion can be tricky as the potency of the active ingredient depends a lot on the growing conditions and the point at which you harvest the herb as well as how you handle and store the plant after picking.
They are so pretty too! They make wonderful, little gifts for a housewarming, or just because.
I just got done watching the webinar. It's offered several times/ day, today and tomorrow, if you still want to watch it.
Yes, Rosemary also mentioned, several times, that it's good to look at 3 different books before you commit to using an herb, for the very reasons that you state.
John Gallagher, of Learning Herbs, put this webinar on and also added a group of Ms. Gladstar's most famous recipes on there for you to download. Of course, at the end, he gives a plug for his HerbMentor membership club. (I'm a member, but I'm not trying to promote this in any way. There's no obligation to join.)
These people are originally from our Northern California area, so I find that their information is not only useful, but their stories about the past are really interesting. Sonoma and Mendocino counties are well known for the hippy movements of the late 60s and 70s and there is a lore that still exists here, even though we are well into the 21st century.