These are a few of our favorite things!
As herb lovers, we often get questions at classes and events regarding what are some of our favorite tools, our favorite herbs, and great books. So for fun, we thought we’d use this month’s blog to create a list of a few of our favorite herbal things. Maybe it will help you find something for the upcoming holidays for the herbal lover in your life.
Books and Magazines
As herb lovers, we often get questions at classes and events regarding what are some of our favorite tools, our favorite herbs, and great books. So for fun, we thought we’d use this month’s blog to create a list of a few of our favorite herbal things. Maybe it will help you find something for the upcoming holidays for the herbal lover in your life.
Books and Magazines
- Medicinal Herbs – A Beginner’s Guide by Rosemary Gladstar – this is an amazing book for both beginner and advanced herbalists featuring some of our very favorite herbs and easy to make recipes and remedies. A must have for any herb shelf.
- Alchemy of Herbs by Rosalee de la Floret – an herbalist located in our own home state of Washington, and one Erin has taken quite a few classes from. This is book uses regular ingredients to help you create simple and effective remedies. Love the recipes and info on herbs!
- The Complete Herb Book by Maggie Stuckey – an easy to read and use book that includes an encyclopedia of a great many familiar herbs with black and white illustrations. Also has sections on gardening, cooking crafts and household products and healing. This was one of the first herb books we bought on a mother-daughter weekend at the beach many, many moons ago. Our copy is faded and almost falling apart - a testament to its many tears of use.
- The Herb Bible by Peter McHoy and Pamela Westland – a directory of the most popular and easy to grow herbs with colorful illustrations. A complete section on growing herbs from the planning to the caring for them. Also has sections on using herbs in cooking, crafts and home remedies.
- The Essential Herbal Magazine - filled with information, recipes, lore, and crafting ideas and instructions for using herbs and making them a part of your life every day. We eagerly await our copy in the mail every other month. Get your own or a gift subscription here
A couple of our favorite herbal books - The Complete Herb Book by Maggie Stuckey and The Herb Bible by Peter McHoy and Pamela Westland
Kitchen Tools/Gadgets
- Herb Mill – we often get asked how we grind up the herbs we use for teas and cooking, and people always “Oh!” and “Aw!” over the stainless steel herb mills we bring out (there is quite the collection in the herb kitchen!), and then ask where we got them. They can be a bit harder to find, but here is a good price on ones that look like a couple of the models we have: https://www.rootsandharvest.com/product/stainless-steel-herb-mill/sprouts-herbs
- Tea Filters – these tea filters do a good job of keeping fine herbs from floating in your tea, allowing you to quickly and easily make loose leaf tea portable in your to-go mug/cup. They are unbleached and made of paper, so can be composted. Mountain Rose Herbs is our favorite place to buy herbs that we don’t grow or grow enough of ourselves, and they’ve got great selection on herb related goods. Bonus – they are based here in the PNW! You might also be able to find something similar at your local natural goods grocery store.
https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/disposable-tea-filters/profile- As an alternative for teas that don’t have fine particles, this works well too and fits in both cups and teapots: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/celestial-tea-strainer/profile
- As an alternative for teas that don’t have fine particles, this works well too and fits in both cups and teapots: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/celestial-tea-strainer/profile
- Garden Delights Herb Blends – what kitchen is complete without some of our lovely culinary herb blends?! Nearly all of the herbs are grown on our farm, ground by hand (using the mills featured above!), and then combined together in our kitchen for easy use in creating delicious meals. We use them regularly in our the meals we eat as a family. Here are our favorites:
Garden Tools/Gadgets
- Stirrup Hoe – Erin had seen these in a small farm/gardening article or online video somewhere, and when shopping at the local Ace Hardware in Battle Ground, saw one. She promptly picked it up and put it in the cart – Eloyce wasn’t completely sure, but Erin convinced her to buy it and give it a try. Skip forward to a few weeks later, after giving it a try, it is by and far one of Eloyce’s favorite garden tools. Small, young weeds are no match for this hoe and now those helping with garden chores are eager to use this hoe (sometimes there may be small arguments about who gets to use it!). We highly recommend you check your small hardware or garden store for one and add it to your tool shed!
- Herb Snips – these are our very favorite clippers or snips for harvesting herbs. There are probably 4 pairs between the two of us. They’ve lasted many years and have been well worth the money. Easy to clean and sharpen, we highly recommend them. https://www.gardeners.com/buy/pocket-snips/8586317.html#start=5
- Hori hori – a pointed tool with serrated edges. It also has measurements along one edge for help in planting, which this tool is good for along with rooting out weeds or uprooting herbs for transplant. Ours came with leather cases for protecting the blade or your bum if it ends up in a back pocket as so many smaller garden tools do.
Favorite Personal Gifts
Who doesn’t need (deserve!) a good soak after a long day in the garden or out among the herbs? Maybe some salve to heal the wounds of working so hard. Gardeners would appreciate some personal gifts to soothe the body and soul.
Too numerous to mention them all. We make some such as bath salts, herbal healing salves, dreamy sleep pillows, and tea samplers. But we aren’t the only ones, so search out the upcoming bazaars for us and other local vendors who use herbs in their products. Three of our favorites are Half Moon Farm, Scented Acres and Soaring Dreams. We always appreciate that people support our local small farms and businesses.