“Growing Plant Medicine Vol 1,” by Richo Cech, illustrated by Sena Cech
$29.95
“Growing Plant Medicine, Vol. 1” is the much-expanded version of the original “The Medicinal Herb Grower.”
The book consists of:
“Theory and practice of natural garden techniques, newly augmented with bioregional medicinal plant recommendations, garden plans and materia medica. Arranged by plant families, alphabetically by kinship and common name. Families A through H. The rest of the alphabet will be left to Volume 2, which is in production. This is a personal book, filled with ruminations on gardening and herbalism coming from a lifetime of observing, growing and advocating for medicinal herbs. I hope the information is helpful and that you enjoy the style. ”
354 pages, Soft Cover
$29.95 USD
shipping is free on this website and within the USA
Realistically illustrated by Sena Cech, with line drawings of the actual plants, flowers, seeds, seedlings, mice and more.
“As for the way of herbalism, my experience is that discovering what the herbs are used for is mighty useful. How much better still when they teach me. . . what I am good for.” –Richo Cech
In stock
Kathy (verified owner) –
I love, love this book. It makes me want to go live on the homestead. Even so, it has left me with a question, the book talks about the importance of plants, I have read that the leaves from magnolia trees have herbicide properties. Is this true?
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Erin Whittingham (verified owner) –
Hi Richo and team, thank you so, so much for learning each plant and then sharing it with us. I love the book. Growing just got a whole lot easier and less stressful since I don’t have to research the needs and wants of each little plant. I can rely on your book (no screens needed – yippee!), and then experiment from there. Thankful for your life’s work <3
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laura.mangels (verified owner) –
What a fantastic book. Thanks to the detailed instructions therein, I’m encouraged to try my hand with herbs I would normally have never considered. Costus and Tennessee purple coneflower, here I come! I have many gardening and herb books, and this level of detail has always been missing for me. I can’t wait for volume 2.
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lingling_exeros (verified owner) –
Your connection with the land and the plants, and the real experience coming from that, comes through these pages, in addition to the wealth of information. Very delightful illustrations. I am thankful to have encountered this book, a true gift.
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Liz Clark –
Hi and thank you Richo and Sena! I have never learned so much from any book…ever! Though I haven’t yet read your others 😉 The illustrations are such a fun and beautiful touch. Anywhoo here’s a big, heartfelt t h a n k y o u.
On a personal note, I’ve been on this kind of quest to learn how to have a truly symbiotic relationship with the earth. I went to school for landscape architecture, worked as a designer and at different botanical gardens – and became frustrated because of the way plants are viewed and (mis)treated. I was in a kind of crisis bc I’m like I love plants and the earth and I don’t know what’s right? but it’s not what I’m doing. That’s where this book is so unique and helpful!
This book is the most beautifully useful gardening book because of your true love, respect, and extensive knowledge in how to nurture plants, the soil, and ecosystems in a thoughtful way. I really appreciated the fun stories and useful tips sprinkled throughout, and the practical examples of how you sew love into what you do.
ALSO – For over a year I have been stumped on what to do with this one small piece of garden where the gophers kill everything save some alyssum, but a box was just too harsh. Now I’m stoked on the tortuga!!! Woohoo looking forward to the next edition!
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claire griffin –
Will the book be available as a PDF/download? I will be traveling and will not be able to receive land mail. 🙏
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phd.permaculture.homestead.design –
Fun to read, full of personal stories and tall tales
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Mistique Angel Davis –
This is by far the best gardening book I have ever read! I generally interact with my garden books as reference books, looking up what I am curious about, but this one is actually fun to read! I read it from front to back. It’s full of information and I always recommend this book when someone asks me what garden book to get. And the had drawn illustrations are adorable!
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lazywildswan (verified owner) –
Richo gives better detail than the assigned reading for my Chinese medicine study, and everything is really well-written. Mayche edited the book with the precision of old-time New York Times book review editors, so it is a pleasure to read. But, even if you just want to learn more about herbs, but do not want to grow them, this book will be well-worth buying.
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stevemac2667 –
This book not only tells you how to grow herbs, it teaches you how you can adapt and use the basics the author gives to create the conditions you will need to grow just about any herb you come across. The principle of teaching how to fish rather than just giving you the fish.
You wont need to have hundreds of pages in a lot of volumes to grow any herb with only knowing the basics of where a plant grows on it’s own. You can then create the mini ecosystem ( conditions,,) to grow nearly any herb you will ever come across. Critical thinking directed by the basic facts.
I now have all three of his books and although each works alone, they really give you a lot of deeper understanding of each herb and its properties when all three are used together.
Whether you just want to propagate herbs for your own use or you want to sell the herb plants , this book is the best bang for your bucks I can find.
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Tim Roberts –
As someone who is primarily a TCM herbalist, but who actually does grow herbs, this book was both informative, and entertaining. It does cover the essence of herb growing quite well. A lot of vegetable gardeners are utterly awful when it comes to herbs (as they seem to think that everything likes the conditions that most garden vegetables enjoy). A book from someone who appreciates the difference in conditions that radically different plants need is a refreshing change.
Pretty certainly the best book I’ve read on growing herbs, and certainly the most readable one, doing you the favour of getting the essence of how to do it (mostly by imitating the plants natural habitat) rather than a guide of temperature, water, shade etc measurements that a plant will cope with.
If you want a ‘how to’ manual with a list of steps, this isn’t it. If you want to understand how you go about learning planting from the plants, then this will suit you fine.
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