A Review of Growing Plant Medicine Volumes 1 & 2 by Richo Cech For anyone interested in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), organic gardening, Chinese medicine plants, and making authentic DIY herbal remedies, the two-volume Growing Plant Medicine series by Richo Cech may be among the finest herbal gardening books currently available. These are not trendy wellness books written by marketers disconnected from the soil. They are the work of a lifelong medicinal herb grower who deeply understands plants, ecosystems, seed saving, cultivation, and traditional herbal medicine. The two books: Growing Plant Medicine Volume 1 Growing Plant Medicine Volume 2 together form an extraordinary encyclopedia of medicinal herb cultivation, combining practical growing information with botanical wisdom, traditional herbal usage, conservation ethics, and deeply personal observations about working with plants. A Rare Combination of Practical Knowledge and Real Herbalism Many books on medicinal herbs focus primarily on buying supplements or preparing remedies from dried herbs ordered online. Richo Cech approaches herbal medicine from the older tradition: first learn the plants themselves. These books teach readers how to: grow medicinal herbs organically, understand plant habitats and growing conditions, cultivate rare and endangered medicinal plants, harvest herbs properly, preserve medicinal potency, and build a truly living relationship with herbal medicine. For students of TCM herbalism, this is especially valuable because so many classical Chinese medicine plants are discussed not merely as products, but as living organisms with distinct ecological needs. Rather than treating herbal medicine as disconnected ingredients in capsules, Richo Cech restores the missing relationship between: gardener, soil, climate, medicinal plant, and medicine making. Especially Valuable for TCM and Chinese Medicine Students One of the strongest aspects of the Growing Plant Medicine series is the inclusion of many herbs important to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Readers interested in growing: astragalus, Chinese skullcap, bupleurum, angelica, peony, rehmannia, artemisia, schizandra, and other important Chinese medicine plants will find detailed cultivation guidance rarely available elsewhere. As someone who studies or practices herbal medicine quickly discovers, medicinal plants often fail when treated like ordinary vegetable crops. Richo repeatedly emphasizes the importance of understanding the natural ecology and preferred conditions of each plant rather than forcing everything into conventional garden systems. This ecological perspective makes the books especially useful for serious herbal growers. Beautifully Written and Illustrated Another reason these books stand apart from many gardening manuals is that they are genuinely enjoyable to read. The volumes include hand-drawn botanical illustrations by Sena Cech alongside stories, observations, humor, and reflections from decades of growing medicinal herbs. Instead of feeling like sterile reference manuals, the books read almost like conversations with an experienced herbal grower walking through the garden beside you. That human quality matters. So much modern herbal content feels mass-produced and disconnected from actual land stewardship. These books feel rooted in lived experience. Why These Books Matter Now At a time when many people want: cleaner food, authentic herbal medicine, self-sufficiency, organic gardening skills, and alternatives to industrial wellness culture, the Growing Plant Medicine books offer something increasingly rare: genuine transmission of practical plant knowledge. For anyone building: a medicinal herb garden, a home apothecary, a TCM herb collection, or an educational herbal program, these books deserve a permanent place on the shelf. They are especially recommended for: herbalists, homeschoolers, TCM students, organic gardeners, permaculture growers, small herb farms, and anyone interested in authentic DIY herbal remedies made from plants they have actually grown themselves. The herbals I am growing this season, after reading these two books, are already doing much better than before! Awaiting new books, lol, because I already have Richo’s entire collection.