The Beginner's Guide to Edible Herbs: 26 Herbs Everyone Should Grow and Enjoy

by Charles W.G. Smith, Edward C. Smith (Introduction)

Nothing tastes better than herbs fresh from the garden. Discover how easy and rewarding it is to grow your own! Simple instructions, tempting dishes, and beautiful full-color photographs will inspire you to grow, harvest, preserve, and cook with 26 of the most popular kitchen herbs, including basil, chives, cilantro, dill, fennel, garlic, lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, and tarragon. Your pantry will soon be filled with seasoned salts, Provençal vinegar, and caraway cookies.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Cooking, Herbs

145 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tips & recipes; learned a lot & will keep as reference book.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful, useful primer for growing, cooking, and preserving herbs.

This book covers 26 herbs. While the majority are familiar there are a few that you may not recognize, like borage or hyssop. The introduction lasts but a few pages and includes some essential (and sometimes humorous) information on growing and choices to make, and then Charles dives right into the herbs. Each page has large, crisp pictures to go with the concise text. Only a paragraph or two of scientific and/or historical information for context, then it's right to the good stuff. Each herb has a paragraph or two under each of these headings, Grow It, Uses, Preserve for later. Each section ends with some yummy sounding and approachable recipes.

Interspersed with the pages on specific herbs are wonderful little 1-3 page tidbits that could be used for many of the herbs. Like general guidelines for making teas, herbal salts and sugars, infused oils and vinegars, and more. All with a few simple recipes to try for each.

All this in a mere 142 pages.

I borrowed this book from the library, but I certainly will be buying a copy for my library.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short book with a lot of good information. I like that the author chose to focus on a limited number of herbs, providing growing, preserving & cooking info for each one. I also enjoyed the extras that apply to a variety of herbs. While the author does include the standard herbal oils and vinegars (but suggests some original mixtures), he also includes more creative ideas like herb juices, herbal cheeses, herbal salts, herbs with fruits, and herbal honey. I bookmarked quite a few ideas & recipes to try.

I noticed several of the preserving instructions recommended crumbling leaves after drying. This seemed odd since I've often heard whole leaves retain more flavor and shouldn't be crumbled until just before use. I also wish the author had mentioned the risk of botulism (not just "spoilage") when making homemade herbal oils. But overall, it seemed like very good information.

This would be a good introductory or reference book for anyone interested in herbs. Although I own quite a few herb books, I plan to buy a copy of this book because I like how well-organized and easy-to-reference the herb information is.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The organization was scattered. For example, a useful guide to appropriate pot sizes for various herbs was buried on a page about catnip and only included a handful of herbs. At least for anyone looking to start container gardening, this is not the book for you.

I was able to glean sun/shade and water requirements for most herbs, but I could probably find just as much info on the tag that comes with the plants at the garden center...

(P.S. For anyone interested in knowing which plants pair well together in a plot, this might be a useful resource. There was a lot of discussion on this topic.)

[Wilma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book on growing, preparing and preserving herbs. This has everything from growing basil to making your own ketchup, herbal jams, herbal teas, flavored sugars and salts! I thought the book was accessible, well organized and the recipes well-written. The informative HERBS AT A GLANCE tables at the back were excellent. I'm adding a couple of new herbs to my herb garden this year based on this book: calendula, caraway, savory, anise hyssop.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good loose guide with recipes to try and adjust to your liking. Helpful for beginners but some terminology used isn't explained and may be confusing or difficult for people new to the hobby to understand without further research or reading.

[Pheeeeen]

Word

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great intro to common garden herbs. The book wasn’t organized in a super helpful manner, but the info was just enough to start an interest in edible herbs.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not very helpful for me because I was looking to learn how to grow herbs indoors and this book didn't cover that part in detail.

However, I still think the book is worth 4 stars because of the knowledge I gained about herbs and how to grow them outdoors and even learned some cool preservation techniques.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a longer review at my blog.

This is just what it says it is: an excellent beginner's guide, with the 26 herbs arranged in alphabetical order, with information on planting, growing and harvesting them, as well as some recipes and other suggestions for use.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

has all the basic info one would need to plan one's first herb garden. would love to own a copy--but would probably only buy it used. there isn't enough here to justify paying full price for it. lots of pretty pictures, not as much information.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic little herb book. Makes me want to start planting right away. The recipe suggestions: pestos, butters, cheeses, oils, and marinades are inspiring. Good tips on cultivating, propogating, and harvesting, presented in an easily readible concise form. Good to keep handy as a reference.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good beginner herb book - I knew a lot of this already but nothiing everything. I never seemed to figure out the way it was organized. Wish they had more growing tips instead of so many recipes (though some of them sounded yum).

[Melissa Jeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It has inspired me to actually use the herbs in my yard. Teas, jellies, jams, and salts, these are great uses for herbs growing in the garden. What a great way to add flavor to your cooking and enjoyment to your life.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had so much useful information in it, and do many different ideas of what you could do with your herbs. I usually grow mint and basil, but I think after reading this I might try adding at least one more herb to my garden.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good, basic book about growing herbs. Wish I'd read it before I planted my herb garden.

[Jackie W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that it has ways to use the herbs you grow...can't wait to see how they do this summer :)

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exactly what it claims to be - a beginner's guide to 26 specific herbs - and has been helpful as I've set up my own herb garden.

[Sharie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice grid in the back

[Loretta Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful. I like how it has tips for growing and recipes. I really liked all the ways of recommended to preserve the herbs.

[Melody Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book! Very useful for basic knowledge on many common herbs. All sorts of information from recipes to how to them, to how to store and preserve differently herbs.

[Gail Richmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great guide for starting an herb garden or just selecting favorites. Include how and why to grow as well as history, uses, and recipes.