When I was a little girl, our life on the farm included recycling, eating farm to table seasonal food, and listening to my European family talking about the healing remedies of the aloe vera plant. We thought all that old-world folksiness was for the birds…only to find ourselves embracing many of the time-tested practices and wisdom of people who came before us.
My mother and baba (with their added two cents) would embrace this book by gardening expert Frankie Flowers and alternative medicine expert Bryce Wylde that show Canadians how they can plant and produce herbs and flowers that assist with our well being. Power Plants is an alphabetized guide to help us with forty-nine home-grown remedies.
https://frankieflowers.com/
https://wyldeonhealth.com/
Each plant looks at how to grow it with a difficulty level and hardiness, when to plant and when to harvest, sun location and soil type. We are then told about the health benefits and the targeted health concerns the plant will address. For example, did you know that strawberries are a natural tooth whitener?
We are then given health store alternatives if the plant is not in season along with cautions on how to consume the plant (in moderation!) or to avoid (cross purposed with other plants or if experiencing certain symptoms). With the upswing of people going overboard with single products (think of the celery diet or that turmeric will heal everything!), the authors outline all the positive ways of using the plants along with warnings of overuse or counterintuitive with what else is going on in our bodies.
One of the biggest challenges is saving and storing the overabundance of the garden’s yield – finding uses for fresh herbs all summer long can be overwhelming. In comes the great advice on how to dry herbs to use all year. Take a look in our Recipe section to find tips and tricks to preserve your precious harvest and enjoy their healing powers when the garden stops growing and colder air sweeps through.
Enter to win a copy of this handy guide in our Giveaway section or go to https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443426763/power-plants/ to order the book and get planting!
Excerpt from Power Plants: Simple Home Remedies You Can Grow by Frankie Flowers and Bryce Wylde ©2014. Photography by Shannon J. Ross ©2014. Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443426763/power-plants/
