How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life Book Review

How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life by Isabell Shipard is one of my all-time favorite books. It was first launched in 2003, and I bought my copy (the 6th edition) in 2013. I’ve had it for over 10 years and it’s one of the few books I pick up almost every day. By now, this book is as familiar to me as the back of my hand. And yet, every time I pick it up, I learn something new.

I’ll go as far as to say that this is the only book you’ll need on using herbs in Australia. I have many, many other herb books, and I don’t pick up any of them. This is a book that should be in everyone’s bookshelf, if not on the kitchen bench!

Why I Love This Book

I studied herbalism and naturopathy and qualified for my advanced certificate in 2017. Despite studying for two years, ‘How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life’ has taught me more about herbs and natural medicine than my course did!

Here I am, proud as punch:

‘How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life’ is different from your standard herb books. It’s packed with helpful, incredibly detailed information from cover to cover. It’s written in clear, easy-to-understand language, almost like Isabell is standing next to you in the garden, sipping a cup of chamomile tea.

Here are some of the things I love the most.

It’s Australian!

This book is written for Australia. That makes it pretty unique already. The in-depth growing information is targeted towards Australian climates, and there are 100s of stories from Australian people and how they used the herbs in their daily life.

Over 500 Herbs, Spices, and Edible Plants

It’s incredibly in-depth. I thought my herbs knowledge was quite good until I started using ‘How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life! You will find over 500 different varieties. Each variety is described in detail and includes things like:

• General description. Where the plant comes from, what it looks like, flowers, propagation, and how to grow it.
• Other similar species. For example, under Aloe vera barbadensis, it also describes Aloe perryi and Aloe arborescens.
• Toxicity advice for this plant or other varieties it can be easily confused with. It also details whether certain parts of the plant are poisonous or toxic and whether it needs to be cooked or can be eaten raw.
• Constituents. This is one of my favourite features. Each description lists all the plant constituents, such as enzymes, amino acids, acids, and other active compounds.
• Vitamins and minerals.
• Actions. Another favourite! Actions include things like analgesic, antihistamine, antioxidant, coagulant, astringent, and anti-inflammatory. This is very helpful. Say, for example, you are looking for a plant with antibiotic properties, you can look it up in the index in the back of the book.

Medicinal Uses for Each Plant

Every plant description includes its medicinal uses. These descriptions are incredibly in-depth. Taking Aloe as my example again, it includes, for example:

• The history of Aloe uses. From Cleopatra to Aristotle, to Dioscorides.
• Any research studies about the plant. For Aloe, there are many! It describes some of the benefits that have been well-researched, such as inflammation, itching, cell generation and healing, and immune system stimulation.
• Personal stories about using the plant for certain purposes, as well as stories from other people. I love these personal stories. The stories alone make the book worth the purchase!
• Lots of tips on how to use it and make your own creams, tea, dedoctions, lotions, compresses, and many other things. I have made 100s of these preparations and it’s one of the most useful features of the book.
• A favourite example for me is the Candelabra Tonic Recipe, which some people use for general wellness, cancer prevention, and also as a cancer treatment. It gives you step-by-step instructions so you can create the preparation at home.

Culinary Uses

This is a fun section! It teaches you how to use these ultra-beneficial plants in your day-to-day cooking. A yummy meal with healthy benefits – it doesn’t get much better. If you’ve ever eaten Aloe or tasted some Aloe juice, you may know that it’s not the easiest to incorporate into food. It’s bitter!

The book has some great suggestions to help you out, which include adding the gel to dips and dressings, in sauces and stews, or mixing it with honey and lemon juice to serve with your veggies. You can also use Aloe as an egg replacement or add them to your compost pile. Isabell says it provides good microbial food, which helps with the breakdown of materials in your compost.

Photos

If you prefer photos with each plant description, this isn’t the book for you. There are photos, but they are bundled together in sections throughout the book. Each description states whether a photo is available, and then you can look it up in the photo section. The photos are gorgeous, though!

I have the 6th edition and I am not sure what has been changed in the 7th, 8th, and 9th editions. If you have these editions, would you let me know?

Using Herbs In Our Daily Life

This section is an amazing reference guide. It includes everything you need to know about incorporating herbs into your daily life. Some examples

• How to make a tea by infusion and how to use it for things like general health, dehydration, and indigestions, etc. It also offers suggestions on things to add for flavour and medicinal benefits.
• How to make a dedoction for things like roots, tough leaves, bark, and seeds
• How to make a tincture with alcohol, vinegar, or glycerine.
• Liniments, ointments, and cream.
• Aromatherapy, herbal baths, and footbaths.
• Making herbal honey and salt.
• The list goes on!

Australian Native Plants

‘How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life’ includes Aussie natives! You won’t find that in, for example, Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs.

Things I Don’t Like

For starters, the index in the back of the book isn’t complete. It’s comprehensive, for sure, but it doesn’t include every ailment or every herb for each ailment or purpose. For example, I just tried to look up ‘anti-inflammatory’ but it isn’t listed. ‘Antibiotic’ and ‘Antioxidant’ are. You would need to browse the book or grow your knowledge of each herb’s actions to find all the anti-inflammatory ones.

That said, it would be a mammoth task to include all of those details. And it would take up a lot of pages in the book!

The second thing is the photos. I would actually like each plant to have at least one photo. Preferably more. Again, this probably isn’t feasible, considering the book covers over 500 different plants. For proper identification, you would need to Google the images or purchase a different guide. I can guarantee that not one guide will include all 500, though!

About Isabell Shipard

Let me tell you a little about Isabell Shipard, the author of the book. Isabell was born in South Australia and her parents were self-sufficient gardeners. She was born to be a gardener!

In 1978, Isabell discovered her love for herbs and their special properties. By 1980, she, alongside her husband Derrick and their three kids, set up camp on a 20-acre farm in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Their mission was to live as self-sufficiently as possible and inspire others to do the same.

Isabell wasn’t just a farmer; she was a student of the earth. With courses under her belt and an ever-expanding library of plant books, she became a fountain of knowledge. She and Derrick would host farm walks and teach courses, sharing their wisdom with hundreds of people every year.

But it wasn’t just about growing herbs. Isabell was always digging for more information about the plants she loved. She’d research, write, and then share her findings in short articles or notes for her courses and farm walks at ‘Shipards Herb Farm.’

After years of people urging her to put her knowledge on paper, she finally did. It was a mammoth task, but in 2003, “How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life?” hit the shelves, followed by more books.

Isabell wasn’t just a gardener or an author; she was a pioneer, a teacher, and an inspiration!

Isabell’s Other Books and Courses

Isabell has written three books:

• ‘How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life,’
• ‘How Can I Grow Sprouts As Living Food,’
• and ‘How Can I Be Prepared With Self-Sufficiency and Survival Foods?‘

I have all three! They’re all awesome, but the herbs one is my favourite. She also has several courses that are available on DVD. I would love to get these one day but I haven’t had a DVD player in years. Take a look at the books and DVDs on the Herbs Are Special website.

Herbs Are Special

They are! If you’d like to purchase Isabell Shipard’s books or DVD courses, please click the button below. I am an affiliate with Herbs Are Special and receive a small commissions if you purchase something through my links. Thanks for supporting Aussie Roots and keeping the spirit alive!

Happy gardening!