Garden Tool Set

Book Review: Grow your own drugs

I remember watching the TV programme, which this book accompanies, quite a few years ago. I found it interesting, but it didn't spur me on to go off and make herbal remedies. Probably because on the whole I don't take much medication or have many ailments.

However, I saw that James Wong has released his new book 'Homegrown Revolution' and though that I'd give this book a go as his new one wasn't available at the library.

It's very well set out with lots of photos and a large, easy to read font. James begins by getting us started with useful terms, where to get the herbs and plants for the remedies and the equipment that is helpful to have around. This is followed by the remedies which are organised into various complaint types, for instance; kids(!), under the weather, and skin complaints. Importantly, each remedy comes with advice on how often to use and how long you can store it after it's been made.

While I know that plants have many chemicals within them that can help heal us, I'm still a sceptic when it comes to plants having this 'property' or that 'property'. While there's nothing wrong with saying that - I do feel that the word have been misused a lot and therefore I like to hear about the chemicals within the plant that are associated with the property being touted and not just that 'the ancients' or whomever are in favour at the current time decided that a particular plant was good for a particular complaint. So, while properties are discussed, more often than not James does provide the information in the remedy introduction and puts my fears/scepticism to rest.

This is further enhanced by the top 100 plants chapter that closes the book. This provides the name of the plant or part of the plant in use, followed by the latin name. A paragraph then follows explaining why this plant is used - including which oils and vitamins are held within the plant and which complaints they are mainly used for. Some additional remedies are provided here, along with how to grow or find the plant.

While I think it's wonderful that such a popular book has been written for this important topic, I'm not a convert. While I wouldn't mind using some of the remedies, I think it's much more expensive than buying the required medication. If it was something that you had to make a lot of, over a long period of time, then fine. But I can't see myself needing to do that, at least at the moment! So I can just see the beeswax, essential oils, glycerine, etcetera laying there for years having only been used for a single remedy.

This is a nicely done book. It keeps to the basics and presents the information in an accessible way for all readers. And if I decide not to use the remedies, then that's my loss and doesn't indicate a problem with the book itself - which is very well done!