Book Review - Encyclopedia of Herbs

The Encyclopedia of Herbs: A Comprehensive Reference to Herbs of Flavor and Fragrance

By Arthur O. Tucker, PhD and Thomas DeBaggio (published by Timber Press, 2009)

I have always wanted the definitive book on herbs, which is really an impossibility, but this book is probably the closest I've found.  Written by a botanist, Arthur O. Tucker and an herb specialist Thomas DeBaggio it is  a "meticulously researched compendium provides every aspect of growing, identifying, harvesting, preserving, and using more than 500 species of herbs."

It begins with sections on plant identification and naming then progresses through understanding an identifying the flavors and tastes to maximizing flavor and fragrance of herbs into how to grow them and keep them healthy.  Then it provides a profile of 500 different plants.  Providing a plant's botanical name and family, (as well as common names in various countries where it is grown,) whether it is an annual or perennial, its height, hardiness, light requirements, water consumption, required soil type, and pH. The often fascinating history of the plant, the chemistry of its essential oils, and its culinary, landscape, and craft uses are also included, as is advice on how to propagate.  The practical parts of the text, like how to propagate and tidbits of history were the brain child of Thomas DeBaggio.  This is actually a revised version of their first publication The Big Book of Herbs.  The authors received The Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature from the Herb Society of America. With this version they have added new plants and updated the nomenclature.  It does have an index which is invaluable with a book of this magnitude.  They also went to the trouble of providing plant name pronunciation guides including a way to know what the letters should sound like.  I thought that was a great touch, so we can say them right in the company of our herb peers and not feel silly.  The book also references GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) characteristics for the various plants profiled.

It has line drawings of herbs rather than photographs which I think was helpful and not so helpful depending on how you wish to use the book.  For plant identification it is not as helpful without a few color photos, but the other information it provides, more than makes up for this.  There are 145 line drawings included in the 604 pages of text.  The index includes topics as well as Scientific names and common names to make searching for herbs easier.

About the Authors

Joyce and Thomas DeBaggio taken by Melissa Block/NPR

I have to admit that I am biased toward Thomas DeBaggio, he was a self-taught herb grower who I got to know through his writing for the Herb Companion magazine back when I first got interested in herbs in the late 1980s. He was the founder of DeBaggio's Herb Farm and Nursery, now located in Chantilly, Virginia, and run by his son, Francesco.  He unfortunately died in 2011 after a long fight with Alzheimer's Disease.  One of my friends in herbs once said, Tom had forgotten more about herbs than he would ever learn in his lifetime.  Mellisa Block of NPR, had this to say in her obituary of this remarkable man:

"DeBaggio lived for plants and the garden. He started out selling tomato plants in Styrofoam cups from his driveway in Arlington, Va., for 25 cents apiece. That backyard business grew into a thriving herb farm and nursery with 100 varieties of tomato plants, three dozen kinds of basil — everything leafy and beautifully strong and fragrant.

"When DeBaggio was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, he set to work, writing two books about living with the disease. He described with remarkable candor the frightening progression of his illness.
"This is an unfinished story of a man dying in slow motion," he wrote in the first book, which he titled, with his typical brutal honesty, Losing My Mind."

Dr. Arthur O. Tucker is a professor of botany at Delaware State University. He is a botanist specializing in the identification and chemistry of plants of flavor, fragrance, and medicine. He teaches and writes and is a Research Professor and Director of the Claude E. Phillips Herbarium.  He has published widely on many herbs and essential oils, is an acknowledged authority of the lavenders, and is on the editorial board of Economic Botany and Journal of Essential Oil Research as well as an advisor for many other journals and groups. 

If you want to get your self a copy of this wonderful hardcover book, check out this link to DeBaggio's Herb Famr and Nursery:  http://www.debaggioherbs.com/books.html

Book Review - Homegrown Herbs by Tammi Hartung

I have been searching (since I first started working with herbs) for an easy to read, simple to carry book that goes over the ways to grow, harvest, care for and use herbs.  That is a pretty tall order and short of tomes too heavy to carry without a footman, I have been disappointed until now.

What I found was a single book that tells me grow it like this, use it like this and by the way it is good for you like this, that is also small enough to carry into my garden as well as recommend it to others, especially those just starting out growing herbs.  Homegrown Herbs by Tammi Hartung is that book.

Who would have guessed that a book with such a normal sounding title would be filled with so much information?  This book can be read by beginners as well as experienced gardeners.  It is lavishly filled with color pictures and wonderfully written prose that gives you a feel for how, where and why Tammi Hartung gardens with herbs.  Everything from starting plants, to maintenance, to harvesting and preserving herbs is given in detail and the recipes for food and other products as well as step by step instructions for making tea, tinctures and salves are all top notch.  The book even has details of over 100 herbs some of which I have never even heard of before (which I did not think possible!)

But the thing that impressed me the most about this book was that never before have I found a book covering the medicinal and health uses for herbs also be a perfect guide to the art of growing and using them too.  My search is over!  The book is about 9 x 12 inches, paperback and only about 3/4 to 5/8 of an inch thick, yet the wealth of information in contains I have not found in books twice its size.  And it is so readable.  I got a copy on Monday and I have been enjoying just reading it ever since.  I know it is a reprint/rewrite of an older book, but somehow it is different, but since I did not buy the other one I cannot compare the two.

Of special note are the charts she has scattered through the text.  They talk about how to grow the herbs, how and when to harvest and a multitude of other pieces of information gathered together in usable lists that I know I will be copying and pasting into my garden journal.

Tonight I expect to go back through the text and gather information to use here and in my lectures as this book is filled with little tidbits to share.

If I have intrigued about this book by Tammi Hartung, Herb Companion Magazine is having a sale on books this week and they have 25% off the cover price of this book included in their sale.  Here is the link to the order form:  Homegrown Herbs