Growing Herbs for Health, Wellness, Cooking, and Crafts is a general guide for producing herbs for culinary and crafting uses written and curated by Kim Roman. Released out 2nd April 2024 by Fox Chapel, it's 208 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

Herbaceous plants include a wide variety of species for different uses from the familiar chives, basic, thyme, and mint to the slightly more exotic and less well known shiso, ginger, and saffron. The author has included numerous plant profiles with cultural needs information, growing seasons, and temperature requirements. There is also good coverage and basic information about season extenders and greenhouses.

There are numerous attractive tutorial projects included like beautiful floral focaccia, herb flavored salts and sugars, lavender floral sachets, wreathes, scrubs, balms, and much more. Each tutorial is accompanied by a full ingredients list, helpful tips, and step by step instructions. The entire book is well photographed in color throughout.

The author/publisher have also included an abbreviated links and resources lists with vendors for plants and materials. Most are aimed at readers in North America, but many will ship outside the USA.

Four and a half stars. This would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, and gift giving.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

In "A Comprehensive Guide to Herb Gardening," Kim Roman offers practical advice suitable for gardeners of all levels. Roman's coverage of microgreens is particularly noteworthy, providing valuable insights into this aspect of herb gardening. Her advice on optimizing growing environments with grow lights, towers, and greenhouses is beneficial for enhancing herb-growing setups.

As a gardener with over 15 years of experience in hydroponic and outdoor herb cultivation, I found Roman's book to be incredibly informative. One standout feature is the detailed breakdown of each herb's preferences, covering soil temperature, spacing, lighting, pests, and harvesting methods. Additionally, the book offers essential tips on seed collection and storage, crucial for sustaining herb gardens over time.

Beyond its informative content, "A Comprehensive Guide to Herb Gardening" provides a diverse range of herb-infused recipes, from marinades to vinaigrettes, infused oils, cocktails, focaccia bread, teas, bath products, and more. Overall, this guide is a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced gardeners, offering thorough coverage of herb gardening essentials alongside practical advice and delicious recipes.

Thank you to Fox Chapel Publishing, Creative Homeowner, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

What a fun wealth of knowledge!

If someone is looking for a beginner overview on all things herbs, this is the place to go!

It doesn’t go crazy in depth, but I wouldn’t expect that from such a broad overview. There’s a lot of helpful information all packed into one place for those interested in learning more!

Kim Roman's 'Growing Herbs for Health, Wellness, Cooking, and Crafts' is an amazing resource for anyone interested in herb gardening. Roman's expertise shines through in her easy-to-follow guidance on soil preparation, lighting, watering, and pest prevention. Featuring profiles of 36 popular herbs, along with a treasure trove of recipes and crafting ideas, this book offers something for every gardener. (I received an advance reader copy of this book, and all opinions are my own.) Whether you're looking to enhance your herb gardening, cooking, wellness routine, or crafting projects, Roman's guide is sure to inspire and educate.

This book is meant to strike a mid-level understanding of herbs, enough information for the beginner to learn that there are some herbs that are medicinal, some that are used for cooking. Information on growing herbs - some information for brand new gardeners and some more for more experienced gardeners, and then some special techniques. In ground gardening, raised beds, and container gardening inside and outside are all included. You might be amazed at all the ways you can grow herbs.
There is even a very handy table for growing herbs, flowers & vegetables, bulbs, corms & rhizomes with info and growing methods, soil requirements, necessary light, watering, temperature and special notes.

There are great photos of different types of plants, information on harvesting, commpon pests, and common diseases.

I think this is a great guide to growing all sorts of herbs, flowers, etc. and almost every one can learn something about their favorite herbs.

The section of growing from seed, propagation, how to save a rootbound plant, treating for pests, protecting your plants and harvesting/processing are useful to most types of gardening.

An extra treat in this book are the recipes for herbs in the kitchen (including info for beginning to expert cooks), decorating bread, cocktails, teas, personal care products, crafting, and wellness.

This book is chock full of information that can be useful to gardeners, cooks, crafters, and people interested in health and wellness. I think this is a book well worth your consideration.

Fabulous book , lots of great information for both am experienced gardener to a very beginner. The photos are really great and are very helpful with identification of issues, and plants. I grow a lot of herb, mainly for cooking but I may even now try using some for wellness. An extremely useful book for any gardener, with coverage in all gardening areas. Thanks you NetGalley and the publishers for the DR

This book has inspired my to grow my own herbs instead of buying the limp ones from the supermarket. Can't wait to try out some of the great ideas in this book.

A very informational book on herbs and how to grow them. This is a great book for beginners like myself. I have mainly grown my herbs via hydroponics systems and now have a better understanding of outdoor gardening methods. The author explains everything you to know to start your herbs and spices. From starting them from seeds to transplanting to harvesting, outdoor planting vs hydroponics. I liked how the author listed every herb with their common pests and diseases and how to treat them. As well as gives examples of how to use them.

This book was a great reference for me. I knew next to nothing about herbs before jumping into this book. It gives tips on everything from picking what herbs you might what to use in recipes, for protection from pests, and for medical purposes. It also gave good tips on how to collect and store your harvest, whether it be seeds or herbs and vegetables. I truly enjoyed reading this and learning more.

The photos included help with identification of different plants and flowers. They also show how to build places for your plants and what to do to protect them from the weather.

As someone who struggles with finding new avenues for my garden, this book helped me plan out my garden for this year. I learned how I can best utilize my space for crops that will be impactful to me.

I learned so much from this book, especially about micro greens and the finer details on sowing herbs and the necessary care tips each different herb needs to thrive.

Thank you so much for providing a free digital copy. I will definitely be purchasing a hard copy of this book so I can keep a copy handy while experimenting in with new indoor and outdoor seedlings this season.

If you are looking for an excellent, beginner friendly, guide on all things herbs, BUY THIS BOOK! The end.

I am notorious for buying a basil plant every year and then killing it within a month. I am hoping this book can help me create more growth with my herbs

Great wellness lifestyle guide. Subject matter attracted me to read this book. Subject content was informative, thoughtfully explored, and well written.

This book is full of useful, easy to understand information. I was pleased with the variety of herbs discussed, as well as the many uses and recipes for various culinary, dietary, and wellness applications. It also recommends recipes for salts, sugar scrubs, essential oils, adult beverages, and more. I would highly recommend this book.

I've always wanted an herb garden but I have yet to figure out how to keep it growing for longer than a month or two. Kim Roman has educated this gardener on what I was doung wrong and what I need to do to change my outcome....and save me time, money and frustration. Her guidance is clear and easily understood without needing to be a botanist. I'm so happy I found her book. Now I need to share it with my fellow herb gardeners in training.

Growing Herbs for Health, Wellness, Cooking, and Crafts : Includes 36 Herbs, 36 Recipes, and 18 Crafts. This is the perfect instruction manual for beginners wanting to start their own herb garden. It covers everything you need to know from soil preparation, light, watering, and dealing with pests. Inspiring recipes are also included to get you using your own produce, The illustrations are lovely and this book would make a great gift.

Growing Herbs for Health, Wellness, Cooking, and Crafts by Kim Roman is a great book beginner and intermediate herb gardeners. I'm expanding my herb garden this year and it was very useful to have this book to determine which herbs to add for my area and for my personal uses. I'm new to using my own herbs for wellness and I haven't tried crafting with herbs yet. How fun! What a great idea. This book is very helpful, has full color photos throughout and great instructions and explanations. Would be perfect to keep in a personal library.

This would be a good book for an absolute beginner who’s looking to grow culinary herbs. It is definitely not a good fit for someone looking for herbalism information, which is my area of interest. I didn’t learn anything new and was frustrated by the lack of depth. It’s great if you just want to grow some herbs in your garden though, or want beginner level knowledge of things like what a tisane (tea) is or what lasagna gardening is. Lots of photos and great info for novices who just want to grow herbs like marjoram and cilantro and want an entry level course on herbs.

(Note to authors- please stop recommending peat moss in homemade soil recipes. It is disastrous to the environment and sustainable gardeners stopped using it 20 years ago.)

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

This is a gem of a book for beginner herb and spice growing enthusiasts. The author is a gardening educator and the wealth of information in this book is just enough to have all the basics answered and then some. There are answers to questions I had always wondered about and many that I never even knew to ask. As a fairly beginner gardener myself, I can’t wait to apply the knowledge in this book for the upcoming growing season this spring.

A very comprehensive book regarding herbs/spices including terminology as well as details from seeds to use. The book is definitively one to add to your library if you are interested in gardening and cooking. Includes recipes and gift giving ideas.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the opportunity.