Food & Cooking

Herbal Handbook is a charming, information-packed guide to 51 herbs and their uses illustrated with rare botanical art from the renowned archives of The New York Botanical Garden.

Did you know that woodruff was used as a room freshener in the Middle Ages; that crushed bergamot leaves can soothe bee stings; and that dried fenugreek seeds were found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen?

Herbs are magical, and their uses myriad. Inside Herbal Handbook are fifty-one herbs portrayed in words and rare botanical art curated by experts at The New York Botanical Garden. Some, like saffron, are treasured and rare; others, like purslane, grow by the roadside. They all have a place—in the garden, in the kitchen, in the bed or the bath. Use Herbal Handbook to explore their history, how to grow them, and how they were used in the past and present. Then bring them into your daily life; each herb’s profile offers a recipe or project that highlights its unique properties.

So cleanse your face with calendula when you wake up, sip a bergamot tea at breakfast, have a lovage tuna sandwich for lunch, and mix a caraway cocktail at the end of the day. Let Herbal Handbook delight your senses as they have done to others for thousands of years.

How do plants work? How can I grow tomatoes? How can I encourage garden wildlife? RHS Get Growing will answer all these questions in a fun and accessible guide.

Perfect for parents and children who enjoy engaging with the outdoors and want to do more activities together, or for beginner gardeners just starting out, this book explains how plants work, describes the building blocks of gardening, and shows how to grow everything from cacti to cucumbers.

With great facts and practical projects, giving the reader a lot of information, it’s an ideal, hands-on introduction for complete beginners, and designed to inspire a life-long love of gardening.

In this book, you will learn to:
– Learn about the plants and animals that make up the ecosystem of any garden
– Plant seeds together with your children and watch as they grow
– Carry out experiments – from making a wormery to mapping rain shadows
– Make delicious recipes from your home-grown produce

The projects and experiments are bite-sized and self-contained, ideal for weekends, holidays and even home-schooling.

This book is ideal for parents and teachers who want to get kids connected with nature, experiencing the world and relating to the food that they eat. All the guidance is backed by scientific and educational research, drawn together by the team of RHS experts.

Get your children growing shoots and seeds, whatever their ages, and watch them fall in love with the natural world with RHS Get Growing, the complete family gardening guide.