There is a vast sea of resources for growing, harvesting and using herbs; these are a few of my personal favorites. I've also included some web sites that offer information.

Most herbs are very hardy and of course the hardiness will depend on the climate you are in. Here in the Northwest most herbs do quite well. Most will winter over and do well with little attention. You can have a very well maintained fine tuned herb bed or you can allow the weeds to creep in a bit with out much damage. It all depends on what you like to look at. Personally I don't like to use weed killers. Weeds are after all herbs in their own right. Many of the weeds people like to get rid of have very powerful medicinal qualities and uses, especially in the pastures where the animals can eat them if they need to.

Here is a list of books that I have used over the years:

• The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable
  By Juliette de Bairacli Levy
  This is a must have book for anyone who is serious about using herbs for their animals healthcare. Juliette is an amazing woman and offers wise wisdom from using many time-honored remedies throughout her life both with herself and her beloved animals.
  
  
• Back to Eden
  By Jethro Kloss
  This book gives many herbal remedies for common and some not so common human ailments. A good old standby and can usually be found in used bookstores.
  
  
• The Herb Book
  By John Lust
  Another good old standby that should be on any herb enthusiasts' shelf. Many descriptions with line drawings of herbs and their uses.
  
  
• Medicinal Plants of The Pacific West
  By Michael Moore
  This is a beautiful book and one in a series including; Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West and Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West. Very useful for anyone who wants to wild craft (gather from the wild) their herbs. It gives great location, appearance, habitat, constituent, how to collect the herb and how to store it, preparation and medicinal uses. It also has great line drawings of the plant and therapeutic uses in the back of the book. Another must have for sure.
  
  
• Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs
  By Gail Faith Edwards
  This book covers many of the most common herbs that are used with good information on each.
  
  
• From Earth to Herbalist
  By Gregory L. Tilford
  Another great book for wild crafters. Wonderful colored pictures of the plants and great information on habitat, gathering, care and uses.
  
  
• Homeopathic First Aid For Animals
  By Kaetheryn Walker
  This covers mostly cats and dogs but I've used it many times for the llamas with good results. It's easy to follow for beginners of homeopathic use.
  
  
• The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook
  By James Green
  This is an excellent booklet for anyone who wishes to make his or her own herbal medicines. Well written and easy to follow.
  
  

Some of the herbs I grow in my herb beds for use with man and beast are; Calendula, Basil, Borage, Motherwort, Mugwort, Lady's Mantle, Comfrey, Echinacea, Elecampane, Garlic, Lavender. Some of these can be started from seed but I find it easier to buy the starts unless you have a greenhouse and time to tend the seedlings.

Some of the herbs that grow wild near my farm are; Dandelion, Plantain, Chicory, Horsetail, Blackberry, Mullein, Chamomile, Cleavers, Goldenrod and my favorite Nettle. As you can see, there are probably many wonderful herbs growing wild in your backyard as well. These books will help you to identify them and start to use them.

A good resource on the internet: http://www.herbalgram.org This will take you to many resource links. If offers membership but once you get to the links you can find free information. I have a good page on my web site about Nettles that would be usable right now and other interesting links for herbal information. http://www.cnw.com/~winddanc/

Kelly Van Allen