Hedgerow Medicine

Published by Merlin Unwin Books, 2008, hardcover, 25 x 20cm (10 x 8in), 224 pages, £20.00. Reprinted 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Harvest and Make Your Own Herbal Remedies

This is our flagship book, with over 160,000 sales so far (combining UK and North American markets) and no signs of slowing down. We have named our company and this website Hedgerow Medicine in its honour and have followed the composition style of this first book in each of our five subsequent titles.

What makes this style work? First, we wanted to give you a beautiful book that is a joy to read, with the page-turning appeal of a good novel. So we have fully integrated text and Julie’s photographs, with emphasis on correct plant identification. We combine historical detail, personal experience and modern scientific research. For each plant there is advice on how and when to harvest it and exactly what steps you should follow when making a herbal or culinary recipe from it; bullet points summarise the plant’s actions.

Our hope it that our readers will be able to recognise, get to know and feel comfortable with wild plants, respect them and work effectively with them.

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Free UK postage! Books signed on request.

The contents of Hedgerow Medicine are: agrimony, bilberry, birch, blackberry, burdock, cherry, chickweed, cleavers, comfrey, couch grass, dandelion, elder, figwort, guelder rose or crampbark, hawthorn, honeysuckle or woodbine, hops, horse chestnut, horseradish, horsetail, lime or linden, lyceum, mallow, meadowsweet, mint, mugwort, mullein, nettle, oak, pellitory of the wall, plantain, ramsons, raspberry, red clover, red poppy, rosebay willowherb, self-heal, shepherd’s purse, sorrel, St John’s wort, sweet cicely, teasel, vervain, white deadnettle, wild lettuce, wild rose, willow, willowherb, wood betony and yarrow.

Among the recipes featured are: bilberry glycerite, chickweed bath vinegar, comfrey ointment, hawthorn tincture, horseradish cough syrup, horsetail cystitis tea blend, meadowsweet ghee, mugwort punch, oak tooth powder, ramsons pesto, self-heal flower essence and sorrel zhug.

Featured Plants

Elder

Mugwort

Mullein

Oak

From the Amazon reviews

[there are over 500 of these, and the following are among the most recent]

I was told about this book regarding a remedy for cystitis: couch grass (which worked in 2 days). I can't recommend this book enough. It’s the best book I have found. Very easy to follow, pictures, how to use the plants etc. I have been out nearly every day finding the plants. A must-have if you are serious in using natural plants for healing.

***

Worth every penny. This book is very detailed and should be a must in every household. Natural cures that really do work. Gets a 5* rating from me.

***

Taken three common plant remedies from this book and they have become part of my everyday life.

From the testimonials and book reviews

My absolute herbal inspiration nowadays is Julie and Matthew’s wonderful book, Hedgerow Medicine, which to my mind is the best home-use British herbal that has ever been written – such a beautiful, inspiring and empowering book!
– Rose Titchiner, flower essence maker

… a wonderful book that all herbalists need. It embodies a heartfelt love of herbalism combined with clearly articulated scientific insights. I plan to get some school here [California] using it and will promote it as much as possible.
– David Hoffmann, author of Holistic Herbal

I don’t often say this about the books I review, but this book is without question one you simply must have!
– Bushcraft magazine

It is a richly illustrated guide to the wonderful healing mysteries of the common plants we may overlook when admiring our carefully cultivated garden roses, lilac or rhododendron blooms … Having read this book I find I walk in the countryside with new eyes and a far keener sense of observation, nibbling leaves and gathering seeds as I go.
– Resurgence magazine