- Optional: Sheet Protectors (I put my recipes in these so they can be wiped off when dirty.)
- Our Free Printable (shared below) which includes a cover page insert (shown in first photo), spine label insert (shown above), subject pages which you may want to tab (as shown below) and a back cover page insert (shown in last photo).
Suggested Use:
Print off your herbal (located at the bottom of this post), place the subject pages inside
plastic page protectors (optional), tab the subject pages for easier access (
adhesive tabs are nice for this), place all your recipes inside
plastic page protectors and insert them behind the appropriate subject tab. Place all content inside a sturdy
binder (I found mine at Goodwill for $1.00).
Here are some ideas of what to include in your herbal per "subject tab":
Recipes for soap-making, lotions,
lip balms,
bath salts,
body scrubs,
natural bug sprays, creams, bath oils, body washes, shampoos,
hair detangler, etc…
Recipes for canning, drying, freezing and fermenting foods… This might be a good place to store instructions on how to make cultured dairy products, kombucha, kvass...
How to make potpourri, room sprays, candles, herbal wreaths,
how to dry herbs, herbal sachets, pressed flower decorations, etc...
Note: You will find our convenient printable recipe packet for household cleaners
here.
"Healing by herbs has always been popular both with the classic nations of old, and with the British islanders of more recent times. Two hundred and sixty years before the date of Hippocrates (460 B.C.) the prophet Isaiah bade King Hezekiah, when sick unto death, "take a lump of Figs, and lay it on the boil; and straightway the King recovered."
~ Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William T. Fernie, M.D. (1897)
Information for making your own
cough syrups,
cough medicine,
cold fighting medicine, ointments, tinctures, poultices, chest rubs, first aid sprays, fever inducers, herbal tea remedies, etc…
Do you want to be authentic?
An herbal of old would include sketched pictures of medicinal plants. It would detail its many uses along with its characteristics such as aroma, texture or habitat so that you can easily identify them.
Option: You may want to consider using this section to inspire you to document your backyard plants and give you incentive to study what useful herbs and flowers you have in your area. To make it easier, you can print out the proper botanical pictures (instead of sketching), paste your photos onto paper and handwrite your findings. This would help you to conveniently identify your herbs for future use, for future need. An index of knowledge pertaining to your local plants would be very wise to have! You may want to make this into a home education project (this is our plan).
This might seem like a duplicate page because of the "Food Preservation" section. However, I thought that this would make a nice area to include other useful information such as homemade mix recipes (pancake, muffins, cake mixes,
cornbread, etc…), making your own extracts (such as vanilla or
lemon), making your own
apple cider scrap vinegar, creating your own condiments (mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard),
custom tea blends, how to render tallow from beef, etc…
Options: Include our
"Essential Pantry List" printable in this section. I have also added a chart inside ours on "Soaking Grains".
And alas, the final section which will include those odd items that don't really belong anywhere else…
I have also included a subject tab on "Aromatherapy" due to my recent rebirth in
essential oils but wasn't able to include it in the pictures because of the last minute addition. This section can showcase the medicinal properties of each essential oil or anything else of that nature.
Matching Label to Further Customize Your Herbal
We also included a blank page which you can fill in to fit any additional needs you may have. Perhaps you would like to add a "Dairy" section because you own a cow and would like to document cheese making, kefir, yogurt recipes, etc… Or some of you may want to create a "Farm Animal" section where you place tips on how to care for certain animals, etc… We are sharing the blank label above to further customize your herbal.
Finally, the back cover insert page is designed to give you more inspiration while adding some decoration to your herbal.
Do you feel the vision? Are you ready to make your own herbal? Do you want to link yourself back to the chain of resourceful women who acquired invaluable knowledge (such as how to survive without a Walmart)?!... I thought so!
Press "download" from the link below and then "save" to print your herbal.
Visit
here for more printable projects.
Harvest Tips
