History, literature, and botany meet in this delightful tour of how humans have relied on plants to nourish, shelter, heal, clothe, and even entertain us. Did you know that During World War II, the US Navy paid kids to collect milkweed's fluffy white floss, which was then used as filling for life preservers? And Native Americans in the deserts of the Southwest traditionally crafted tattoo needles from prickly pear cactus spines. These are just two of the dozens of tidbits that Tammi Hartung highlights in the tales of 45 native North American flowers, herbs, and trees that have rescued and delighted us for centuries.

A guide to creating harmony between the vegetable garden and the wildlife who consider it part of their habitat, this book teaches readers to understand how the garden fits into that environment. It explains how to start with a healthy garden, how to create beneficial relationships through thoughtful planting, how to attract beneficial insects and pollinators, and how to purposefully create habitats for wildlife with strategies to help garden and wildlife peacefully coexist. Gardeners are just one book away from a more peaceful, stress-free vegetable garden.

In "Homegrown Herbs", Tammi Hartung provides the definitive guide to planting, growing, harvesting, and using more than 100 herbs. An internationally renowned herbalist, teacher, and certified organic grower, Hartung has filled this indispensable reference with a wide range of information gathered from her 30 years of studying and working hands-on with these amazing plants. "Homegrown Herbs", is a step-by-step primer for gardeners of every level. It includes in-depth profiles of 101 cultivars, including information on seed selection, planting, maintenance and care, harvesting, drying, and uses in the kitchen, home pharmacy, crafting, and body care. Hartung supports these profiles with an array of herb garden designs, illustrations, and at-a-glance charts. Sensational four-color photo- graphs by Saxon Holt bring the information to life, and an introduction by renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar highlights the importance of this book to both individuals and the planet as a whole. Packed with valuable information, "Homegrown Herbs", is much more than an encyclopaedia of herbs. Hartung shares her passionate compelling vision for a world that is filled greater abundance, pleasure, joy, and collision. With Hartung as a guide, readers will that growing herbs is more than simply a practical act; it is also an inspired one that brings beauty, flavour, and healing to the everyday...and to the world at large.