Erin S. (nantuckerin) reviewed Grow Your Own Drugs: Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Fixes on + 158 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
The first thing I need to say about Grow Your Own Drugs is that this book is gorgeous. Page after page is filled with beauty shots of herbs and other close-up, photographic plant porn. (And incidentally, there are also some great shots of author James Wong, who's not too hard on the eyes, either.)
The name may raise eyebrows, but Grow Your Own Drugs is actually a no-nonsense home reference guide of natural, herb- and plant-based home remedies and beauty treatments. I love that Wong includes a list to help newbies like me set up shop for home remedy making, including stock items needed for many of the recipes.
But that aside, I don't know how well making most of Wong's remedies would work in my lifestyle. Number one, many of the recipes require ingredients that might be hard to find and pricey if you don't grow them yourself. The time to make some of the recipes also seems prohibitive for a working mom, but if you're dedicated to a holistic, organic lifestyle, I imagine you'll find the time.
One final thing I have to point out, though: a lot of the remedies call for vodka to make tinctures or popsicles, etc. The idea is that you steep or distill therepeutic herbs in the alcohol, and yes, many cough syrups today still have alcohol as a main ingredient. But really? One of the cold remedies was basically echinecea steeped in vodka, and the directions recommended ingesting several small cupfulls every few hours. Yes, I imagine that would distract me from my cold symptoms and make me feel quite a bit better. ;-)
The name may raise eyebrows, but Grow Your Own Drugs is actually a no-nonsense home reference guide of natural, herb- and plant-based home remedies and beauty treatments. I love that Wong includes a list to help newbies like me set up shop for home remedy making, including stock items needed for many of the recipes.
But that aside, I don't know how well making most of Wong's remedies would work in my lifestyle. Number one, many of the recipes require ingredients that might be hard to find and pricey if you don't grow them yourself. The time to make some of the recipes also seems prohibitive for a working mom, but if you're dedicated to a holistic, organic lifestyle, I imagine you'll find the time.
One final thing I have to point out, though: a lot of the remedies call for vodka to make tinctures or popsicles, etc. The idea is that you steep or distill therepeutic herbs in the alcohol, and yes, many cough syrups today still have alcohol as a main ingredient. But really? One of the cold remedies was basically echinecea steeped in vodka, and the directions recommended ingesting several small cupfulls every few hours. Yes, I imagine that would distract me from my cold symptoms and make me feel quite a bit better. ;-)
