It's the middle of winter, so naturally my mind turns to... the garden! Of course, here in SoCal we can pretty much garden year-round and I've got pots sprouting with peas, carrots, lettuce, beets, and turnips. At this time of year I find myself irresistibly drawn to seed catalogs and gardening books, where I pore over the pictures and descriptions and dream of what I'd like my garden to be.

One beautiful gardening book I've been enjoying lately is The New American Herbal by Stephen Orr. This is a hefty book at nearly 400 pages that is comparable to Sunset's Western Garden Book for content but loaded with beautiful pictures and focused just on herbs. I've never grown many herbs myself, but I've got a monster rosemary and a struggling thyme, and I plan to add catmint and valerian to the garden this year. (The catmint is just because I like mint and the valerian is because it's one of those plants I remember from my dad's garden that we called 'garden heliotrope' and always smelled so wonderful – he says it's died out now.) But the thing that strikes you in going through the encyclopedia-like entries is the huge variety in herbal plants and the many uses. Sure, plenty of them smell great – like lavender or that rosemary – but there are so many ways they can be used in cooking. Orr gives ideas on what goes best with what kinds of dishes and even includes a few recipes here and there. I've been putting off reviewing this book because I wanted to try the caraway-orange biscuits – unfortunately I just haven't had the time lately and didn't want to put it off any longer. Many herbs also have medicinal properties from simple relaxing teas (I'm thinking of that catmint) to the folkloric insomnia cures (maybe that valerian will come in handy sometime...?), although he offers reasoned cautions (such as warnings about other uses for aloe than just sunburns). But mostly I find so many of them beautiful to grow in the garden – and another I'd like to add this year is bee balm: both pretty and useful.

I compared it to another book on my shelf, Herb Gardening for Dummies. Overall, the information is comparable. Both talk about the history of the various herbs along with the uses and tips on growing. Orr even sometimes shows a sense of humor that is often prevalent in the Dummies books. But Orr's book is ten times more pleasing to look at, and let's face it: with gardening books, sometimes you want as much inspiration as you do information, and you can get both with this one. (I received this book from BloggingForBooks.) ( )

If I ever wanted to transform myself into some kind of apothecary/herbalist guru, this would be the book to have. The New American Herbal by Stephen Orr is a hefty encyclopedia of the plants and botanical wonders that have been staples in cooking, homeopathy, aromatherapy, and the full spectrum of medicinal and culinary crafts.

Entries (there are 145 of them, a sizeable sample) are listed alphabetically and feature informative, at-a-glance type sidebars, lovely histories of each herb, and recipes for dishes and tonics where appropriate. I also appreciated the various instructional sections that comprise the beginning of the book like: "Herb Basics," which describes the various classes of herbs (e.g., adaptogens, analgesics, bitters, digestives) and the families of herbs (e.g., the mints, asters, laurels, nightshades, among others). Then there are sections on working with herbs--how to tend them, dry them, extract the oils, and work with the oils. I recently started making my own skincare lotions and serums using essential oils and found that section useful, if a little breezy. Gardeners will appreciate the suggested backyard projects. There is even a section on "Controversial Herbs" that I found fun to read (ahem, coca leaves and ephedra get a little attention).

Using herbs for scent, flavor, and as curatives is as old as time and this book offers a lovely modern update. This isn't a comprehensive book by any means—such a book would probably weigh 20 lbs and be completely unwieldly—but Orr's book is a splendid quick reference.

[Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for an honest and candid review.] ( )