The Self-Taught HerbCrafter ~ Can Herbalism be Learned Through Books? 📖🌱

Throughout my journey I have often wondered if formal training was necessary in order to call myself a "real herbalist". Today I want to further explore the idea of becoming an herbalist and how that journey has looked for me.

First, starting with books.

Going to school was never my thing. Paying attention to what the teachers wanted me to learn was close to impossible. I was one of those kids who had a fantasy book hidden inside the math text book which I read secretly all class. My inner nerd loved to learn and my inner rebel didn't want to be told what to learn. And, as an adult, not much has changed.

My inner rebel is no doubt one of the reasons why formal schooling has never worked for me once I realized that I wanted to dedicate my life work to herbalism. That isn't to say that formal or informal training by a trained herbalist is a bad thing. It just has never worked out for me. When I was a bit younger I was persuaded to be a sort-of apprentice for a local herbalist. She required that I do a certain number of hours of work in her house in exchange for one on one classes. In the end, the classes consisted of me taking notes while she read off her "knowledge" in the form of lectures from her notebooks.

And, what is more, whenever I interjected my own herbalism knowledge into the one sides conversation she seemed offended and was quick to point out that she was the teacher and I, the lowly student.

I returned to my path of self study. Instead of paying for classes or spending hours working for someone else as their apprentice I have instead bought a couple of herbalism books a year on a variety of subjects and, more than anything, focused on my herbal garden.

(an excursion into my neighborly herb garden and the herbs I found there, oregano and feverfew)

The study of clinical herbalism involves a lot of time sitting and listening to lectures about herbs. The study from books, similarly, requires the learner to sit and learn at their own pace. Neither is complete without the component of direct experience with plants.

(young herbalist me experimenting with some calming herbs in my mother's kitchen)

To answer the question posed with the title of this post, I do not think that herbalism can be learned through books. Rather, the knowledge passed down to us in books can support real life experiences. While paid courses are controlled by a teacher with a financial incentive to move things along at their pace, learning from books while applying that knowledge in real life helps us along on our path to becoming great herbalists at our own pace.

I don't want to offend anyone or say that all herbalism education is a waste of time or money, or that herbalism teachers in general are scamming us. Scammers exist in any profession and it is important to keep an eye out for anyone who tells you that the only way to become a "real herbalist" is by taking their class.

TThere is one thing that living knowledge from real life humans can do that books cannot and that is ****properly identifying the herbs****. There aren't many but, it is important to note that some herbs have toxic look a-likes. That is why I always recommend verifying any new herb with a few different sources both human, book, and even online blogs.

I want to end this musing on my journey from novice to now by saying that, not all my attempts at mentorship went wrong. In fact, there is one relationship from which I learned a great deal. Oddly enough the experience sprouted from volunteering at a nursery rather than working under a herbalist. That, however, is a story for a future post.

I want to end this musing on my journey from novice to now by saying that, not all my attempts at mentorship went wrong. In fact, there is one relationship from which I learned a great deal. Oddly enough the experience sprouted from volunteering at a nursery rather than working under a herbalist. That, however, is a story for a future post.