On this Resources page, you’ll find recommendations for my favorite books, as well as helpful websites and articles.
My top favorite books are in red!
Nourishing Foods – Overview
Books:
Real Food: What To Eat and Why – by Nina Planck. Excellent book.
In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto – by Michael Pollan. Another really excellent book.
Nourishing Traditions – by Sally Fallon
Links:
Weston A. Price Foundation – Comprehensive website filled with nutrition information based upon the findings of Dr. Price.
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration – by Weston A. Price. (Since the book was written in 1939, it’s in the public domain & can be read for free at this link.) Weston Price was a dentist who traveled the world in the 1920s, studying indigenous societies and the foods they ate. Those eating their traditional diets displayed radiant health, while those eating a diet of some or all processed western foods displayed the same health problems that are so prevalent in today’s society. Excellent book with pictures that say it all.
Principles of a Healthy Diet – Learn about the traditional foods that make up a healthy diet.
Dairy
Organic Milk Brand Ratings – Rates the organic dairy brands commonly found in supermarkets. Very interesting! The ratings are kept continuously updated.
Meat + Seafood
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Printable Pocket Guide – Rates seafood according to: Best Choices, Good Alternatives, and Avoid. Other handy printable guides here, including a neat Sushi Guide. Their Super Green List is a list of the most recommended wild & farmed seafood that’s healthy for both people and the oceans.
Living Foods – Raw / Sprouted / Fermented
Books:
Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods – by Sandor Ellix Katz. Your go-to guide for everything fermented. I love this book.
Green for Life – by Victoria Boutenko. All about the health-boosting properties of green smoothies.
Links:
Wild Fermentation website – Nice food fermentation resources page, and check out the rest of the site, too.
Sprout People – Lots of recipes using sprouted grains, nuts, and seeds.
Cultured Food Recipes by Abby Eagle – Recipes using sourdough & lacto-fermentation techniques.
Make Your Own Pickles (like Bubbies brand)
Make Your Own Pickled Grape Leaves
Cookbooks + Recipes
Books:
Nourishing Traditions – by Sally Fallon
Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods – by Sandor Ellix Katz. Your go-to guide for everything fermented.
Cuisine for Whole Health: Recipes for a Sustainable Life – by Pauli Halstead. Lots of mouthwatering recipes!
Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook – A good, basic cookbook.
More Fast Food My Way – by Jacques Pepin
I’m Just Here For More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking – by Alton Brown. Great intro to the science of baking.
Links:
My recipe archive (The Herbangardener)
The Nourishing Gourmet recipe archive
Passionate Homemaking recipe archive
Heavenly Homemakers recipe archive
Cultured Food Recipes by Abby Eagle – Recipes using sourdough & lacto-fermentation techniques.
Sprout People – Lots of recipes using sprouted grains, nuts, and seeds.
Where to Buy Nourishing Foods
Tropical Traditions – I love their high-quality products. Click here for my review of the things I buy from them.
Mountain Rose Herbs – Good source for quality herbs, tinctures, teas, essential oils, edible oils, body care, gifts, & supplies. If you shop here by either clicking this link or clicking on the banner on the right hand side of the page, I get a small kickback.
Lars Larson Alaskan Trophy Salmon – Since this salmon is wild caught and frozen at sea, I eat it raw with relative confidence.
Vital Choice – Online source for sustainable, wild seafood.
Organic Vegetable Gardening
Books:
Rodale’s Garden Answers: Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs. At-A-Glance Solutions for Every Gardening Problem – by Fern Marshall Bradley. If I could have only one book on organic veggie gardening, this would be it. My absolute favorite.
The Garden Primer – by Barbara Damrosch. I don’t always agree with what she says, but it’s a good reference and very comprehensive.
The Expert’s Book of Garden Hints: Over 1500 Organic Tips and Techniques from 250 of America’s Best Gardeners – by Fern Marshall Bradley. Another favorite.
Gaias’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture – by Toby Hemenway. The author is a little annoying, but there are good ideas in this permaculture book.
Homegrown Whole Grains: Grow, Harvest & Cook Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rice, Corn & More – by Sara Pitzer
Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener’s and Farmer’s Guide to Plant Breeding and Seed Saving – by Carol Deppe. Advanced!
A People’s Ecology: Explorations in Sustainable Living – by Gregory Cajete
Gardening for Independence – by Mort Mather
Links:
Hardiness Zone Lookup – Type in your zip code to find out your hardiness zone.
Gardenweb Seed and Plant Trading Forums – Great way to get the seeds or plants you want for free by trading through the mail with other gardeners.
Mother Earth News – Great magazine, and their website has reams of content.
How To Plan a Vegetable Garden – Step-by-step instructions.
Vegetables: When to Plant What
How To Save Your Own Tomato Seed
Make Your Own Organic Fertilizer
Build Better Soil with Free Organic Fertilizers (from Mother Earth News)
Urban Homesteading + Living Off The Land
Books:
The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City – by Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne. Good book! An informative and candid introduction to many aspects of homesteading. It’s more of an overall basic intro, so if you have extensive homesteading skills already, it will probably be too elementary. The authors (husband/wife) obviously write from personal experience (what works/what doesn’t).
The Wild Life: A Year of Living on Wild Food – by John Lewis-Stempel.
Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living – by Annie Berthold-Bond
One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey – by Sam Keith
The Good Life – by Helen and Scott Nearing
Links:
Mother Earth News – Great magazine, and their website has reams of content.
Women’s Health
Books:
Taking Charge of Your Fertility – by Toni Weschler. A life-changing book that teaches Fertility Awareness for preventing or achieving pregnancy, and gauging reproductive health — all without drugs or devices. An excellent wedding gift, or gift for teen girls, for your friends, heck – give it to EVERYONE!! I LOVE THIS BOOK!
Real Food for Mother & Baby – by Nina Planck
The Garden of Fertility – by Katie Singer. I like Toni Weschler’s book (see above) a little better because it’s more comprehensive, but I love this book too. The nutrition information is written from a traditional foods/Weston Price perspective, which I like.
Honoring Our Cycles – by Katie Singer. A condensed version of The Garden of Fertility; especially good for younger girls who are transitioning into womanhood.
Links:
GladRags – Sells alternatives to tampons & pads. I’m a big fan of both Sea Pearl sponges and The Keeper.
Taking Charge of Your Fertility – Companion website to Toni Weschler’s book by the same name. Click here to download Toni’s blank Fertility Awareness charts.
Garden of Fertility – Companion website to Katie Singer’s book by the same name. Click here to download Katie’s blank Fertility Awareness charts. ***I personally like Katie’s blank charts better, and they’re what I use.***
Pregnancy + Childbirth
Books:
Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering – by Dr. Sarah J. Buckley. My favorite!
Orgasmic Birth: Your Guide to a Safe, Satisfying, and Pleasurable Birth Experience – by Elizabeth Davis and Debra Pascali-Bonaro
Spiritual Midwifery – by Ina May Gaskin. A classic; a real must-read.
HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method – by Marie Mongan. I was put off by the name for years, but this is an excellent book based on the philosophy of Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, outlined in his book Childbirth Without Fear. Comes with a really nice relaxation/visualization CD.
Birthing From Within – by Pam England
Real Food for Mother & Baby – by Nina Planck
Childbirth Without Fear – by Grantly Dick-Read
Painless Childbirth – by Giuditta Tornetta
Heart and Hands: A Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy and Birth – by Elizabeth Davis
Unassisted Childbirth – by Laura Kaplan Shanley. Presents arguments that midwives are not needed. A good book. Author’s website here.
Human Birth – by Wenda Travathan. Presents arguments that midwives are needed. An anthropology text.
Links:
Sarah J. Buckley – Website to compliment her excellent book, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.
Unassisted Childbirth – Laura Shanley’s Unassisted Childbirth website.
Midwifery Today YouTube channel – Interesting collection of videos from some of the pros.
Child Rearing
Books:
Simplicity Parenting – by Kim John Payne. Absolutely Excellent.
Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Children – by Sharifa Oppenheimer. A HUGE FAVORITE!
The Continuum Concept: In Search of Happiness Lost – by Jean Liedloff. One of my all-time favorite child rearing books. Kind of boring until about page 50; after that, it gets really intriguing.
Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting – by Laura Ramirez. One of the best; too bad it’s not more widely known.
Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene – by Ingrid Bauer. How to raise a diaper-free infant, starting from birth. Explains how parents in other cultures tune in with their babies so that they don’t have to rely on diapers. I love this book.
Real Food for Mother & Baby – by Nina Planck
Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering – by Dr. Sarah J. Buckley
Confessions of a Slacker Mom – by Muffy Mead-Ferro. Not only funny, this book is seriously right on!
Links:
The Natural Child Project – An excellent resource for gentle, conscious parenting. Lots of good articles.
Sarah J. Buckley – Website to compliment her excellent book, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.
Spirit + Inspiration
Books:
Gift from the Sea – by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. A classic; I’ve read it many times.
I See Your Dream Job: A Career Intuitive Shows You How to Discover What You Were Put on Earth to Do – by Sue Frederick. Uplifting gem of a book.
The Four Agreements – by Don Miguel Ruiz
The Joy Diet – by Martha Beck
Anastasia (book series) – by Vladimir Megre
Random Acts of Kindness – published by Conari Press
Animals + Pets
Books:
Herbs For Pets: The Natural Way to Enhance Your Pet’s Life – by Greg Tilford. This is, hands down, the best herb book I’ve ever seen. Even though it’s for pets, it can easily apply to people, too. Also contains a nice section on homemade pet food. My favorite!
Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats – by Richard Pitcairn, D.V.M. My favorite book for homemade pet food information and recipes.
Pottenger’s Cats: A Study in Nutrition – by Francis Marion Pottenger, Jr., M.D. Very interesting. Highlights the importance of raw, enzyme-rich food to a cat’s health.
Links:
BrightHaven – Wonderful organization with a wealth of info about animal hospice, the natural death process, caregiver info such as a “Quality of Dying” checklist. Love this site!!! Extremely helpful when I was losing my precious Liz to cancer. They also have an animal rescue.
Home & Living
Books:
Lillian Too’s 168 Feng Shui Ways to Declutter Your Home – by Lillian Too
The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living – By Janet Luhrs
Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living – by Annie Berthold-Bond
Illness
Books:
Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness In Your Twenties and Thirties – by Laurie Edwards
When a Loved One Falls Ill: How to Be an Effective Patient Advocate – by Gerri & Brian Monaghan
Holistic Health
Books:
Wild Health: How Animals Keep Themselves Well and What We Can Learn From Them – by Cindy Engel
Herbs For Pets: The Natural Way to Enhance Your Pet’s Life – by Greg Tilford. This is, hands down, the best herb book I’ve ever seen. Even though it’s for pets, it can easily apply to people, too. A favorite!
The New Age Herbalist – by Richard Mabey. Another great herbalism book.
Molecules of Emotion – by Candace Pert.
The Fourfold Path to Healing – by Thomas Cowan. Helpful adjunct, but go see a good doctor if you’ve really got something goin’ on.
The Vitamin & Herb Guide – published by Global Health. Handy reference that I use most often to see which foods are the richest sources for particular vitamins & minerals.
Australian Bush Flower Essences & Bush Flower Healing – by Ian White
