Book excerpt: The author of Sweet Remedies offers a straightforward, empowering guide to homegrown herbal remedies for illness injuries, and preventative health. Most of us understand the value of eating and buying local. Taking back our food, goods, and services from multinational corporations and sourcing them from small growers, producers, artisans, and entrepreneurs benefits our families, our environment, and our communities. Heal Local argues that “100-mile healthcare” can be equally valuable in terms of how we treat illness and injury and maintain wellness. This innovative guide demonstrates that by harnessing multifaceted whole plants, we can rely on homegrown or regionally produced herbs rather than importing exotics and non-natives. Based on the small apothecary model, author Dawn Combs explains how to: · Maximize the benefits of homegrown first aid, from increased freshness, potency, and effectiveness to community resilience and local economic growth · Make home herbal healthcare less intimidating and more attainable, by focusing on twenty herbs to effectively treat most common injuries and ailments · Implement a local medicine culture safely and sustainably, while protecting and respecting wild plant populations Many herbals overwhelm their readers, presenting a list of hundreds of herbs, each with a different purpose. Heal Local empowers readers by showing that you don’t need to know everything about every herb on the planet to create a complete home apothecary. Anyone can be self-sufficient with their wellness, regardless of their previous knowledge, experience, or available space. Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living Recommendation “An excellent reflection on integrating the western medicine model and local medicine communities.” —Cheri Dinsmore, RN, BSN, president, Harmony Farm