When we started Lightning Gap, we set out to become our own dream herb supplier. Ethical wild-stewardship, regenerative growing practices without the use of synthetic chemicals, exacting production specifications, and a focus on bioregional herbalism are baked into our DNA.
Over and over again, we’ve heard one thing back: “We love what you’re doing. We share your values. But we don’t know enough about these herbs!”
We get that. It took us a lot of time, experimentation, learning from friends, and reading to get where we are with our forest. So, we’ve moved to step two: Write the Appalachian herbal of our dreams!
Unfortunately, that will probably be a lifetime’s worth of work, so we started with doable: three volumes, eight herbs each, packed with details, philosophies, citations, and the surprisingly easy answers to some very pesky questions. With that groundwork laid, we can keep writing, keep learning, and re-invest in even greater future editions.
We hope you come on this journey with us, and in the meantime, we also really encourage you to thumb through some of our favorite volumes:
The Earthwise Herbal Complete Guide To New World Plants by Matthew Wood
The Earthwise Herbal Complete Guide To Old World Plants by Matthew Wood
A Reference Guide To Medicinal Plants by John Crellin, Jane Philpott, and Tommie Bass (Note: Tommie Bass is not officially credited as a coauthor of this book; however, given that a large portion of it is his direct words, we choose to list him as an author)
Medicinal Plants and Home Remedies of Southern Appalachia by Judith Bolyard (Note: This text is unfortunately out of print yet still under copyright, however, the Internet Archive hosts a digital copy)
Southeast Medicinal Plants by Coreypine Shane
Southern Folk Medicine by Phyllis Light
