The Herb Society

This beautifully presented site contains plenty of information of interest to the medical herbalist, grower, cook, historian or academic. It is visually pleasing, with good quality photographs, and packed full of useful and interesting information about the society,an educational charity founded in 1927 with a worldwide membership. The information provided is extremely reliable, and each piece of writing lists the author's credentials at the foot. Content is updated every four to six weeks.

The site's weak point is the lack of a clear menu button bar; although all the information available is listed at the foot of each page, a briefer list of headings would be clearer. It would also be a bonus to see a return of the excellent past features archive, which seems to have been spirited away.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The Herbmonger is a regularly changing article giving information and recipes for the use of healing herbs. This might include historical information and folklore: on a recent visit herbal vinegars were being explored.

Herbal Knowledge offers a series of snippets on various herbs and healing plants, with more ideas for using them in the home and updates on modern growing and manufacturing techniques.

OTHER FEATURES

As well as the main articles, there are others covering herb growing and use all over the world, for example lavender in Provence or spices in Goa. These usually have a fairly broad remit and are always interesting. There's also plenty of information on membership, events, and a good page of links.