Category Archives: Herbology Handbook

Book News!

The Green City Witch

Weaving a Magical Life in Urban Spaces
By Lynn Shore

Available for Preorder Now

Published by Aeon Books | Launching October 2025
Paperback | 300 pages | ISBN: 9781801521888
Illustrations by Hannah MacDonald


About the Book

A beautifully illustrated handbook for urban witches that combines green witchcraft with city life.

Rich with herbal and esoteric wisdom, this delightful and thoughtful guide provides an essential basis for magical practitioners living in cities to connect with nature, magic and community.

This book is for urbanites who want nature and magic in their lives. Written by an experienced herbalist, who eats street weeds, talks to crows, casts spells, and brews potions; this book shows how to walk a magical path while riding the waves of urban life.

Divided into three sections, The Green City Witch covers the lifestyle, knowledge, and techniques of real witches who love nature and city life. The lifestyle section covers how to work sustainably, grow roots in new towns, align with the seasons, and forage; all within city limits. The urban nature section contains an extensive directory that details how to engage with fascinating lifeforms that thrive in city buildings, streets, and parks. From spider plants to knotweed, and parakeets to earthworms, the plant, animal, and bug lore entries offer magical symbolism, folklore, foraging or care advice, and practical ways to weave them into daily life. The techniques section explains how to achieve magical goals with rituals, sigils, spells and charms, blood magic, shapeshifting, and divination, all with local, natural, sustainable materials.

The Green City Witch is an invaluable resource for beginners and experienced magical practitioners alike, who wish to embrace the endless magical potential and gifts of urban nature.  


Preorder Offer – 20% Off!

Be among the first to get a copy of The Green City Witch by preordering now. From now until the official launch at the end of October, Aeon Books is offering a 20% discount on all preorders via their website.

🛒 UK / International (via Aeon Books):
👉 Preorder with 20% discount from Aeon Books
(Use discount code GCW20 at checkout)


Ordering Outside the UK

If you’re outside the UK, the book will also be available through major retailers and online bookstores closer to publication. You can bookmark or preorder through the following links:


Book Details

PublisherAeon Books
Publication DateOctober 2025
CoverPaperback
Pages400
Size152mm x 229mm
Catalogue No95368
ISBN-139781801521888

Launch Event

Official Book Launch: Saturday 25th October 2025
Black Moon Botanica – Amsterdam Store
Spiegelgracht 30-H
1017 JS, Amsterdam
The Netherlands
(18:30 – 20:00)

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About the author

Lynn Shore is a herbalist, educator, and green witch. Born in Bristol, study, and work led her to several UK towns and cities. In 2004 she settled in Amsterdam and founded Urban Herbology which connects city people with nature through walks and courses. She also runs a community herb orchard, where locals, plants, and wildlife grow together. Lynn and her family live in a plant and book-filled apartment. Most often out gardening, foraging, or concocting strange brews; helping others find peace in nature is her mission.

About the illustrator

Hannah McDonald is a British artist and author, living in Amsterdam. She explores visual narratives that create space for emotional exchange between audience, artwork and artist, to enhance a deeper connection to each other and the natural world. 


Urban herbology of Mugwort

IMG_1225

My first book is available to purchase via Kindle and Amazon.  Urban Herbology of Mugwort teaches how to find,  harvest,  preserve,  eat,  drink and craft with Artemisia vulgaris and her silken sisters. Esoteric, historic and medicinal uses of Mugwort are also explored in an accessible, down to earth way. This book is written to help people find Mugwort, grow it and use it. It contains lots of clear recipes and guidance about urban foraging and herb crafting.

For too many years,  I have been bogged down by the complexities of writing a big book about Urban Herbology. So I recently decided to create a series of focused books, each about a different significant herb. Mugwort is the first for many reasons.

The Kindle version of Urban Herbology of Mugwort is available for preorder and the print version will be available for preorder very soon.  Release date is anticipated as 31st May 2017 so not long to wait!

If you would like to stay informed about the book release please send me a personal message urban.herbology.lynn@gmail.com

Herbology recipe testing

Ayurvedic winter remedy

Dear Urban Herbies,  If you have followed this blog for the past few years you will know that I have been erratically working on a book which details herbology methods for people living in towns and cities. I have been building up my methods for herbal preparations and wild food recipes, teaching them to my apprentices and refining the descriptions. Now the time has come for me to ask if you any of you would be willing to help me out by testing? I need recipe testers for my Herbology Handbook and would be delighted if you could try out my recipes to make sure they work in all kitchens – whatever size or location. I want to be sure that the recipes are crystal clear and easy to understand by everyone, whatever level of culinary and herbal experience.

I am looking for people to test at least three recipes/methods (although more testing is possible if you would like!) and to give me honest feedback. I need you to tell me how clear or difficult the recipe is for you and what you think of the end product. Some of my recipes are a little time consuming, others are quick to set up but require a waiting time of up to 3 months. Others are simple, speedy and very straightforward. Hopefully none of them are too difficult and all should help to increase your knowledge of Herbology and wild food cooking. I will need you to make the recipes/preparations exactly as written, with no substitutions (other than those which the recipe explicitly suggests) which means they may require you to source some unusual ingredients.  Even so, I am very happy to hear about what you would have substituted if you were allowed, or how you would have changed the recipes.

A quick photo of the final product, would also be appreciated, to ensure that the final products are very close to what I have made and described. I want the Herbology Handbook to be thoroughly reliable, containing recipes that people turn to, because they know that they will work. Your photos won’t be used in the book or shown anywhere else, they are purely for research.

If you would like to test some of my recipes please email me at urban.herbology.lynn@gmail.com. Tell me your name, your location, your comfort level in the kitchen and your experience level with identifying and using wild herbs. Please also tell me if you have any dietary preferences (e.g. gluten free, vegan…) and if you have any recipe preferences (do you want to test wild food recipes or perhaps you would prefer skin salves/oxymels/lozenges etc). I will choose appropriate testing recipes, sending them to you with instructions on when and how to feedback.

Please understand that you cannot share my recipes with anyone until my book is published!  I will need the feedback quite soon (a month turn around would be perfect for most of the recipes and methods, two months for others) so do bare that in mind if you decide to be a recipe tester. I aim to reply to your email within two weeks, if you ask to be a recipe tester.

Finally, I am not able to pay anyone for testing my recipes. If that makes things difficult for you, I completely understand. If you do help me by testing some recipes, you will be mentioned in the book and I will be forever grateful! I hope this all makes sense. Please let me know if you have any questions.