At the shop all of last years herbs whether foraged, garden-grown or collected from local herbalists and growers, are stored in the big bins. Then smaller amounts are in the tins for convenient viewing and access. Customers and clients can browse and select and ask questions. When building an herbal recipe for someone, I often just stand in front of the shelves with herb books in hand, just looking. It helps me to think of possibilities and not get stuck with the same few herbs out of habit.
We store these small amounts in a small resealable plastic bag inside the metal tin. It isn’t all old-timey looking and cozy like my former glass jars. But it really keeps the dried herbs fresh a long time having less exposure to air or light. Also one sad day several years ago my shelf with all the jars fell over and there was a lot of broken jars and herbs and crying herbalist. So metal tins are better.
Our wonderful scale is in this photo. Non-electric! I got it years ago at a semi-antique store and it is indestructible.
Our shelves are always full of extracts from the garden and nearby community plants. Many factors influence what medicine is better extracted as a fresh or dried material, what plant part yields the most appropriate medicines, and if the compounds desired are extracted more thoroughly in alcohol, water, oil, vinegar, glycerine or some other solvent. We make all our tinctures, glycerites, syrups, infused oils, vinegars, flower waters, hydrosols, powders, gels and more, from our own supply of plants.
I love making “care boxes”. Often, the best results are more likely, if you have a coordinated set of herbal materials. My goal for clients is always to combine the most functions into the smallest amount of coordinated and complementary things, in order to streamline and simplify a client’s regimen, while also making it more effective and less expensive.
This care box has capsules, a tincture and a salve that have been made from recipes personalized to the client’s needs. And so..my husband and I are eager to harvest this year’s fresh supply of herbs and make new recipes for people..