Growing herbs for medicine is an art as much as it is a craft. Going out to the garden or the forest to harvest herbs is only one aspect of my work. Being an herbalist who shares medicine with the community as well as my household it is really important to keep an orderly and hygienic apothecary.
About once a week I set aside time to clean and organize my workspace, would you like to join me in this task today?
I live in a very humid climate where herbs left drying for too long can easily become bug food or get moldy, the best option for long term storage is hermetically sealed jars. During the past few years I have acquired various jars that are not only useful to my practice but also make my apothecary a beautiful place to behold. That is if I take the time to organize it regularly!
After making sure my hands, tools, and jars are clean and dry the first order of business was to check on the herbs that had been drying in baskets. This is always a bit tricky. Herbs need to be totally dry before being closed up in their jars but shouldn't be left drying for too long as this gives bugs an opportunity to burrow in.
Over the years I have experimented with growing and wild harvesting many different herbs. I have found that on a commercial level it is best to focus on just a few, rare herbs. Where I live there are old stands of rose bushes that were once used to make perfume. Each spring I spend many hours harvesting the petals as well as the blossoms.
Focusing on herbs like roses and calendula which few people grow in my area has been a great decision for my business. So far this year the rose blossoms have been big sellers and I am left only with this jar which I will be saving for value-added products.
As supply dwindles I like to move the remaining herbs to the appropriate jars. Space is limited and larger jars are few so, it seems a waste to occupy a big jar with only a bit of herb. Luckily I have plenty of jars in this smaller size and keep them on the back row of the apothecary.
Late summer is a wonderful time for the herbalist. My apothecary shelves are full and there are still plenty of flowers and leaves to harvest before the cold weather sets in. Yarrow blooms all summer and even into fall so I have been harvesting about half of the flowers I see each day. The other half I leave for the insects that seem to enjoy yarrow's pollen. Yarrow is another one of those herbs that is not commonly grown here in my area.
I think that last aspect is key ~ herbalism is a growing interest all over the world. The town I live in is known as a center of herbalism and a place people come to buy herbs specifically. There are lots of people participating in the cottage industry of wild harvesting a few herbs that only grow in these mountains. That is great for them but, I don't feel it is my place to depend on wild harvesting in a place that is not my native land.
Instead I am working with the herbs that are akin to my ancestry. Rose, calendula, hawthorn, and linden as well as a couple of others that I am passionate about like orange peel and ginkgo leaf. All of these herbs grow well where I live and there is a need for them in my community.