Jars of medicinal roots, leaves, and flowers fill my apothecary shelves. I love their visual beauty but know they do me and everyone else little good trapped in their jars. So, one evening I decided to actually DO something with all the herbal goodness I have collected over the last year or two.
There are many ways to utilize dried herbs. Probably the most common is in tea. Fill-able tea sacks made of a compostable material are available in packs of 100 or more. In the pictures featured here I am using tea bags made with a plant fiber by The Art of Tea which can be found here.
In this instance, rather than formulating teas for a specific malady, I wanted to make heart warming and calming mixes with the dried herbs that I have an excess of. Herbs kept after a year or two aren't as potent as freshly dried ones. So, I grabbed all the herbs that needed to get used up before next season and did a few tea-tests until I found the combination desired.
I chose linden flowers which is a calming herb that is great for head aches and migraines which may be acquired after a long day of work. To that I added a mixture of Hawthorn flowers and berries which are sweat, and a gentle heart tonic.
Then lastly elder flowers which are less well known then their berry counterparts, also have immune system supporting qualities and help ward off any illness brought about by stress.
With my relaxing and supporting herbal formula in mind I prepared my workspace and began to fill each tea bag.
Inspired by this tea formulation I later made a few more. One a mixture of flowers that are also relaxing -- rose petals, lavender, and calendula. And then I made still one more as preventitive medicine to avoid urinary tract infections. This particular herbal dua of marshmallow root and corn silk I made sure was also pet safe and can be added to our cat's drinking water from time to time as pets often suffer from this common malady.
Now the herbs are back in jars but this time in a much more practical way. I adore opening up my herbal apothecary and viewing the colors and textures that bring up memories of each herb and when I collected them. But, as I live share this house with some busy and sometimes stressed-out people, the most practical way to get them to incorporate herbs into their days is by making the process as simple as taking a bag of tea and adding hot water.
