Rather than spending my mornings collecting herbs I am stuck inside wishing that the world would defrost. Winter can be a bit boring as an herbalist with very few herbs around to harvest. It is not all bad (I remind myself) as winter is optimal time for tea drinking. With the months of cold weather and lots of tea to drink I felt the motivation to check on my stores of herbs and put everything in order.
As usual I took my little table outside to do my work. The sun has a disinfecting quality and the weak sunshine of winter is perfect for getting a good look at the herbs I have without causing them to deteriorate.
The majority of my herbs have been stored in these big jars which are hermetically sealed. They keep out any sort of humidity, dust, or insects that are detrimental to the longevity of the plant material. In these jars I keep the stores of herbs that are meant for others. At the moment, however, I am taking a break from selling to the public and instead am working on sharing information about homemade herbal remedies rather than focusing on local/commercial herbalism as I have in years past.
Any herbs that don't fit into those large jars are stored into extra jars such as these. This year I have a lot more herbs than usual and stored a great quantity in tall jars covered with a clean cloth. This method may work well in dry climates but has proved to be a failure as some amount of humidity can pass through the fabric barrier.
So I shook all the herbs in the tall jars out into baskets to get a good look at them. Anything moldy or insect ridden went into the compost while all the herbs that were in perfect condition I placed in the sealed jars large and small.
I am quite strict about keeping a clean work space. All the jars are thoroughly cleaned as are the tools I work with. For the most part I don't touch the herbs directly and use a wooden spoon instead. Sometimes a human touch is needed though, to get a good idea of the state of the herbs.
Giving a handful of herbs a squeeze is a good way to test if they are properly dried. Herbs that give a little "crunch" are dried and will start to crumble in your hand. Otherwise they need more time in a herb dryer or else, drying in a basket in the shade until they are ready for storage.
All herbs that are nice and dry go into their jars. There they will sit, beautifying the shelves of my home apothecary waiting to be used in tea and other herbal preparations.
