you to use them safely and efficiently.
Buy what you need when you need it. A well-stocked herbalist’s cupboard does not have to contain everything you may want one day, it only needs to contain what you are going to use. Probably the best way to start is by buying the ingredients you need for your first recipe and then adding to the store as you move from recipe to recipe.
Always store ingredients in clearly-labelled containers and take note of ‘use by’ dates. Many herbs quickly lose their potency; some can even become really quite unpleasant to taste as well. Almost every non-living ingredient will benefit from being kept in a cool dark place.
Plants should be kept in locations suitable to their needs, for example in or out of direct sunlight, and tended regularly. Many plants benefit from regular trimming, and if you don’t intend to use them immediately you can dry and store the trimmings (labelled and dated) for future use. If you plant out herbs or other plants, keep a note of where they are, as many things die back over winter and it can be difficult to remember what and where they are after the resting season.
It is best not to take plants from the wild. You need to be absolutely certain that they are what you think they are, and nature often makes copies, which may be either harmful or useless for your purpose. You also have to be certain that plants are not endangered or protected; just because they are plentiful in your area does not mean that they are plentiful everywhere else. You need to be sure that they are not contaminated by ‘fall-out’ from car exhaust fumes, local chemicals or passing dogs! This may mean that you end up cultivating some unlikely species, such as dandelion, in your garden, but better that than using something which is not entirely safe.
Try to make things for immediate use, as this is when they are at their most potent. If you are making something to store for later, make sure you label it correctly and put a date on it. Even the best memory can fail from time to time.
Never eat or drink anything which is not designed for consumption unless you are 100 per cent certain what it is and are familiar with its possible effects. These days it is possible to buy most herbs from the supermarket or healthstore in packaging which makes it obvious whether you can ingest them or not. If you are buying by mail order, then check that your supplier is both knowledgeable and reputable, and don’t be afraid to ask for their qualifications or for references. If you are buying living plants, get them from a reputable source which labels them carefully. In all cases try to obtain herbs which have been grown organically rather than those exposed to chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
Never give anything to anyone else without telling them what it contains. There will always be someone for whom it is inadvisable to take the most innocuous-sounding ingredient.
Do not give anything to pregnant women, babies or young children unless it is designed for their use. If you wish to give camomile to a baby to aid digestion, for example, look for a camomile drink designed for infants of the appropriate age. If in doubt, consult a doctor or pharmacist. Do not use aromatherapy oils, other than lavender, on pregnant women, nursing mothers, babies or children under 12 without consulting an experienced aromatherapist.
Any home-made lotions, soaps and creams should be tested on a small area of skin before use. You don’t want to discover an allergy after you’ve covered your face with something! Quite often it is the base which can cause a reaction, so it is wise to test that before you put the effort into making a remedy. Do not expect home-made items to last anywhere near as long as their manufactured counterparts, as you will be neither filling them with preservatives nor boiling the life out of them. It is worth noting that many shop-bought preparations will have the scent of herbs rather than their active ingredients.
Experiment carefully and use your senses – smell and taste things cautiously. If something smells disgusting, it will probably taste pretty bad too. If it has green fur on it, it has probably gone off! If something seems to be disagreeing with you, stop using it. Herbal medicine should not have unpleasant side-effects.
In the case of illness, always seek conventional help as well. If it is something major, get a professional diagnosis and tell your practitioner what you intend to do to supplement their treatment. Some herbal remedies can conflict with modern medicines, especially the contraceptive pill. If you are sure your illness is minor, say, indigestion caused by overindulgence, by all means try a herbal remedy first, but if the symptoms persist, call on the professionals in case there is a more serious underlying complaint.
If using essential oils, make sure that they really are 100 per cent essential oils, not perfumed oils or blended oils. There are many cheap, and not so cheap, fakes on the market, so it is worth taking the extra time and effort to track down the real thing and pay the proper price for it. Perfume oils usually contain chemical scents and will not have the same effects as essential oils and some cheap ones can be positively damaging. Blended oils may contain almost anything in addition to what they own up to on the bottle, and in any case, once an oil has been blended, it will start to deteriorate much faster.
Always keep everything spotlessly clean – your hands, your preparation area, any bottles, pans or jars. However, try not to use large quantities of chemicals to clean and sterilize, particularly bleach, as this is quite toxic and will kill off the very properties of the plants you seek to use. Surfaces can be rubbed down with a salt and water paste then rinsed and dried carefully. Hands can be washed with ordinary soap and water, then dried. In both cases it is essential to make sure that the drying cloth is clean, as many of the germs in the kitchen are found on the tea towel! Containers should be of glass, not plastic, and after being thoroughly cleaned can be sterilized by completely immersing them in lightly-salted water and boiling them for ten minutes. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, allow them to dry naturally by standing them on their necks on a clean cloth. Do not eat, drink or smoke whilst making your preparations; the action of raising things to your mouth may contaminate your hands with germs.
Although the above instructions may look quite daunting at first glance, they are in fact the day-to-day practical precautions which we should take with anything we are going to consume or use on our bodies.
Working sensibly with herbs and plants is very rewarding, not only because of the cures that can be effected, but also because of the knowledge that we are in a position to help ourselves and those we care for. In addition, it is great fun.
