Guidelines for Working with Herbs and Plants

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To grow them is to know them,

To Know them is to use them,

To use them is to love them,

And then - happily -

Herbs become your way of life.

 

~ Bertha Reppert ~

 

 

Guidelines for Working with Herbs and Plants

 

 

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 top 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 the 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 herbs or other plants outdoors,

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 dandelions, 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 their

most potent. If you are making something to store for later, make

sure you label it correctly and out 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% certain what it is and are familiar with its

possible effects. These days it is possible to buy most herbs from

the supermarket or health store 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 is always 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 chamomile

to a baby to aid digestion, for example, look for a chamomile 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

homemade 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

store-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

bad! 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

something is 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 birth control pill. If you are sure your illness is minor, say

indigestion caused by overindulgence, by all means try an herbal

remedy first, but if the symptoms persist, call on the professionals

in case their is a more serious underlying complaint.

 

If using essential oils, make sure that they really are 100%

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 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 these can be sterilized by completely immersing

them in lightly-salted water and boiling them for 10 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 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. Not to mention that it is great fun!

 

 

 

Sources:

 

Dorothy Morrison, The Craft Companion: A Witch's Journal

 

Kate West, The Real Witches' Kitchen