10 herbs for a beginners apothecary
- Alemoyne
- Mar 18, 2020
- 3 min read
Building an Apothecary for you and your pets
If you’re a beginner herbalist and want to start your own Apothecary, there is a very simple way to get started. Think about what you do when you don’t feel well. What over the counter medicines do you reach for and for what purpose? Ask yourself a few simple questions. If you have a headache do you reach for a pain reliever? When you have a stomach issue do you reach for an antacid? Well if you really think about it, those are very common ailments that you can usually alleviate with plants. You can do the same thing with gathering herbs for use with your dog too. There are many herbs that will help your dog with issues such as ear or skin infections, sore muscles and allergies. You can use herbs for their problems so that you don't need to get other medications from the vet.
Some other questions you can now ask yourself – are your headaches caused by stress, anxiety or maybe even something you are eating and are your stomach aches caused by those same factors?
By learning about how you feel each day and having some specific herbs in stock in your apothecary, you will begin to use them when you need them and maybe even figure out why you are getting those ailments in the first place.
Disclaimer: as with anything you choose to ingest or feed to your dog, if pregnant or on medications you should consult your doctor or veterinarian before using any herbs.
Here is a list of some very common herbs to use for common ailments for you and your pets
Starting an Apothecary or growing the one you have can be very simple.
All you really need to start your apothecary are a few shelves in a cabinet and maybe a rack on a closet door. Keeping your herbs in jars in a dark place will keep them fresh longer.
Here is my cabinet that I keep my tinctures in. Any shelf in a cabinet or cubboard will work just fine.
My closet in my office where I store my jars of dried herbs
Now that you know what you might want to stock
This is the perfect time of year to get started. Before all those new plants outside are calling your name and you want to learn about every one of them, take this quiet time of year to really sit and think about how you want to use herbs in your daily life. Whether restocking the herbs you have been using all Winter or starting a new regimen using herbs that you are just starting to learn about now is a great time to make a list and go shopping for your dried herbs.
Where can you get your herbs during the Winter
One of my favorite places to purchase herbs for a beginner is Rose Mountain Herbs. They have a wonderful selection, description and several options of quantity for you to choose from. Their quality is great too. If you’re really lucky like me you have a local herbal shop near you. I get mine from a shop that I have been going to for years and know their quality is wonderful. Storing the dried herbs in mason jars will keep them fresh for about a year or more. You can get mason jars just about anywhere.
Spring also means the start of allergy season to me.
I know you are probably thinking it’s way to early but around now, mid February, I start to pay close attention to what my body is telling me. A few years ago I noticed a swelling under my right eye. It ended up being an allergy issue after I was treated for months for an infection. I now take my goldenrod tincture as a precautionary measure against these allergies, it’s a great natural antihistamine. Since I have been doing this if the swelling starts under my eye it disappears within a day. I have found that whenever I get a sinus headache and drink mullein tea it helps my sinus drain which clears my head right up. I’m almost out of it so I’ll certainly be restocking it soon. I’ve just finished making a mullein tincture that will be ready to strain soon.
Do you get seasonal allergies? What about your pets – do they start to itch or get watery eyes and noses maybe some of these herbs will help.
The best way to learn more about healing plants
I know it’s so easy to get overwhelmed by all the different plants you want to learn about but I have found that by taking it slow, learning just a couple of herbs at a time you will feel more of a connection with them and use them more in many different ways.
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