The word apothecary evokes an image of witchyness or perhaps a really old school pharmacy. Where the walls are lines with jars of mysterious powders or herbs, but it’s really just a place to store all of your herbs and herbal concoctions. The word apothecary comes from the Latin word apothecarius or apotheca meaning storehouse.
You can make your apothecary small; in a cupboard, or large; a whole room reserved for your creations! It doesn’t make a difference which you choose, it all depends on what you have and what space would be better for your storehouse.
Why Have an Herbal Apothecary?
When I first started dabbling into herbalism I had everything all over my house; in cupboards, drawers, on shelves, all in separate places, and when I wanted to make anything it was a task in itself trying to find anything. Organizing and dedicating a space for your home can save you a lot of time and energy, which you can put into creating and studying more!
Another great reason to have an herbal apothecary is to have on hand the remedies that you make and the herbs that you need to make those remedies. There is nothing worse then knowing what will help you when you become sick or injured and you don’t have a remedy made up. Storing these remedies in your apothecary can keep you stocked up and ready for anything.
Creating Your Apothecary
The most notable thing to add to your apothecary is of course herbs! Imagine a wall of shelves filled from top to bottom with herbs stored in glass jars, calling out your name every time you walk by. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? While this may sound great it isn’t always practical and most of those herbs you may even use once or twice and then it just sits there.
One thing I like to tell new herbalists is don’t go overboard in purchasing herbs. Pick ones you know you’ll use often. If you decide to learn about a new herb, purchasing a small amount; around 1 to 2 oz, can be a more approachable way to learning those herbs. That way if it happens to be an herb you don’t think you’d like to work with then nothing has to go to waste.
How you store your herbs is very important when it comes to their longevity. Storing a small amount of dried herb in a very large glass jar will accelerate the deterioration because of the amount of oxygen that’s in the jar. The more surface space of an herb that is exposed to air, the faster it goes bad. This is also why herbal powders have a short shelf life, of only about a month if stored correctly.
Make sure to store your herbs out of direct light and away from heat. These can also shorten the shelf life of your precious herbs and herbal concoctions.
The next thing that is important to have in your herbal apothecary is your menstruums. A menstruum is the liquid that is used to extract the chemical constituents that makes your remedies.
Menstruums
Alcohol– has the ability to extract many plant constituents and is most often used in tinctures.
Wine– can be used to make cordials and tonics
Glycerin– a sugar alcohol that is often used as a substitute for alcohol based tinctures but can also be used in your cosmetic formulations. It is a wonderful humectant and serves as a vehicle to transfer the plants constituents directly to the skin.
Vinegar– regularly used as the base for a liniment. Vinegar also has the ability to extract minerals from plants and can be used as a daily tonic.
Water– keeping distilled water in your apothecary will come in hand when wanting to make tinctures, lotion or creams.
Oil– there are many different types of oils you could choose from to make herbal infused oils, salves, lotions, creams, soaps etc.
Honey– great to have on hand for making herbal infused honeys; can be added to most other menstruums or used on its own. Great for making electuaries.
Along with your menstruums, other useful things to have on hand are goods like beeswax (or candelilla wax if you’re vegan) and shea butter to make herbal salves, butters, creams and lotions. Hydrosols to make facial mists or room sprays. Flower Essences and essential oils. Various salts for making herbal bath salts or culinary salts. And what is not usually talked about is seeds! Keeping seeds in your herbal apothecary can help you grow your own herbs that you can use for your herbal remedies.
Tools
Empty jars of various sizes: I like to use mason jars because they’re found at most stores and can be handy to store dried herbs and used for infusing oils and making tinctures.
Empty amber glass bottles of various sizes with different closures (i.e. glass dropper, pump, cap, atomizer)
Wooden and/or Stainless steel mixing bowls and spoons
Measuring cups (Liquid and Dry)
Encapsulation machine and empty capsules
A tincture press
Muslin cloth or Cheesecolth
Labels (for all of your herbal preparations as well as herbs)
These tools will be used most often and are great to have in reach. There is no need to have all of them, only the ones that you know you’ll use. I’m sure I missed a few tools that you could add to your apothecary but that’s the beauty of herbalism; you’ll find what you need and what works for you as you go along in your journey.
Books Books and more Books!
Books Books and more books! Keeping a well stocked herbal library of reference and recipe books is truly a must have in any home apothecary. No matter where you are on your herbal journey you’ll find yourself referencing your herb books time and time again. You can check out my blog post here about must have herbal books for beginners.
Herbal Concoctions
Over the course of your herbal journey you will begin to have a collection of herbal concoctions and remedies. These can be self prepared ones as well as ones you may have purchased along the way. These are the creations you will end up using when you need them the most, so it’s important to create a space for them. These can be prepared tinctures, salves, tea blends, herbal honeys, cordials, herbal infused oils etc.
Please don’t feel overwhelmed when creating your apothecary, it will build naturally as you experiment more and more. You’ll slowly find what you need and what works for you. You may even have most of the tools you need in your kitchen, most beginner herbalists and even seasoned herbalists have their herbal apothecary in their kitchen and that’s ok!
