Bulk Herbs for Herbal Living on a Budget

So, after last week’s post, which talks about the first tip on the list in the Eight Tips for Herbal Living on A Budget post, now you have a list, or at least a general idea, of what herbs interest you the most. You may be wondering about purchasing the herbs on your list, and trying to decide which form makes the most sense to buy. This week, we will skip ahead to number four from the Eight Tips list, and talk about the benefits of using bulk herbs to make your own herbal preparations. Whether you make or purchase your herbal products, the most common options are capsules, teas, and extracts, so those are the forms we will cover in this post.

The first option on our list is capsules. Capsules are definitely one of the most convenient forms of pre-made herbal products, but they are one of the least convenient forms if you are filling them by hand. Some herbalists prefer teas and extracts because they feel that these forms are easier for the body to digest, but if you don’t want to taste your herbs capsules may be your best bet. Capsule filling tools, which make the job much easier, can be purchased starting at $15.00 or so, and empty capsules start at around $3.50 for 100 capsules. For comparison, a store bought bottle of herbal capsules is going to cost between $5 and $10 on the lower end of the price scale.

Next on the list, teas are very simple and inexpensive to make, and if you have access to a bulk herb supplier that allow you to select small quantities at a time, they really won’t take up more space than a box of pre-made tea bags. But, if you are ordering bulk herbs online, you may only be able to order in three or four ounce quantities. A tea blend can take up a good bit of space by the time you order three or four herbs if you can only purchase multiple ounces of each at a time. This is less of a problem if you love to drink tea, or if you also make extracts out of your left over tea making supplies. Boxes of herbal tea start at around $5 for sixteen tea bags and contain less than an ounce of herbs, while bulk herbs average a dollar an ounce for most common herbs.

The third option is buying or making extracts. Making homemade herbal extracts is a trade off in time and space vs. money. The drawback to making your own extracts is that it takes time (at least two weeks) and more space (for storing bulk herbs, the larger jars to make the extract in, and keeping alcohol on hand). Not a lot of space, but definitely more space than a few one ounce bottles of extract. On the other hand, there’s a favorable difference in cost between homemade and pre-made. To give you an idea, I generally buy a twenty dollar bottle of vodka, which is roughly sixty ounces, and herbs at roughly a dollar an ounce give or take. So, at one ounce of herbs to five ounces of liquid (the usual ratio), homemade comes to less than $1.50 an ounce. You can expect to pay at least $10 at the store for an ounce of pre-made extract.

Buying in bulk and taking the DIY approach can have significant cost benefit and save substantial amounts of money. If you are concerned about budget, buying herbs in bulk and making your own capsules, teas and extracts is definitely the way to go.

Stay tuned next week for another look at the Eight Tips for Herbal Living series! 

So Many Herbs. . .

Hundreds of plants fill the pages of herbal books and supply catalogs, and the amount of information can be exciting and overwhelming. It is better to know a lot about a few herbs than to know a little about many, but how does an aspiring home herbalist choose which herbs to learn about first?  How should a home herbalist decide which herbs to grow or purchase for personal and family use? Making a single list for both purposes works surprisingly well.

A list of herbs should be based around the interest of the herbalist, but it is helpful to decide on a general topic. Considering herbs by geographic location or tradition can be easy ways to come up with a list. Geography can be general (rainforest herbs, desert herbs, forest herbs) or related to country, or the list could be focused on herbs that are native to the area in which the herbalist lives. Herbal traditions to consider include Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese, Unani, or Native American. 

Then again, the list could be based on clustering the herbs around traditional uses. To use this approach, select herbs which were used traditionally to support the heart, the lungs, the digestive tract, or other organ systems. An aspiring herbalist could also focus on herbs which have traditionally been used as support for any health challenges they might be facing personally.

 After a guiding topic for the list is decided upon, the list itself can be made from the herbs discovered in the initial research. The list doesn’t have to be long or complicated. For example, focusing on one to three herbs at a time from a longer list of twelve keeps all the information from running together, but also gives the herbalist a long term study goal.  

Once some time has been devoted to studying the herbs on the list, it will be easier to decide which ones to grow or purchase for personal and family use. Research information related to safety when studying each herb, such as potential toxicity, interactions with medications or health conditions, and how to correctly identify the herb. If an herb doesn’t seem like a good fit based on safety data, consider excluding it from purchase. Also, find out if the herb is commonly cultivated or is facing pressure from over harvesting. Make sure the herb is available from sources that cultivate the herb themselves, or work closely with their growers to guarantee that herbs are ethically harvested. If it isn’t available from reputable sources, seek out an alternative herb.

Remember, knowing a few herbs really well (including how to identify them by sight, what they taste and smell like, any interactions they could have with prescription or over the counter medication) and being able to turn to them with confidence is much better than having a vague idea or an inkling about dozens of herbs, for practical as well as safety reasons. Developing a single list of herbs to study and purchase can help aspiring herbalists focus on using herbs safely at home. So, do some reading, make a list, and have fun!