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!