Getting And Keeping Herbs
Gathering Herbs
Pick a warm, dry sunny day. Just the sort of day you want to be outdoors anyway. After a rain, let two or three sunny days pass before venturing out (This may be the best time, since rain helps wash off dirt and externally applied pesticides.) Gather your plants as early in the day as possible, but not before the dew has dried. Choose only healthy plants that show no damage from pests or disease. Both roots and bark(living inner bark) are best to for gathering in spring or fall, Ie. before flowering. Collect bark only from small branches that can be cut off the tree or shrub; don’t damage large limbs or the trunk. Plants in flower are the ones to choose when the whole plant, the leaves, or of course, the flowers are to be collected. Gather seeds and fruit when they are ripe. (Unless unripe ones are specified for use.) Never use any plant that you have not positively identified.
Drying Herbs
Whether you collect wild plants or grow your own, you will want to dry some of them for later use. But drying often decreases the effectiveness of the desirable properties. To conserve these as much as possible you must be careful to dry your plants in the shade, to avoid temperature extremes, and to disturb them as little as possible during the drying process. The two best ways to dry herbs are: 1)Spreading them out in a thin layer on a clean surface or on paper, 2) Hanging them up in bundles
Either way, use a dry, well-ventilated place where no moisture or direct sunlight can affect the plants. Select only the best fresh greens, and be careful to handle and bruise them as little as possible to avoid unslightly discoloration in the dried product. For plants and leaves, temperatures should be no higher than 85 to 95° Fahrenheit, for roots, not over 115°. Small roots can be dried whole; large ones should be cut into two or more pieces length wise and hung up to dry threaded on a string. To dry bulbs, remove the outer coat, slice, and dry with heat not over 100°. To dry bark, scrape off the outer bark, peel the layers of inner bark, and dry in sunlight (except wild black cherry, which should be dried in shade.) Plants are dry when the stems are brittle and break readily. For storage, the leaves are usually removed from the stems and stocks which in most cases have little value in themselves.
Storing Herbs
The two greatest enemies to preserving the effectiveness of dried herbs are light and oxygen use airtight jars made of dark glass, or airtight tins, and keep them in a cool, dry place. Because a loss of potency with time is inevitable, do not keep dried herbs for more than one year. (Bark can often be kept for longer but loses effectiveness after about three years.) Renew your stock whenever fresh herbs are again available. In case stored herbs are exposed to moisture, they can be dried again at warm room temperature. From the pages of ‘The Herb Book’ by John Lust
