Preparations for the big holiday season takes many forms on our farm. About a week ago I decided to spend some time in the apothecary. It was time to get a good inventory before the next round of products needed made.

Herbs should be stored in glass for them to retain their quality for as long as possible. If you have a small apothecary, it may be possible to always follow this rule. If you’re like me, you get curious about more herbs all the time. I always have to have a little bit of something exotic that I’d like to learn better. Inevitably we all accumulate more herbs than we can fit in our various sized recycled glass jars. When that happens, it is important to come up with a system for organization.

When I began to uncover all the herbs I had tucked under the counter I was rather dismayed at how poorly my system was working. Or rather, how poorly I was doing because I had no system to begin with. Ironically, I found at least four different bags of thyme. Time seems to be something I have greatly lacked and without good organization… it appears that I do things like buy too much thyme!

In the end, I catalogued over 170 different herbs and that is before I headed in to inventory the kitchen and medicine closet! That may seem like quite an accomplishment, but for the average home herbalist it simply isn’t necessary. We have so many different herbs because I am making herbal products and teas and I am also formulating for both our family and my clients. The truth is, your apothecary can be made up of only a few herbs or even just one!

If you are just starting to outfit your apothecary I recommend you start small. Pick one herb at a time and really get to know it. Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) for instance can be used for many different things. It is antispasmodic and expectorant. It has a long history of being used in chronic cough. It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiseptic, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-parasitic and antioxidant. Thyme is a great detoxifier and has an affinity for the liver and the kidneys, assisting with the removal of toxins from the body. It is a well known support for the immune system. As you can see one could easily adapt a formula for many common family ailments with just the one herb.

By choosing just one or two herbs to fill your apothecary your need for organization diminishes. All you need are a couple large glass containers. It also gives you the opportunity to choose an herb that either grows naturally where you live or can be grown in large quantity as an annual. Growing your own medicine in this way is empowering, money saving and wise. It might also free up the time to go organize a different room in your house instead!