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Shirley Burns
My medicine cabinet is bursting at the seams! I’ve been making and using tinctures for about 5 years now. I have a bookshelf in the basement full of jars of dried herbs I’ve harvested. I see Doc and others store dried herbs in clear glass jars. I do the same but I have them on a covered shelf to protect from light. All my tinctures are in amber bottles – some in cupboards, some in medicine cabinet, some I’ve never even pressed yet (in clear glass jars in dark cupboard). I’ve got this stuff all over the place. I’m typically pretty organized but can’t seem to get this all together. I’ve lost track of what I have dried and/or tinctured.
Does anyone have a good system of categorizing/inventorying their herbs and herbal medicine? The more I learn about herbs, the more I’m planting/harvesting/drying/tincturing. LOL Any suggestions?
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Sherry Dyck
Shirley, I keep all my dried herbs in glass jars in a dark room as well. They are all marked with name and year harvested and put in alphabetical order. If I have more of one jar of a type of herb, I place the extra in a jar on a high shelf for later use. This makes it easy to find when I want to make something and also shows me when I need to harvest or buy more of an herb because I can easily see them. Tinctures are the same for storage but on a different section of my room. They are also dated. As long as you know what your tincture is, no problem if it sits without being pressed. I like to wait until I have several jars to press and then do them all together on the same day. Start organizing either dried herbs or tincture. Slow and steady wins the race. Put one section together at a time. You can do it. 🙂
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Jennifer Blase
Hi! I am a new student and saw these posts about storing herbs and tinctures. I was wondering how long you can store a tincture before it goes bad or looses it’s potency? I have a dark pantry but it is pretty warm in the house in the summertime (no AC) How hot is too hot for dried herbs and tinctures? Thanks !
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Dr. Patrick Jones
Under 110 degrees is critical. Cooler is much better. Room temperature is fine.
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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Lisabeth Severin
I’ve just started making tinctures last month, and so far I’ve been logging them into a notebook with notes and comments on the process, as well as all the technical details like ratio of herb to alcohol, brand of alcohol, and date. I’m hoping to mostly store them in the pantry, once pressed, but not sure if they will outgrow that location eventually.
My dried herbs are in several places, but mostly in the pantry. It makes one wish for an extra room in the house just for herbs and medicines, like the old “officina”.
Perhaps I’ll have to add a location note to my notebook.
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Lisa McGough
Should we store our dried herbs in glass jars? I am drying lemon balm for tea. I am just curious is plastic a bad idea for herb storage. With all the information out there regarding plastic leaching chemicals, I believe glass would be the only choice. Any other ideas? Also, anyone have vendor suggestions for storage bottles?
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Glass is great. Food safe plastic is fine as well. A brown paper bag works.
Dry herbs have a shelf life of about a year. Light and high temps are hard on them.
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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