After our detour last week, back to our regularly scheduled program. Once you have your herbs dried and processed them, you need to store them so that they will last.

For loose herbs, a glass container is best. If it is darkened, like you will see some of my jars are, even better. You’ll also see that I use some smaller jarring cans and reused some pasta sauce jars. Store in a cool dry place. If you are reusing clear jars, make sure the storage area is dark as well. Sunlight will degrade the quality of your herbs. Most herbs will last 6-12 months in these conditions. There are a few exceptions which are better made into tinctures.

If you made capsules or tablets, they can be in plastic bottles, but the definitely need to be opaque so they stay fresh. Some are better kept in the refrigerator. In this form, they will usually stay good for at least a year.

If you have made a tincture, most of them will last years. These do need to also be in a darkened container made of glass. Tinctures are super concentrated so often times you will find them with droppers. Tinctures should also be kept out of sunlight. Tinctures are especially useful to store herbs that degrade quickly in loose form. They are also useful for herbs that need to have very controlled quantities or risk of overdosing. If you want something to absorb into the skin quickly, a tincture is the way to go (although the alcohol will dry out your skin).

Balms and salves can be put into plastic containers, but again I prefer glass so that the plastic container doesn’t leach out into the salve itself. Metal containers are a good lightweight option. Depending on the type of herbs and oils/butters you used will determine how long your product will last. They will usually last at least a year (unless you use it up before then ;))

Oils, again need a darkened glass vial. Often you will see them with a lid that has one of those controlled dropper things that are a pain in the butt to take out to refill and will often times dispense it SOOOOO slowly. Also store in a cool dry place. Oils will last longer than other modes, but not as long as tinctures. When the oil spoils, then the healing properties are no longer good.

Syrups are best kept in the refrigerator, even if they have a bunch of sugar in them. In this case, clear mason jars are just fine. They can be kept up to a year.

So the main thing for every type of herbal preparation: COOL DRY PLACE. Keep it out of the sun. Most of them also require glass or metal containers that are opaque and won’t let any light in.

Look for next week’s post on using food to heal your body.