Collect, harvest and dry herbs

Everywhere around us we see green plants, even in large cities. When there if no other choice, you can use dandelions from cities (if they do not grow nearby pollutions). There are three ways to obtain good and pure herbs: to cultivate them by yourself, to pick herbs in the wild or buy them at a specialised shop. When you cultivated herbs yourself or picked them from the wild, you can best dry them to conserve them. It is often important on which moment you harvest the herbs. When you pick herbs from the wild a good determination is very important.

Cultivate herbs yourself
Harvesting and drying of herbs
Pick herbs in the wild
Buy herbs

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On each sunny spot herbs can be cultivated, even on a windowsill. The most important therapeutic and kitchen herb are easy to cultivate. Some, as peppermint, knit self out so strongly, that they must be held under control in a pot.

The prescriptions are simple: the right place and buy good seeds in a good store. Order the seeds on the Latin name, because of many plants, as sage and thyme, also flower variants exist, so that confusion is possible.

All variants are more or less suitable, but the best plants for medicinal use should have the name officinale or officinalis.

Seeds for garden use, like fennel or celery, are often sprayed and may never become used medicinally. It is amusing and interesting to see plants growing, to see them change with the seasons and to see approach their flowering time. Healthy self cultivated herbs can become excellent house means.

Some plants are poisonous and must remain out of reach of small children. Children do not see the difference between harmful and harmless plants, especially when they once in a while picked blackberries and know how well they are. Avoid plant with poisonous fruits, as golden rain ( Laburnum anagyroides ), taxus ( Taxus baccata ), lily of the valley ( Convallaria majalis ) -of-, buxus ( Buxus sempervirens ) and holly ( Ilex aquifolium).

The harvesting and drying of herbs

Plants fade quickly and the faster they are processed after picking, the better it is.

Leaves

Pick leafs on a dry day. If you want to pick only young leaves (of for instance stinging nettles) then you best pick them in the spring, if the plant is yet full of energy or has in the late summer, when he a second growth shoot. Picking by the collecting of leaf and comes stems (motherwort, bur, garden sorrel) area for the plant in bloom. Leaves of which the aroma of interest is (rosemary, sage, lemon balm) can you the best around dab noon pick, when she the

Flowers

Seeds

Harvest seeds in the slat afternoon or early evening, when the plant is as dry possible. Pick the whole stem and binds a paper bag over the seed lobs and hang the plant upside down till it is totally dry. The seeds can become then easy loose shaken and at the bottom of the bag be collected.

Roots

With respect to the environment, you pick roots only from your own garden, not from the wild. Roots are the most strong in fall. Then they contain the winter supply for the plant. The roots of some remaining plants (as the elecampane) can be harvested when the plant is divided, while others (as the dandelion, which has one long root) must be sown again.

Dig to harvest carefully the whole root from and shake the loose sand off. You can wash then the root carefully under streaming water and dry slam, but this is not always necessary. Dry the root on a well ventilated warm place. Turn the root each day. Remove, if it is totally dry, all remains of sand with a brush. Do not peel the root, because important compounds may go lost. Cut round the same reason the root fit area for the use.

Bark

Bark let self reasonably good peeled and must be collected from young branches or descends, with name threes that cut down be already. Threes can die off gotten becomes when it too much bark from, especially around the stem.

Perhaps the bark must become washed to remove insects and moss, after that let dry out on a dry, warm, airy, dark place.

Previously it was quite normal to pick herbs, but present is that much more difficult. In many areas chemicals are sprayed and often bans savage to pick is the plant. Even in remote regions, the environment stands under pressure, so that the picking is banned.

Experts fears that some plants will die out through careless pickings. The demands for herbs are large and still increasing. The quantities want to plant is too small, so that even saint-Johns word must be cultivated now a day. The commercial culture stands are all many season yet in the beginning, but by small plantations available.

Different laws are of power in different countries. It is important that to know before you will pick, so that you certainly know that you not doing anything illegally. Take an illustrated flora with, so that you can determine the plants. Picking with mind and picking only what is necessarily. Avoid roadsides, dogs and polluted or sprayed places. Try to choose plants that are free of animal excrements, not eaten away by insects and it looks healthy and fresh forward. Take a small stiff of each plant and let enough for reproduction and recovery.

Good determination

Many plants resemble each other and can only on the basis of their bloom form or seed become distinguish. Some plants from the carrot family are poisonous. You can avoid them the best, unless you are absolutely certain of your determination. So possible only pick common plants that you know well. Dandelion, spirea, grease root, bur, linden and garden sorrel are easy to recognize.

Buy a good flora or follow a course. You can make also walks under expert leadership. Also you can visit a herbs or botanical garden, here state the name mentioned often on plates by the plant round which plant it goes.

Buy herbs

You can buy dried herbs (leaf and roots) through special affairs and reform shops. The English names can lead to confusion. Always use the Latin names.

The number of products on herb basis is increased by the popularity of the natural medicine. Cosmetic become foresee work of herb extracts of variable quality, while some manufacturers hard at safety and standardization. The law offers protection against all too beautifully promises. The high expenses of registration as a medicine to get around, sells one many herbs not as a medicine. Many products are traditional of composition, but it appeared always more tablets and capsules on basis of one herb. As its ginkgo, mother herb and Eastern purple coneflower root in separate form available.

Convince yourself of it that the product contain a therapeutic quantity of the herb that you necessarily have. A trustworthy firm performs investigation to the origin and purity of the ingredients, so that you buy can the products with an easy heart. You hold at the quantity and loan good on the guidelines and contra-indications.

Literature

[1]. Shaw, Nun;- herb medicine - First busily; Cologne: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH
(1999). ISBN 3-8290-1511-9
[2]. Bremness, Lesley;- the complete naslagwerk SEASON for the cultivating and use -
Fifth busily; Wooden: Of Reemst Publisher (2000). ISBN 90-410-0158-1
[3]. Britton, Jade & Kircher, Tamara; - De healing power of herbs - First busily;
Groningen: TextCase (2000). ISBN 90 , 5764 , 030 , 9
[4]. Dr. C. Norman Shealy; - Encyclopedia of the Natural Medicines -
First busily; Groningen: TextCase (1999). ISBN 3-8290-1713-8



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