My Home Apothecary

When I say “home apothecary,” I don’t mean a fancy cabinet with dozens of mysterious bottles. I mean a small, practical collection of herbs, oils, and simple preparations I keep on hand for everyday use.

Mine started with a few jars of dried herbs, a bottle of carrier oil, and one salve I wanted to learn how to make. That was it. It’s grown since then, but it didn’t start big, and it doesn’t need to.

A home apothecary is really just about knowing what you have, knowing what it’s for, and knowing how to make a few useful things yourself instead of buying everything.

You don’t need much to get started. These are the things I actually use:

• · Mason jars (for infusing and storing)
• · Amber dropper bottles (for tinctures)
• · Small tins (for salves and balms)
• · A carrier oil (like olive or jojoba)
• · Beeswax (for salves)
• · A fine strainer or cheesecloth
• · Labels (you’ll be glad you labeled things)
• · A small funnel

None of this is expensive or hard to find. I built mine up a few items at a time as I started making different things.

There are hundreds of herbs out there, but I’d start with a small handful that are easy to find, easy to use, and hard to mess up:

Start with two or three. Learn what they do, how to use them, and how to store them. You can always add more as you go.

Don’t try to make everything at once. Pick one thing, make it, learn from it, and go from there. These are a few good starting points:

The point isn’t to make everything. It’s to make one thing, see how it goes, and decide what you want to try next.