30ish herbs to build your home apothecary

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If you are just beginning to integrate herbs into your everyday rituals, it can be overwhelming to decide what herbs you want to start with and have on hand for simple, everyday care for yourself and loved ones.

It's always best to start slow and small, so I tend to recommend starting with around 10 herbs along with some basic solvents: good clean water, local raw honey, high quality cold-pressed oil–I use cold pressed sunflower or olive oil (+beeswax if you want to make salve), apple cider vinegar, and high-proof alcohol (100 proof or higher).

Personally, if I were to start from scratch, and I could only choose ten herbs, I would begin with:

5 Tinctures to start

• Reishi mushroom
  • Dual Extract for long term immune and nervous system support
• Echinacea root
  • tincture for acute immune response
• Ashwagandha root
  • tincture for nervous system support
• Dandelion root
  • tincture as a digestive bitter and alterative
• Tulsi leaf & flower
  • tincture as aromatic nervine

5 Dried herbs for Tea and Infused Oil to start

• Chamomile flower (or some other aromatic nervine)
• Nettle leaf (for tea, or high mineral apple cider vinegar extract)
• Calendula flower (for tea and infused oil/salve)
• Marshmallow root (for strong demulcent via overnight cold infusion)
• Yarrow leaf & flower (for diaphoretic tea or infused oil/salve)

But if you want more herbs to choose from, I expanded the above 'Desert Island' list to 30ish herbs you might consider (and remember, these will look different depending on your circumstances and needs–for example, are you focusing on hormonal health, digestive health, nervous system and stress, auto-immunity?), along with some places to source them.

So here's a list of 30ish herbs to build your home apothecary

Tincture

Immune Support:

• Reishi mushroom (dual extract is ideal)
• Astragalus root (dual extract is ideal)
• Elderberry

Digestive Support:

• Dandelion root
• Nettle leaf
• Orange peel
• Ginger rhizome

Adaptogens & Nervous System Support:

• Skullcap leaf & flower
• Fresh Milky Oat seed
• Motherwort leaf & flower
• Ashwagandha root (dual extract is ideal)
• Tulsi leaf & flower

Multi-use Harmonizer Herb:

• Licorice root (dual extract is ideal) – Supports immune, digestive, and nervous system health, great to add in very small amounts in formulas to harmonize the blend.

Dried for Tea

All herbs below also excel as tincture, with the exception of raspberry leaf, oat straw, plantain, marshmallow root and kava kava – not that these herbs wouldn't make good tinctures, I just tend to call on them more as water extractions.

Aromatic:

• Chamomile flower
  • Carminative, Nervine Use for tea, infused oil/salve, eyewash
• Fennel seed
  • Carminative Use in tea and cooking
• Peppermint leaf
  • Diaphoretic Use for tea, steam inhalation
• Yarrow leaf & flower
  • Diaphoretic
• Catnip leaf & flower
  • Diaphoretic, Nervine
• Lemon Balm leaf
  • Nervine

Nutritive:

• Nettle leaf
  • Diuretic
• Raspberry leaf
  • Astringent
• Oatstraw
  • neutral

Vulnerary:

• Plantain leaf
• Calendula flower

Demulcent:

• Marshmallow root

Relaxant:

• Kava Kava root

Skincare Herbs

• Calendula flower
  • Dried for infused oil
• St. John's Wort flowering tops
  • Gathered fresh for infused oil (where nerve pain is present)

Kitchen Herbs

And let's not forget the common herbs for culinary use that absolutely impart their medicinal properties in your cooking!

• Garlic (fresh)
  • use in cooking (lots), or fermented in honey
• Ginger rhizome (fresh)
  • fresh is ideal, use in cooking, as tea (yes, use fresh when making tea)
• Cacao (70% or above discs)
  • use in cooking (throw a bit in stews and chilis), baking, etc.
  • Get raw 70% or above cacao (they often come as chocolate discs) and blend on high with warm milk or hot water for about a minute two cups a day for a couple weeks is transformative
• Astragalus root (dried)
  • use in cooking, specifically when cooking rice or other grains, and broth/stock, you can also throw in immune supporting decoctions
• All the mushrooms (dried or fresh – depending on application)
  • as decoction, in cooking, in broth/stock
  • turkey tail, reishi, chaga you'll likely have dried which will need to be removed from whatever you are extracting into before consuming as they are quite tough and would not be enjoyable to eat
  • shiitake, maitake, chanterelle, lion's mane, and other culinary mushrooms are available fresh and are wonderful to enjoy sauteed (you can also find some of these dried–specifically shiitake and maitake– to throw in soup/broth like you would for turkey tail or reishi).
• Rosemary leaf
  • Use as a catalyst in tea (too much can be overpowering), and in cooking
• Thyme leaf
  • Use in cooking, tea, and steam inhalations
• Sage leaf
  • Use in cooking, tea, and steam inhalations