Building Your Home Apothecary with Common Herbs

When you first start learning about herbalism, it can be a little overwhelming.

There are so many herbs to learn, so many books to read, and so many beautiful jars of dried plants you could potentially fill your shelves with.

It's easy to think you need a whole room full of herbs before you can actually begin making use of them.

You don't.

In fact, I'd much rather see someone become really familiar with five useful plants than have fifty jars of herbs they don't know how to use.

Some of the best herbs for a home apothecary are also some of the most common ones. You may already have them growing in your yard, along a trail, or in places you've walked past a hundred times without giving them much thought.

Here are five of my favorites to start with: dandelion, burdock, common mallow, plantain, and mullein.

Each one has something different to offer, and together they make a wonderful foundation for a simple home apothecary.

Dandelion

If there is one plant that teaches us to stop calling everything a weed, it's dandelion.

Dandelion is one of those plants that most people spend a great deal of time trying to get rid of. Herbalists, on the other hand, have been harvesting it for generations.

The leaves, flowers, and root can all be used.

Dandelion Leaf

Young dandelion leaves can be used as a food and have traditionally been valued as a nutritious spring green. They can be added to salads, cooked like other greens, or dried for herbal preparations.

Dandelion leaf has traditionally been used as a gentle diuretic and as part of spring tonics.

Dandelion Root

The root is probably the part most familiar to herbalists.

Dried dandelion root can be made into a decoction or roasted and brewed as a coffee-like beverage. Traditionally, the root has been used to support digestion and as a bitter herb.

I like having dried dandelion root on hand because it is such a versatile herb and a good introduction to working with roots.

Dandelion Flowers

And don't forget the flowers.

Those bright yellow flowers can be used in infused oils, herbal preparations, and even a variety of foods.

Dandelion is a great first plant to learn because you can work with almost the entire plant.

Burdock

Burdock is another plant that doesn't always get the appreciation it deserves.

The large leaves and burr-covered seed heads make it fairly easy to recognize, although proper identification is always important before harvesting any wild plant.

For the home apothecary, the root is the part I would pay the most attention to.

Burdock Root

Burdock root has a long history of traditional use as an alterative and nourishing herb. It has particularly been associated with supporting healthy skin and digestion.

The dried root can be prepared as a decoction or included in herbal formulas.

Burdock is also traditionally used as a food. Young roots can be cooked, and burdock root is still commonly eaten in some traditional cuisines.

That's something I appreciate about herbs like burdock.

They're not necessarily separate from food and medicine.

Sometimes they're both.

Common Mallow

Common mallow is another plant that many people overlook.

If you've ever spent time looking closely at what grows around your garden, fields, or disturbed areas, you may have encountered it without realizing how useful it can be.

Mallow is a mucilaginous herb, meaning that it contains slippery compounds that become soothing when combined with water.

That makes it particularly interesting when you're learning about herbs for soothing and moisturizing preparations.

Mallow Leaf and Flower

The leaves and flowers have traditionally been used in teas and other preparations for soothing irritated tissues.

Mallow can be especially useful to have around when you're learning about herbs that work through their soothing, coating qualities rather than through strong stimulating effects.

It can also be used externally in poultices and other skin preparations.

I think mallow is an important herb for a beginner to learn because it introduces you to an entirely different category of herbal action.

Not every herb in your apothecary needs to be stimulating, bitter, or strongly aromatic.

Sometimes you simply want something gentle and soothing.

Plantain

Plantain is probably one of my favorite examples of an herb hiding in plain sight.

And I'm talking about the little broadleaf plant growing in your lawn—not the banana-like fruit.

There are several species of plantain, including broadleaf plantain (Plantago major) and narrowleaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata).

Once you learn to recognize them, you'll probably start noticing plantain everywhere.

Plantain Leaf

The leaves have a long history of traditional external use for minor cuts, scrapes, insect bites, and irritated skin.

Fresh leaves can be used in a poultice, while dried plantain can be incorporated into infused oils and salves.

Plantain is one of those herbs that I think belongs in every beginner's herbal education simply because it is so common.

You don't necessarily have to order it.

You may already have it growing outside your door.

And that makes it a wonderful plant for learning how to identify, harvest, dry, and prepare your own herbs.

Mullein

Mullein is another plant that earns its place in a home apothecary for several reasons.

The first year, mullein forms a large rosette of soft, fuzzy leaves. In its second year, it sends up a tall flower stalk covered in yellow flowers.

Different parts of the plant have traditionally been used at different stages of its life.

Mullein Leaf

Mullein leaf has traditionally been used as a respiratory herb, particularly in teas and other preparations for coughs and irritated respiratory passages.

If you're making tea with mullein leaf, remember those little hairs covering the leaves.

They can be irritating to the throat, so mullein tea should be strained carefully through a fine strainer or cloth.

Mullein Flowers

The yellow flowers are especially valued for herbal oils.

Mullein flower oil has a long tradition of external use, particularly in preparations associated with the ears.

The flowers can also be dried for herbal tea preparations.

Mullein Root

The root has been used traditionally as well, although its medicinal use is not nearly as well established as the leaves and flowers.

For that reason, I tend to think of mullein leaf and flower as the more useful parts to begin with.

Five Herbs Can Go a Long Way

If you're just beginning to build your home apothecary, you don't need to rush out and buy twenty or thirty different herbs.

Start with a few plants you can identify confidently and learn them well.

With these five alone, you can begin exploring a wide variety of herbal preparations.

Dandelion can introduce you to roots, bitters, nourishing spring herbs, and food as medicine.

Burdock gives you another useful root and an opportunity to learn about traditional alterative herbs.

Common mallow introduces you to soothing, mucilaginous herbs.

Plantain is an excellent introduction to simple external herbal preparations.

Mullein gives you experience working with a biennial plant and harvesting different parts at different stages of its life.

And that's really what building an apothecary is about.

It's not about how many jars you have on your shelf.

It's about knowing what's in those jars.

Knowing where it came from.

Knowing how to identify it.

Knowing when and how to harvest it.

And knowing how to turn that plant into something useful.

Start With the Plants You Already Have

One of the best ways to begin learning herbalism is to look around you before you start looking through an herb catalog.

What's growing in your yard?

What's growing along the edge of your garden?

What plants do you see every time you go for a walk?

You may be surprised by how many useful herbs are already growing around you.

Of course, never harvest a plant unless you're absolutely certain of its identification, and avoid gathering from areas that may have been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides, alongside busy roads, or anywhere else where the plants may be contaminated.

And if you wildcraft, remember that we're guests in these places. Take only what you need and leave plenty behind.

Building Knowledge Along With Your Apothecary

A home apothecary isn't built overnight.

Mine certainly wasn't.

Over time, you learn a plant, then another, and then another. You learn how each one grows, when it appears, which part you want to harvest, and how to prepare it.

Eventually, those plants become familiar.

You don't have to think about what they are anymore. You recognize them when you see them.

That's when herbalism starts to become less about collecting herbs and more about developing a relationship with the plants around you.

And that's a much better foundation for a home apothecary than a shelf full of jars you bought simply because they looked interesting.

Start small. Learn your plants. Make something useful. Then add another one.

Before you know it, you'll have built an apothecary—and a whole lot of herbal knowledge along with it.