Once you start reading herb books and becoming interested in adding herbs to your life, you may find yourself with a cabinet full of plastic bags. Some of which you are not 100% certain they are what you think they are.
The best way to store medicinal herbs is the same way you store your culinary herbs. A cool, dark, dry place, a cabinet or shelf away from the sun. I store my herbs in the basement on a hutch. The lighting there is, at the best of times, horrible. So I can't really show you my set-up, but I will tell you about it.
I got very lucky and connected with a woman who worked in a deli. She saved me the glass jars that they would olives, peppers and such in. I have about twelve of these one gallon glass jars. I store the herbs I use most in these jars. Such as nettles, raspberry and roses. You can buy these on
Specialty Bottle for less then $5 each.
To be honest I wouldn't recommend buying enough herbs to fit into a gallon jar when you are starting out. Herbs expire just like the spices in your cabinet. Herbs should look vibrant, have a smell and taste fresh. Buying a a pound of organic spearmint for only $11 seems like a good idea, but in a year when you still have half a jar? Well, you might as well just compost dollar bills and save yourself the trouble. I have a gallon jar of nettles, because I drink about two gallons of nettle infusion a week. You may need quite a bit of herbs for specific recipes.
Otherwise I recommend going to Ace Hardware and picking up some half gallon jars and/or quart jars. You can get these on Amazon too. They're pretty expensive on Amazon, so I'd definitely try and find some locally if you can. Here are the
Ball Wide Mouth Half Gallon Jars with Lids and Bands, Set of 6. For $28.42 and free shipping over $25. The
Quart Jars with Lids and Bands, Set of 12 are closer to the price you can find them in stores at $15.99 and free shipping on orders over $25. The other thing you need is labels. You need to label your jars with the type of herb AND when you bought it.
These are the labels I have. Dover has a lot of vintage looking labels, if that's what you're into. You can also get cute
chalkboard labels for like $12. Not to mention the thousands of labels available on Etsy. I also like to use a canning funnel to transfer from bags to jar.
You can get one for like two bucks, again on Amazon.
As well as storing dried herbs, often I will use a half gallon jar to make a tincture or syrup in. You'll also need jars to store your finished tinctures and such. (make sure you label these too!) There is nothing wrong with using old tomato sauce and pickle jars. As long as it's air tight and you keep the jar in the aforementioned cool, dry, dark place. Light and heat degrade herbs and moisture can cause mildew to form. Also if your jar is not airtight there is a risk of moths getting into your jar. We were storing dry goods in glass yogurt jars with twist top and those suckers had no problem setting up house in the popcorn.
Once you have your herbs set up nicely they become a joy to look at sitting on the shelf so nicely. Instead of falling out of the cabinet and possibly spilling into your sugar bowl. I mean, I've heard that happens, sometimes... It becomes easier to find what you are looking for and easier to use your herbs as well.
Except, it’s Wednesday.
And I’m leaving for the Catskill to attend the Sacred Pregnancy training on Friday. I
have SO MUCH to do. Not to mention this
will be the first time I’ve left Oscar overnight. I picked my parents up from the train station
on Monday. They flew from 
Once you start reading herb books and becoming interested in adding herbs to your life, you may find yourself with a cabinet full of plastic bags. Some of which you are not 100% certain they are what you think they are. 
