Imagine Utopia.
What does it look like to you?
To me, Utopia is a place where home and nature are seamlessly joined. I imagine a world where everyone has access to abundant remedies crafted from the natural world. Every person has a home, every home has a garden, and every garden has a person who transforms the garden into medicine!
Sadly we are far from Utopia. But, that doesn't mean I won't try. And as part of my herbalist duties these past few weeks I have been working on organizing my parent's basement apothecary.
Years ago this apothecary was often used and well organized. But, as my mom has been recently engaged in full-time work outside of the house it is now neglected. Jars of herbs steeping in oil, vodka, or brandy fill the workspace and the shelves are a jumbled mess of all kinds of things.
Seeing the apothecary in such a state doesn't entice anyone to actually use the space. The finished remedies are mixed in with the unfinished ones. Clean jars and jars that need washing co-mingle and create a stressful environment rather than a healing one.
So, I spent a few hours each day clearing everything out and bringing back only what is useful and necessary. Many cardboard boxes went into the recycling. Dirty jars were cleaned.
and old dried herbs went to join the land from where they came from originally ::
the end result ::
After a few hours each day over the course of my work week I have transformed this messy workspace into an orderly apothecary.
Finished tinctures have been bottles and labeled. All ready to use remedies are in a single cupboard where they are ready to use when needed. Mostly these are remedies for relaxation and sleep like valerian, and lavender but there are also others like feverfew which is a wonderful medicine for seasonal allergies!
Skincare products, like this collection of calendula salves, are on another shelf next to body and massage oils. Over the next few days I plan to write posts about each type of medicine, tinctures, oils, and teas in the Herbal Hive Community. So, stay tuned for that!
Well done! I sooo need to do this, too! Thanks for the inspiration.
so glad to inspire!
This space looks absolutely heavenly! My tinctures are mostly tucked away in ammunition cans in the attic. A few that I use more often are even more unceremoniously stored (should I just say less ceremoniously? I don’t want to imply any ceremoniousness in the way I’ve stored my creations…) in the garage.
I have wormwood, cannabis and psilocybin there… they’re all super old and gross looking now 🤣 but I grew, harvested and prepared them all myself, which’s gotta be good for somethin’ right? lol
In all seriousness, your hard work appears to have paid off, you’ve put together a wonderful space there that looks every bit as healing as it is inviting!
I love that you have a psilocybin tincture! I have never thought to make one myself, hopefully I can someday. I also admire that you grew and harvested them yourself. I think it might be a good idea to put them in tincture bottles so that you are more likely to use them. When tinctures are in bottles or jars without airspace they can last for years and years! Thanks for sharing your magickal apothecary!!
Excellent job of organization and cleanliness. I love natural products, they have helped me a lot with my health. I have been using them for quite a while, since I started having problems with allergic reactions to many medications. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Regards
same! We are so lucky that Earth provides most or all of the remedies we need.
You have done a great job, everything is very nice, clean and tidy and I am sure that when they need to cure something they will think first of natural medicine before going to the pharmacy.
@calendulacraft 😉
Thanks! that was the goal! I think people would opt for herbal remedies more often if the remedy is easy to use and on hand. we will see how it goes!
Hi. Ever seen text on the side of a flag before? I haven't. Wasn't sure I'd like it, I don't know, not that bad, I guess. What do you think?
Do you mean the text that says "California Republic"? if so, yeah I have totally seen it, I grew up in CA so,I probably saw that flag nearly everyday when I was in school. I like it!
Uhm, no. I'd never formatted sentences and a gif together like that. Your profile page says California. I'm from Long Beach. Figured I'd say hi.
I wonder if maybe this is what people mean when they call me confusing. = }
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👏 Keep Up the good work on Hive ♦️ 👏
❤️ @soyunasantacruz suggested sagarkothari88 to upvote your post ❤️