Harvest & process

Leaf & stem

Hang-dry bunches

Cut stems on a dry morning. Shake off insects. Tie small bunches — a finger-thick bundle, not a sheaf — and hang upside down out of sun. Most mint-family leaves are crisp in 4–10 days. Strip from the stem once the leaf shatters rather than bends.

Blossom & seed

Screen-dry flowers

Spread flower heads or seed in a single layer. Turn once. Chamomile, calendula, linden, and rose want shade and air, not a pile. They are done when the center is crisp and the perfume is still there. Rub through a sieve to drop insects and dust.

Root & rhizome

Root wash and dry

Lift on a dry day after the top has died back, or as the plate says. Wash, don’t soak. Slice ¼-inch coins so the center dries. Ginger and turmeric can be used fresh; for storage they want low heat until they snap. Valerian and echinacea are the same idea, slower.

Kitchen leaf

Chop and freeze

Basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, and dill lose the top note in a hang-dry. Chop, pack into a tray with a film of oil or water, freeze, then bag. That is winter pesto and soup, not a tea herb.

Leaf & flower tea

Infusion cut

The cut for tea is the same cut as for dry: flowering tops and leaf, morning, dry. Store whole. Crumble into the cup, not into the tin — powder dies faster. Cover the steep so the oil stays in the drink. The tea folio has the cups.

Root, bark, wood fungus

Decoction pot

Hard parts need a simmer, not a steep. Slice, cover with water, 15–90 minutes depending on the plate — ginger is short, reishi is long. Keep the water just trembling. Strain. Reishi and turkey tail can be simmered twice.

Shelf extract

Folk spirit maceration

A traditional folk jar: loosely packed dried herb, spirit to cover, 4–6 weeks in the dark, shaken when you remember, then strained. Fresh wilted herb is a wetter jar and a shorter life. This is a household extract, not a standardized dose. Dropper math belongs to a clinician and a labeled product.

Skin, not soup

Oil macerate

Cover completely dry calendula, plantain, lavender, or rosemary with oil. Sun or a very low warm place 1–2 weeks, or a slow overnight in a bowl over hot water. Strain. Comfrey is external only, on closed skin. Patch-test. This is a salve base, not a salad dressing unless the plate is kitchen rosemary.

Kitchen preserve

Honey and oxymel

Thyme, garlic, and ginger sit well in honey. Cover the plant, wait days to weeks, then use as food. An oxymel is the same idea with a splash of vinegar. Honey is not for infants. This is a spoon in the kitchen, not a cough drug.

Elder, hip, raspberry

Cooked berry put-up

Elderberries are cooked — raw can upset the gut. Simmer, mash, strain. Rosehips: simmer and strain twice so the seed hairs stay out. Raspberry fruit is dessert; the tea is the leaf. Sugar or honey to taste after it is a food, not a sterile lab syrup.

Fully dry only

Crack and powder

Only powder what is already cracker-dry — reishi slices, ginger coins, kitchen mushroom. Mill, sieve, and use soon. Powder dies in the light. Most teas are better from the whole leaf crumbled at the cup.