April Gathering Basket: A Deeper Way to Work with Plants

In this month’s Gathering Basket, I am taking a small detour from my usual focus on individual botanicals. Instead, I want to share something more foundational: how we work with plants to truly capture their full expression when creating herbal preparations to support health.

I call this layering.

It may not be an official term, but it is the clearest way I know to describe how we create products in our on farm apothecary. Because so many of you are also making herbal products, I want to invite you into this way of thinking.

I have been layering herbal preparations for many years, always with the intention of increasing both the efficacy and potency of what we create. At its core, layering means that instead of relying on a single method of extraction, we use multiple approaches to draw out the full spectrum of a plant’s constituents.

For example, when we make an alcohol extract, we may also create a decoction or warm infusion to serve as the water portion of that extract. You can take this even further by working with both fresh and dried plant material. Each form offers something different, and together they create a more complete preparation.

Some constituents are water soluble. Some require heat. Some become more available after drying. Others are best captured when the plant is fresh. When we layer these approaches, we honor all of those expressions.

I am a strong proponent of fresh plant extracts, a perspective shaped in large part by my teacher, Deb Soule of Avena Botanicals here in Maine. When alcohol is used with fresh plant material, it acts as a dehydrator, pulling the water out of the plant and into solution, where it can then be preserved for many years. That water carries a wide range of constituents. At the same time, alcohol itself is a powerful solvent, capable of extracting resins and compounds that water alone cannot reach.

Some herbalists also incorporate glycerin or vinegar, creating an even more complete extraction. A truly layered process.

We apply this same thinking to our oils. We begin by using alcohol to open and prepare the dried plant material. Then we move into a gentle heat infusion with oil. Alcohol, heat, and oil working together to draw out the full character of the plant.

And when we step into body care products, the same principles apply.

Soap making is one of my favorite practices in the apothecary. When I make soap, I begin by infusing dried plant material into oil. I then apply heat to deepen that infusion. After that, I incorporate the plant’s essential oil, and finally I often add some of the dried herb itself into the finished bar.

Each step is an invitation for the plant to be present in a different way.

This is layering.

It is a way of working that asks us to slow down, pay attention, and draw out as much of the plant as we can. Not in a forceful way, but in a thoughtful and respectful one. Each layer builds on the next, creating herbal preparations that are not only more potent, but more whole.

Happy layering,

Love,
Emily