From Shelf to Practice

I spent a long time deliberating over what the first journal entry for The Modern Materia Apothecary should be. I sat with my laptop open in front of me day after day, attempting to brainstorm, while my attention was split in a way that will feel familiar to many — between this new venture quietly taking root, my toddler running rampant through the house, and my baby, who had just learned to crawl and entered the terrifying phase where everything must immediately go into their mouth.

Somewhere between half-finished notes and cold cups of tea, it finally came to me.

This first post couldn’t be about formulas or finished shelves. It had to be for the people who haven’t started yet. The ones standing right at the beginning, feeling overwhelmed by shelves lined with unfamiliar names, elaborate methods, and perhaps a quiet fear of doing it wrong.

This first entry needed to demystify herbalism.

Herbalism was never meant to feel inaccessible. At its heart, it is slow, intuitive, and deeply rooted in everyday life. It belongs in kitchens, in quiet moments, in repetition. It belongs in the home.

So this is an invitation to soften the idea that herbal medicine is complicated or reserved for experts — to allow nature to return to one of its most natural places: our daily lives. You don’t need a dedicated room, expensive equipment, or rare botanicals to begin. You only need a few thoughtful, everyday ingredients, a willingness to observe, and the patience to let plants work in their own rhythm.

Herbal medicine begins not with mastery, but with practice.

Starting Before the Shelf

Before gathering jars or beginning to collect herbs, it’s worth pausing to consider intention. Herbalism works best when it starts quietly — not from accumulation, but from need.

Consider choosing one area where you feel you could use support right now. Perhaps that’s sleep, digestion, immunity, or respiratory comfort. Maybe it’s dry winter skin, nervous system support, or simply the desire to rely a little less on quick fixes during the colder months. Let this single focus guide what you begin with and what you invite into your home.

Just as important is choosing one preparation method at a time. Teas, tinctures, infused oils, fermented preparations, and syrups each offer something different. Learning one method slowly builds confidence. Repeated use brings familiarity. Herbal practices deepen through repetition and understanding — not through urgency or excess.

You don’t need to do everything at once. You only need to start somewhere.

Building a Thoughtful Beginner Shelf

A beginner’s shelf should feel calm and approachable — not performative or overwhelming. The most useful herbs are often the ones you already recognize, many of which have been used as both food and medicine for centuries.

Dried herbs such as peppermint, nettle leaf, chamomile, calendula, and lemon balm are gentle, versatile, and forgiving. Stored properly, even this small selection can be used to prepare teas, infused oils, and simple salves. These are herbs you will reach for again and again, not ones that sit untouched.

Whole flowers and leaves tend to retain their vitality longer than powdered herbs, especially when kept in airtight glass jars away from heat and light. Over time, your shelf will naturally change — shaped by what you use, what works for your household, and the rhythm of the seasons themselves.

A modest shelf, used often, is far more powerful than one built all at once.

Winter Practice: Simple Remedies for Cold Days

As temperatures dipped to nearly minus thirty-five this past week in Eastern Ontario, it felt both appropriate and necessary to share a few simple winter remedies — not as prescriptions, but as gentle places to begin. When the cold settles in this deeply, the body asks for warmth, consistency, and care in very practical ways.

I find this is often the moment people turn toward herbal medicine — not out of trend or curiosity, but because winter slows everything down and makes our needs more obvious. We reach for what soothes. What warms. What feels grounding.

Cold months invite remedies that support rather than stimulate. Herbal practice becomes quieter, more domestic, more woven into daily routines. A spoonful of honey in the morning. A pot simmering softly on the stove. Steam rising from a bowl on the counter while the rest of the house is still.

These remedies are simple places to begin. They require very little equipment, rely on familiar ingredients, and offer tangible comfort right away.

Fermented Honey Garlic

Fermented honey garlic is often one of the first herbal medicines people make, and for good reason. It is simple, forgiving, and deeply rooted in traditional home medicine. During winter, it offers gentle immune and respiratory support and improves steadily with time.

To prepare it, begin by peeling fresh garlic cloves and lightly crushing or piercing each one. This step helps activate the garlic’s natural compounds. Place the garlic into a clean glass jar, filling it roughly halfway.

Pour raw honey over the garlic until it is completely submerged. Using a clean spoon, stir gently to release any trapped air bubbles. Loosely cap the jar — fermentation produces natural gases — and place it in a dark cupboard at room temperature.

Over the first few days, small bubbles will begin to form. The honey will thin slightly as fermentation progresses, and the sharpness of the garlic will slowly soften. For the first week, gently turn or stir the jar once daily. After that, it can be left undisturbed.

After three to four weeks, the honey garlic is ready to use, though many people keep it for months, allowing the flavour and potency to deepen. Properly fermented and kept clean, it can last six months to a year, often longer, stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator. A spoonful of the honey daily becomes a simple winter ritual. A clove may be taken at the first sign of illness, or the honey stirred into warm — never hot — tea.

Ingredients

Raw honey

Fresh garlic cloves

Elderberry Syrup

Elderberry syrup has long been used as a winter staple, particularly during cold and flu season. It offers steady immune support and is well suited to daily use throughout the colder months.

To make it, dried elderberries are placed into a pot with water and gently simmered for thirty to forty-five minutes. Many choose to add warming herbs such as fresh ginger, cinnamon stick, or a few cloves — not only for their supportive qualities, but for the warmth they bring to the body in winter.

Once the liquid has reduced and darkened, it is strained and allowed to cool completely. Raw honey is then stirred in, usually at roughly a one-to-one ratio, creating a thick, rich syrup.

Stored in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator, elderberry syrup will typically keep two to three months. For longer storage, it can be frozen in small portions and thawed as needed. Taken daily, it becomes part of the rhythm of winter rather than something reserved only for illness.

Ingredients

Dried elderberries

Water

Raw honey

Optional warming herbs such as ginger, cinnamon, or clove

Herbal Steam Infusions

Not every remedy needs to be preserved or stored. Some are meant to be prepared in the moment, offering immediate comfort.

Herbal steam infusions are especially supportive during winter congestion, dryness, or heaviness in the chest. Dried aromatic herbs such as thyme, rosemary, eucalyptus, or peppermint are placed into a heat-safe bowl.

Hot — but not boiling — water is poured over the herbs, releasing aromatic steam. A towel is draped over the head, and the steam is inhaled slowly for five to ten minutes.

Steam infusions are made fresh each time and are not stored. Their value lies in immediacy — warmth, breath, and presence — rather than longevity.

Ingredients

Dried aromatic herbs

Hot water

Storage, Attention, and Care

Herbs respond to how they are treated.

Glass jars, stored away from heat and direct light, help preserve freshness and vitality. Labeling jars with names and dates builds awareness and respect for the materials. Over time, herbs naturally fade — learning to recognize when they have given all they can is part of the practice itself.

Beginning with small quantities keeps the relationship alive. Herbalism values freshness, intention, and use over excess.

The Herbal Mindset

Herbal medicine is not about chasing potency or immediate results. It is about building trust — with plants, with the body, and with time.

Gentle remedies, used consistently, often bring the most lasting support. Plants work alongside the body rather than against it, encouraging balance rather than force. Herbalism asks us to slow down, to notice patterns, and to listen closely.

It is a practice of patience.

A Gentle Word on Safety

A thoughtful approach includes restraint. Introduce one new herb at a time. Begin with small amounts. Certain life stages — pregnancy, medication use, chronic illness — deserve extra consideration and research.

When uncertain, herbs traditionally used as food or tea are a grounding place to begin.

From Shelf to Practice

A modest shelf, used often and with care, holds more value than the most elaborate apothecary left untouched. Herbalism grows quietly — through repetition, curiosity, and trust.

What begins on a shelf becomes a practice through use.

Through attention.

Through time