2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Photo: Natallia Khlapushyna / Rusmediabank.ru
As a child, it always seemed to me that there was nothing difficult in collecting medicinal herbs and roots: I woke up, had a leisurely breakfast, and went to pick herbs-flowers, with a basket in my hands.
How to collect medicinal herbs correctly?
Where to collect? Yes, wherever you find it. Therefore, it was always incomprehensible to me why my grandmother would be at 5 o'clock in the morning, when even the sun had not yet risen, then we go to the bus and go further into the forest or into the mountains (it depended on what we were going to collect), when here, right behind the yard grows the same mother-and-stepmother, plantain, nettles …
Over time, I realized that picking herbs is not just going out, plucked and dried. This is practically a whole ritual. Let's take a closer look at what are the rules for collecting herbs? First, let's take a closer look at the time of day and weather that are most suitable for collecting medicinal herbs.
When to collect medicinal herbs?
So, the best time to harvest is early in the morning, right after the dew has dried. Usually it is 8-9 o'clock in the morning. And if you plan to harvest leaves, bark and roots, then the best time for this is afternoon, from about 4 pm to 6 pm.
The most undesirable time for collecting medicinal plants is from 10 am to 12 noon. At this time, you cannot collect herbs. In addition, plants should only be harvested on fine and clear days. Rainy and damp weather is a contraindication for herbalists.
Where to collect medicinal herbs?
All plants must be collected in the forest, in the field, in the mountains away from the roads, since the grasses growing near the roadway contain a large amount of harmful substances and salts of heavy metals, so they can be poisoned rather than cured. For the same reason, it is undesirable to collect herbs near the yard (it is possible only if you live far from roads, somewhere on a farm or in a small village with practically no vehicles).
Safety in the collection of medicinal herbs
When collecting medicinal herbs, you need to be very careful, since most of the future raw materials are poisonous. Therefore, when preparing for a herbal hike, it would be good to use personal protective equipment. For example, if poisonous leaves, stems, flowers, then it is better to put on thin rubber gloves on your hands and during work in no case touch your hands to open areas of the skin, especially to the face and eyes (this applies to collecting such plants as belladonna, henbane, Adonis). Gloves are optional but desirable. After completing the collection of medicinal plants, thoroughly shake off your clothes and be sure to wash your hands with soap and water.
In addition, I want to mention a modern misfortune - ticks, which are carriers of diseases, including deadly ones, and rapidly multiplying and spreading across the territory of our countries. In order not to "catch" the tick, dress so as to cover the whole body, preferably in light-colored clothing, since it is easier to notice a dark tick on it in time. Be sure to tuck your trousers into socks, a sweater or a jacket - into your trousers. Put a cap or scarf on your head. Check yourself or your partner (if you are traveling with someone) periodically. After returning home, take a good look at yourself, shake off your clothes and immediately send them to the washing machine or soak them in a bowl of powder.
Attention! In order to avoid poisoning, in no case should children, pregnant women and nursing mothers participate in the collection and procurement of medicinal herbs
Where to collect medicinal herbs?
The most faithful and irreplaceable assistant of any herbalist is a basket, if there is no basket, then you can collect raw materials in bags, preferably canvas. In no case do not use plastic bags, the herbs "suffocate" in them. Bags and baskets should not be stuffed too much, since medicinal herbs have a peculiarity: when they are tightly stuffed into a bag, they begin to "get warm", that is, release heat, respectively, deteriorate.
In addition to all of the above, you need to know the timing of the collection of herbs. But we'll talk about this in the next article.
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