Last week, I popped into the food co-op closest to us and browsed the bulk-dried herbs and spices. As I walked by, I saw a jar of Chamomile and gasped—$29.99 a pound!
The bulk bins are often sourced from Frontier Co-op, a very ethical and real cooperative. For example, you can buy their products in large bags directly from them or even on Amazon. On Amazon, a 1-pound mylar bag of Chamomile sells for $1592 currently (its retail price is $44.50, but sells for less). While far more affordable (and the same product, with both being organic), it’s not exactly affordable, even at $16 a pound. And neither does one know how “fresh” it is. That bulk bin could have been filled the day before…or 6 months before. The co-op has windows that let in the sun, further degrading the color and aroma of their bulk herbs. That is something that frustrates me at that particular store, and nearly all stores selling bulk herbs and spices have them in direct light, be it LED or whatever they use.
Now, I understand that the cost also reflects picking of the flowers, but I have to think it’s been mechanized, long ago, to make it quick and simple.
While I often preach the beauty of bulk bins, they have issues. The biggest is turnover. The second is quality, which is part of the first problem. If a store doesn’t have a great turnover, you face buying stale products. Stale herbs make people think the herb doesn’t taste good when it is so old that the flavor has long departed the mortal coil. The lesser third problem is that as the stock dwindles down, you get smaller pieces. No full flowers, but rather sprinkles of dry material. That is an issue, of course, with tea bags, which are often nothing but powder.
Many herbs are easy to preserve. Chamomile is one of the easiest. In the early morning, walk along it and pluck the flowers between your first and second fingers. The flower head usually pops right off. I pick into a new brown paper lunch sack till I am tired of stooping over or I run out of blooms. Chamomile rewards you often with a ton of new blossoms within days after each harvest.
Chamomile is a “plant once, harvest forever” kind of plant. It self-seeds easily and grows with zero input from us, the gardener. You don’t need to water it; it’ll still grow nearly always. It enjoys disturbed soil and happily crowds out the actual weeds. I only plant chamomile seeds if it is a new area, or I had to fully retill and reshape a growing area every 5 or so years. Even then, I often find it growing feral in our fields. It blows on the wind; chickens scratch the soil, and such.
Pick them at their height when the blooms are full and smell incredible. And let them air dry in the brown paper lunch sacks you pick in. Protected from light, they dry quickly, preserving their color and aroma.I leave the bag(s) on the counter, turning gently every day or so, as I remember. Once dry I transfer gently into a mason jar and tuck away.
Do not use a dehydrator for herbs! The heat will destroy the delicate essential oils in the leaves and plant material.
Freshly preserved and ready to be tucked away, the flowers will lose their vibrancy of color as time passes, but that is OK. Just store them in glass mason jars, as I mentioned above, tucked into a cool, dry, and dark area.
Then, enjoy the tea you can make in fall and winter by infusing the dried flowers in a tea basket with hot water. Boil the water and let it sit for a minute or two before pouring it over the tea.
For me, it needs nothing, but a drizzle of raw honey also gives a delicious boost.
~Sarah