How Does a Herbalist Spend a Workday?
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Tending and Collecting Live Herbs
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A portion of an herbalist's day is spent in tending to his own herb garden: weeding, dealing with pests or plant diseases, transplanting or thinning, fertilizing, and harvesting. In the winter, an herbalist may spend time working in a greenhouse with plants or growing potted herbs indoors. Additionally, many herbs are found in the wild, and some herbalists find and collect these specimens for study, propagation and use.
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Preserving Herbs and Making Herbal Products
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Some herbs simply need to be dried and then placed in airtight containers for storage. Others, such as those for culinary use, might be pureed in olive oil and frozen for use later. Many other herbal products are possible, as well, from making specific herbal tea blends to making tinctures, distillations, infusions, herbal powders in capsules, and herbal lotions, oils and cleansers.
Sharing Knowledge
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An herbalist might teach a class at a local college, high school or vocational center. An herbalist might conduct workshops at community centers, garden centers, botanical gardens, natural history museums, libraries and other locations. Some herbalists give tours of their own herb gardens and premises and offer on-site workshops and classes. Other herbalists may choose to spend a portion of their days in one-on-one consultations, helping clients to determine the best herbal treatments for natural health.
Learning and Business
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An herbalist must keep up with research and news in the world of holistic health, new herbal research and other applications of herbal knowledge. So a portion of an herbalist's day is spend in research, study and reading. As well, many herbalists spend time writing, perhaps for a book, a magazine column, a natural health publication or a website. Part of the day, of course, must be spend in business: paperwork and money management. An herbalist need to pay the bills, invoice clients, keep up with important documents and follow up with opportunities. Some herbalists may run a retail shop or an online store, so part of the day must be spent maintaining that portion of the business.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Laura Padgett @ flickr, john w @ flickr, Living in Monrovia @ flickr, London Permaculture @ flickr, karynsig @ flickr.
