Before the Formula

Most of the tinctures on my shelves begin as individual preparations called "simples."

People often ask why I don't combine herbs into formulas from the beginning.

The answer has to do with relationship. Not only the relationship between myself and the plant, but the relationship between the plants themselves, the constituents they contain, and the menstruums used to extract them. All of these factors influence the chemistry of extraction.

I believe there is great value in understanding what each plant contributes before it becomes part of something larger.

Before a plant becomes part of a formula, I want to know it on its own.

One of the questions I am often asked when someone visits the apothecary is:

Why do you keep so many individual tinctures on your shelves? Wouldn't it be easier to make everything as a formula from the beginning?

The short answer is yes.

The longer answer is that plants are individuals.

Before a plant becomes part of a formula, I want to understand how it behaves on its own. I want to know how Skullcap feels when it stands alone. I want to know what Passionflower contributes before it begins dancing with California Poppy. I want to understand the effects of a Lobelia dose before I blend it into an addiction recovery support formula.

Relationships change us. Plants are no different.

When several herbs are combined, something new emerges. That is often the goal. But it also becomes more difficult to understand which plant is contributing what, and how each herb expresses its unique gifts.

There is also a practical reason for working this way. Different plants yield their gifts differently. Some constituents extract well enough in glycerin. Others prefer alcohol. Strong alcohol may be required for certain plants, while others are much nicer in a 40% brandy. Some herbs are at their best when tinctured fresh, while others perform beautifully dried. Working with individual preparations allows me to choose the extraction method that best serves the plant before considering how it may eventually fit into a formula.

Working with simples allows me to build relationships before I build formulas. It allows me to observe. To experiment. To listen.

And perhaps most importantly, it allows me to formulate with intention.

When I create a formula, I am not simply combining ingredients.

I am introducing plants to one another.

Some become lifelong companions. Others appear together for a season and then move on.

Working with plants individually has taught me things I might never have noticed inside a formula.

Skullcap taught me that rest and sedation are not the same thing.

Milky Oats taught me that exhaustion is often less about energy and more about reserves.

Rose taught me that protection and openness can coexist.

Again and again, I find that plants reveal themselves most clearly when given space to speak in their own voice.

That doesn't mean formulas are less valuable. Quite the opposite.

Formulation is where herbalism becomes both art and science. It is where traditional wisdom, clinical observation, extraction chemistry, and plant relationships come together.

But I have come to believe that good formulas begin with understanding.

Before I ask plants to work together, I want to understand who they are on their own.

That, to me, is one of the great privileges of the apothecary. Not simply making medicine, but spending enough time with the plants to understand both their nature and their gifts.