Open Source Apothecary At Home / Build your own box
Build your own box
What a subscription herbal box actually contains, and how to assemble the same thing yourself without buying anything from us — because we do not sell anything.
guideSubscription herbal boxes work by bundling five things and charging monthly for them: dried herbs, seeds, a study guide, some glassware, and access to teaching. The knowledge is genuinely valuable. The rest is logistics, and logistics can be assembled from a kitchen, a garden and a hardware shop.
Nothing on this page is for sale. There is no shop, no affiliate link, no commission, and no product of ours anywhere on this site. This is a list of what to gather and why, and where relevant what it costs at typical retail so you can judge whether a subscription is cheaper for you than doing it yourself. That is information, not an offer.
## The five parts, and what each is actually worth
1. The dried herbs. This is the largest cost in a box and the easiest to eliminate. A herb garden covers most of the pharmacopoeia in this handbook within two seasons, and the wild plants — nettle, plantain, dandelion, violet, yarrow — are free and abundant. What you cannot grow, buy in bulk from a supplier who names the species; a pound of dried herb costs less than a single month's box and lasts a year.
2. The seeds. These cost a few dollars a packet and the growing section of this handbook covers every plant in the curriculum. Save your own seed after the first year and the cost recurs once.
3. The study guide. This is the part a subscription genuinely sells, and it is the part that should be free. This handbook is that study guide, with the addition that every claim in it is traceable to a named study rather than to an author's authority.
4. The glassware. Jars, bottles, a funnel, a strainer, a small scale, a thermometer. Most households already have half of it. The list below is the complete kit and it costs less than three months of a typical subscription.
5. The classes and community. The only part with a real argument for a subscription, because a person answering questions is a service. The substitute is a local herbalist, a foraging group, a garden club, or a library — and in this region there are all four.
## What a year actually costs, either way
| | Subscription route | Assemble-it-yourself | |---|---|---| | Herbs | Included | Free to ~$60 if bought in bulk | | Seeds | Included | ~$25 a year, less after you save seed | | Study guide | Included | Free — this handbook | | Glassware | Partly included | ~$60 once | | Classes | Included | Free to ~$50 locally | | Year one | about $500+ | about $145, then well under $100 |
The gap widens every year, because jars and a garden do not need replacing.
## The honest case for a subscription
If what you want is a structured course with a person to ask, a subscription is a reasonable way to buy that, and this page is not an argument against it. What it is an argument against is paying monthly for dried herbs and information, which is what most of the money buys.
Growing it
Herbs: grow, forage, or buy in bulk
| Source | Covers | Cost | |---|---|---| | Your garden | The 30-odd plants in the growing and herbs sections | Seed cost only | | Foraging | Nettle, plantain, dandelion, violet, yarrow, mullein, chickweed | Free | | Bulk purchase | Tropical and woody herbs you cannot grow here | ~$8-20 per pound, lasts a year |
What to buy rather than grow here: cinnamon, ashwagandha, turmeric (marginal), ginger (marginal), tea tree oil, licorice, slippery elm (use marshmallow instead).
Seeds to buy in year one — these give a harvest the same season: calendula, chamomile, borage, basil, tulsi, dill, fennel, and mint or lemon balm divisions from someone who has them.
Seeds that need patience: echinacea, valerian, milk thistle, lavender, rosemary (cuttings are faster).
Preparation
The complete starter kit
| Item | Why | Typical cost | |---|---|---| | Quart and pint glass jars, lids | Drying, infusing, storing. The single most-used item. | ~$15 for a case | | Amber glass bottles, 30-100 mL | Tinctures and oils; light degrades both | ~$15 | | Fine mesh strainer or muslin | Straining infusions and oils | ~$8 | | Small funnel | Filling bottles without a mess | ~$5 | | Digital kitchen scale, 1 g resolution | Dosing and consistency | ~$15 | | Dehydrator, or a screen and a fan | Drying. This is the one place a purchase really pays. | ~$40 | | Digital thermometer | Drying temperature, oil infusion temperature | ~$10 | | Cheesecloth or nut-milk bag | Pressing infused oils | ~$6 | | Beeswax | Salves | ~$10 | | Labels and a permanent marker | The item people skip and regret | ~$5 | | Total | | about $130 |
Things you do not need to buy
- A distillation still. See the essential-oil page for why home distillation is usually a poor use of money and effort.
- A pill press, capsule machine, or encapsulation kit — tinctures and teas do the same job.
- A dedicated "herbal medicine" kit. Every item above is a kitchen or hardware item.
The one purchase worth prioritising: a drying setup. The difference between properly dried and badly dried herb is the difference between medicine and brown leaf, and it is the stage where home production most often fails.
Sourcing rules if you do buy
- Buy from a supplier who names the botanical species, not just the common name
- Ask for a batch or lot number; any serious supplier has one
- Prefer whole herb over powder — powder oxidises far faster and is easier to adulterate
- Cinnamon: specify Ceylon for daily use, not cassia
- If a supplier cannot say where a plant came from, buy elsewhere
Cautions and interactions
- There is nothing for sale on this site. No products, no affiliate links, no commissions, no sponsored content.
- Do not buy a herbal product because a website recommended it, including this one. Check the species, the part and the batch.
- Heavy-metal contamination of herbal material is documented, including in material sold as medicine.
- Powdered herb is easier to adulterate than whole herb — buy whole where you can.
- Cheap imported herbal material is the highest-risk category.
When this is not a self-care problem — get help
- A supplier who cannot name the botanical species or provide a batch number — buy elsewhere.
- A product claiming to treat a serious disease — that is a regulatory red flag as well as a medical one.