Do herbs lose their efficacy or potency over time? When is an herb "too old" to do any good?
I bought a bunch of herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs last summer when I got pregnant with the intent of making the "pregnancy tea" from Aviva Romm's Natural Pregnancy book. I ended up miscarrying, and stopped drinking the tea or using the herbs except occasionally.
Now I am pregnant again and making the tea a couple of times a week (really should be doing it every day...). But I'm looking at these big bags of herbs (who knew a 2 pound bag of nettles was THAT big??) and wondering if they are still any good.
I am storing them in the original bags in my garage. They are our of direct sunlight, and they garage is sort of insulated, so they have not frozen but may have gotten hot. I bought them in August 2009, IIRC.
Can someone tell me - Are my herbs still any good, or should I bite the bullet (and the checkbook) and buy new?
ETA: Herbs are Nettle, Oatstraw, Red Clover, RRL, rose hips, alfalfa, and spearmint. I have several ounces left of each, and over a pound of nettles. More than enough to get through the pregnancy, though I might need/want more RRL if I start doing that as a single infusion in the 3rd trimester.
I bought a bunch of herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs last summer when I got pregnant with the intent of making the "pregnancy tea" from Aviva Romm's Natural Pregnancy book. I ended up miscarrying, and stopped drinking the tea or using the herbs except occasionally.
Now I am pregnant again and making the tea a couple of times a week (really should be doing it every day...). But I'm looking at these big bags of herbs (who knew a 2 pound bag of nettles was THAT big??) and wondering if they are still any good.
I am storing them in the original bags in my garage. They are our of direct sunlight, and they garage is sort of insulated, so they have not frozen but may have gotten hot. I bought them in August 2009, IIRC.
Can someone tell me - Are my herbs still any good, or should I bite the bullet (and the checkbook) and buy new?
ETA: Herbs are Nettle, Oatstraw, Red Clover, RRL, rose hips, alfalfa, and spearmint. I have several ounces left of each, and over a pound of nettles. More than enough to get through the pregnancy, though I might need/want more RRL if I start doing that as a single infusion in the 3rd trimester.
But maybe I'll ask around and see if any of my local friends want to buy some at a deep discount. Better than letting them go to waste! It hasn't been quite a year (I can't remember if I bought them in Aug. or Sept. 2009), but I don't see how I can possibly use them up over the summer.
