How to properly collect and dry calendula for the winter - harvesting calendula at home

How and when to collect calendula

Flowering buds of calendula are collected for medical and cosmetic purposes. However, in pharmaceutical preparations you can also find calendula with the addition of leaves and stems. This is mainly done in order to save medicinal raw materials, since it is the inflorescences that have truly medicinal properties. To prepare high-quality raw materials at home, it is better to collect flowers.

Raw materials are harvested during the flowering period of the plant. For calendula, it is quite long and lasts from mid-June to September. It is important to collect strong inflorescences that have just bloomed.

The collection is carried out in dry sunny weather, preferably closer to lunch. This is due to the fact that during these hours the dew will completely disappear even from plants that are located in the shade.

The buds are cut with sharp scissors or torn off by hand.It is important not to damage the basket by tearing off the flower at the very base. It is better not to take contaminated or damaged flowers, since it is strictly forbidden to wash the raw materials before drying.

You need to collect calendula in a container with a wide bottom and, when the container is filled to a maximum of 4 - 5 centimeters, send the flower baskets to dry. In terms of time, you need to start drying no later than 4 hours after collection.

Watch the video from the channel “Alternative Traditional Medicine” - Calendula: properties, application, contraindications

How to dry calendula

It is best to dry the inflorescences naturally, placing them in a single layer on sheets of clean paper or on wire racks. It is strictly forbidden to use newspaper sheets as bedding, since printing ink is quite toxic.

The place for drying should be warm, dry and well protected from exposure to sunlight. You also need to take care of good ventilation of the room. It is convenient to use attics and verandas for drying medicinal preparations.

In the first three days, the buds need to be turned over once a day. If drying is done on racks or meshes, then this step can be skipped.

The total air drying time takes approximately 1.5 weeks.

If weather conditions do not allow calendula to dry naturally, then a modern vegetable and fruit dryer can come to the rescue. The calendula is placed on the dryer racks and the device is turned on to the “Herbs Drying” mode with a heating temperature of 40 degrees. If your dryer does not have a thermostat, and its drying temperature is much higher than this value, then it will not be possible to dry the raw materials efficiently, preserving the maximum amount of useful substances.

Using a gas stove is also highly undesirable, since this unit does not allow strict control of the temperature.

How to determine readiness

Well-dried calendula flowers, when squeezed, crumble into large crumbs. If rubbing the grass between your fingers leads to its grinding into powder, then this indicates that the buds are overdried.

How to store calendula

Dry medicinal raw materials are stored in dry and, preferably, cool rooms. The containers must reliably protect the grass from sunlight. These can be cardboard boxes or dark glass jars.

Calendula retains all its beneficial properties for 1 year, provided it is stored correctly.