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The qualities of healing herbs depend on many things: cultivation, harvesting, storage, selection, discernment of quality, and the different processing methods used. Processing healing herbs is done to increase potency. For instance, an herb can be decorated or made into a medicinal herb tea to draw out the medicinal qualities; substances can be sliced to increase the surface area and potency, or alcohol can be used to extract the volatile oils.
Many healing herbs have an Oriental origin. Herbology evolved into the art of using healing herbs in China through observation and usage. This knowledge was compiled and passed down for refinement through the centuries. Chinese herbs, like everything else in Chinese medicine, are classified according to their energetic qualities and functions. They are defined with terms like warming, cooling, tonifying or purging which describes the overall energetic configuration of the herb. Many people are interested in natural herbs that can be gardened. Growing herbs can be difficult due to very specific organic farming methods, but a simple method is propagating the herb cuttings. Other well-known herbs are Chinese herbs. These healing herbs come from sources such as: animal, bark, branch, bulb, cryptic, flower, fruit, insect, leaf, marine, mineral and resin, root and seed. Most gardeners are interested in herbs because of their wide range of uses in cooking. Natural herbs, because of their strong flavors, are generally used in small quantities. Parsley, produced in the largest amount, is used mostly as garnish. Next in popularity is sage. Other popular natural herbs include chives, thyme, savory, marjoram, mint and basil.
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