Drying Herbs

My herb garden is seriously in need of pruning. I mean, the herbs are everywhere. With the garden flourishing and I cannot possibly use all the herbs… and neither can all my neighbors. But I have a plan… one that will benefit my friends and family, hint, hint, for the holiday season.

So to capture some of the summer flavor in the middle of winter, I am going to take bunches of oregano

Dill

Rosemary

Thyme

And Sage. 

Other herbs will be gathered and dried with a dehydrator…a later blog post.

To harvest herbs:

1.    Cut healthy branches
2.   Remove any dry or diseased leaves.
3.   Rinse with water and pat dry.
4.   Remove lower leaves from branches
5.   Bundle several stems together with string
6.   Place bundles in a cool dry place, about two weeks.
7.  Check to see if the herbs crumble easily.

Once dry, I crumble them into four oz. canning jars and label. To store, I found a nice cool place for them. 

Voila, herbs harvested and little hostess gifts ready for the holiday. In addition, dried herbs should only last one year, so you should clean out your pantry from any old herbs.