I think herbs are one of the greatest secrets in delicious food and I especially love cooking with our home grown herbs as they don’t have any harmful chemical sprayed all over them. In general, herbs are pretty easy to grow yourself even if you’re not the gardener type or space is an issue. They are pretty hardy plants that don’t need lots of attention and there is probably a herb that grows well in every type of soil, weather or location. You can also easily grow herbs in pots or indoors if space is your problem.
All that
said, growing your own herbs is great, but what about when herbs die back? (most
herbs are annuals and die back for part of the year). This is exactly why
drying herbs is so important, when you dry them you can use them all year
round. Today I'm going to share with you my family's secret to
easily drying your own herbs.
What you
will need:
- Scissors
- A big Paper
or Breathable bag
- String
- Gardening
shears or secateurs
Firstly trim
your herb plant, cutting off larger sections (see picture below) Note: if your
plant is smaller make the sections small, you don’t want to kill your plant
either.
Gather your
branches together and tie them altogether at their bases
Put your
tied branches into your paper/breathable bag, (I used a reusable shopping bag which you can buy at Coles or Woolworths) Put your branches in upside down so the tied ends stick out of the top. Then tie your branches to the handles of your bag
making sure that your branches are not squished together and against the
bottom (your herbs need good ventilation to dry properly and not go mouldy).
Next, find a
dry, out of the way place with lots of ventilation to hang your bag. The bag is to catch the herbs as they dry and
fall, as well as keeping everything tidy.
Depending on
what type of herb you dry and whether it’s summer or winter weather will make a difference on how long it takes
for the herbs to dry, so check them every now and then to see if they are dried
out. When you are sure they are dry (the leaves crush easily in your hands) you can
simply store your herbs in an air tight container or you can put them into a
blender or food processor to make your herbs finer and easier to blend with
other flavours.
I hope you
found this helpful, I know it has turned drying herbs in our family from a long
chore to a quick and simple task therefore we now enjoy so many more delicious herbs
in our cooking!
God Bless,
