Herb series: Drying and Storing Herbs

Ok, let’s keep talking about culinary and medicinal herbs! This is a whole series of posts on herbs on the following topics:

Herb planters
Harvesting & Using Herbs
Drying & Storing Herbs
Salve Making

This time: Drying herbs!

Why dry herbs?
Number one reason is to have herbs available year round. Especially herbs for colds and flus are handy to have at hand in winter time. But also herbs for cooking and especially teas are great to have available in the colder months of the year.

How to dry herbs?
There are many ways how to dry herbs but here is what I do:
Harvest your herbs when it’s dry. If you wash them, dry them gently with a paper towel to make sure they don’t develop mold. Bundle tight enough to hold together when the herbs dries (shrinks). I prefer to use a thin twine so it doesn’t get moldy. Hang upside down in an dark, airy location. If you dry your herbs outside, cover them loosely with a paper bag. Drying frames are another way, especially good for loose leaves. Other methods include dehydrators, microwave or oven which can be researched online. I prefer slow and gentle air drying as it’s less effort/cost and works well.

How to store dried herbs?
Make sure your herbs are dry all the way! They need to be dry enough to crumble easily. If they are tough, don’t store them yet! It needs to dry more to ensure they are not getting moldy and last a long time. Don’t rush things!
I prefer mason jars to plastic but whatever works for you as long as it’s air tight to keep them fresh as long as possible. They will last a long time in a cupboard (dark) if kept away from heat.
What do to with your herbs?

Here is a recipe for tea that works for most herbs:
Bring water to a boil, add a teaspoon of dried herbs or a tablespoon of fresh herbs (or to taste) to a cup, pour the water over and steep for 5 to 10 minutes.

Some tea mixes we like here are the farm:

• 1 part peppermint, 1 part lemon balm, 2 parts bee balm
• 1 part sage, 1 part narrow plantain, 1/2 part chamomile
• 1 part sage, 1 part lemon balm, a few bachelor button pedals

Also: any herb combined with dried fruit. Try peppermint with dried apples!

Most teas are also great when chilled. However, for any medicinal values I prefer hot teas and I also try to inhale some of the steam before drinking the tea.

Other ideas:

Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely chopped dried lavender flowers to your favourite sugar cookie recipe.

Add a mix of dried herbs into broth, stews or soups.

Spice up your butter! Add any dried (or fresh!) herb to your butter. Goes well with steak, chicken or on roasted veggies.

Make your own little sachets for closets or herb pillows. If you are interested in our herb pillows, please click  here.

Stay tuned for the next part of our herb series!

A link to all our herb posts is  here  and recipes on the blog can be viewed  here.

Check out more on herbs we are selling  here.