Culinary Herb Images
The culinary herb, basil, is a tender annual used in much Mediterranean cooking
Culinary Thyme is a small perennial shrub. Its tiny leaves add flavor to meats and poultry.
Sage has the strongest flavor of all culinary herbs.
Oregano, a sprawling perennial herb, is a familiar ingredient in Mediterranean cooking.
Start Growing Herbs for Your Kitchen
We all use herbs in the kitchen in our cooking and baking. Almost every recipe calls for a pinch of this or a sprig of that herb. If you love cooking as much as I do, you will definitely agree that fresh herbs, just picked from the garden, have much better flavor than commercially dried and bottled ones.
Herbs are quite easy to grow, can thrive in most soils (excepting soggy ones), and will not take up much space. Why not plant a collection of herbs, just for kitchen use, either in their own special garden, or in containers just outside the kitchen door. You will use them more often if they are close by. Choose a spot with about six hours of sun, and near a source of water. Plant the herbs you use most often in your cooking, and soon you will be picking fresh herbs all summer.
If you are a beginner, you can start with purchased plants, although many herbs are easy to start from seed. Farmers markets and roadside stands, as well as nurseries are all good sources. Buy enough to get you started, and include your favorites for different combinations of herbs for your kitchen creations. Include annuals like dill, coriander and basil, and perennials such as thyme, oregano, sage and chives. Parsley, a biennial, is a must have herb as well.
These can be potted up in containers, or put directly into the garden space close by the kitchen. There are certain advantages to growing herbs in containers. If you don’t have the garden space, you can keep your herbs on a patio, plant them in a windowbox, or keep them on a sunny windowsill in your kitchen. They will be easy to move around for the best light, it will be easy to water and feed them, and they will be right at hand for use. Perennial kitchen herbs will, however, grow better planted directly into a garden. Know the growing conditions best for each herb, and its mature height and spread before you plant.
You can also integrate cooking herbs into your flower or vegetable beds if you can not find space for a herb garden near your kitchen door. Many culinary herbs, such as variegated sage, thyme and parsley make attractive additions to your landscaping. However, if you are going to use them in cooking, never use pesticides or chemical fertilizers on or near them. For this reason alone, culinary herbs are best located in their own area.
Most herbs have the best flavor just before they flower, so keep using and pinching off the growing tips of your kitchen herbs. This will delay flowering and also encourage the plants to branch out and grow more full. If the plants do decide to flower, then just cut the whole plant back by about a third, and this will encourage new foliage growth. And, start using them more!
For best flavor, harvest your kitchen herbs just before flower buds open, when the concentration of essential oils is highest. This is especially important if you are harvesting to dry them for the winter. Whether you are going to dry them, or use them fresh, pick them in early morning, after dew has dried, but before the sun warms them and disperses the essential oils.
Eight Essentials for Your Perennial Herb Garden
Like all plants, herbs can be either annuals, biennials or perennials. Perennial herbs are among the most popular herbs for herb gardeners, since they grow for several years. Plant your perennial herbs in their own garden space near the back door where they are in easy reach for cooking. You will also enjoy their fragrance on a hot summer day when their essential oils disperse with the sun’s heat.
Perennial herb gardens will give you an inexpensive and fresh supply of many herbs. Eight of the best culinary ones that come back every year are mint, Greek oregano, thyme, chives, winter savoury, rosemary, sage and French tarragon.
Mint can be an invasive plant, but if you plant it in a bucket or bottomless container sunk in the ground, you can contain it somewhat. It has pretty purple flower on a small spike, and exudes a fresh smell. Its strong flavor complements lamb, peas, fish sauces, chocolate and vegetables. The leaves, harvested fresh, make a refreshing tea, or you can cut the stalks and hang them to dry for winter use.
Oregano may not over winter well in cold climates, but if you cut it back in fall and shelter it with straw, it will often rejuvenate in spring. It’s strong sage-like flavor is used in Mediterranean cooking, especially tomato dishes. Prune it back regularly, as it tends to sprawl, with the stems rooting where they touch soil. Hang your pruned stem in bunches to dry, as dried oregano retains good flavor.
Culinary thyme is a small shrub with tiny aromatic flavorful leaves. Use it with most meats, in soups and sauces, stews, stuffings, and even in breads. It likes a sunny spot, and needs clipping back in spring to encourage new growth.
Thyme has attractive flowers, so can be a good addition to a path border or garden edging. Use it fresh or cut the sprigs before flowering, and hang them to dry. Rub the dry leaves from the stems and store them in a cool, dry, airtight container.
Chives are part of the onion family, and the green hollow spears add a mild onion flavor to salads, eggs, sauces, vegetables and dips. Just snip off the leaves as needed. They are easily started from seed, and will soon expand to a clump of bulbs and tops. Thin the clumps every three years for best growth. Chives will die down in late fall, and in spring, the new green shoots are often the first green in the garden. Chives do not dry well, but it is easy to pot up a small clump to grow indoors in winter.
Winter savoury is a bushy hardy perennial with a peppery flavor. It can be used to flavor teas, herb butters and herb vinegars as well as other dishes. Winter savoury does best in drier medium soil, since that is its natural habitat. As the shrub ages, the leaves become sparser, so take cuttings and start new plants every three years or so. This herb has been used for hundreds of years, and has some medicinal qualities as well.
Rosemary can grow into a lovely shrub, with its needle-like leaves and tiny blue flowers. It is hardy only in zones 8 – 10, but can easily be grown in a container and over wintered in a cool sunny greenhouse or enclosed porch. It has a very pungent scent and flavor, so can easily overpower a dish. Use it with roast chicken and meats, and in stews. Finely chopped leaves make a nice addition to breads and biscuits. Dry it for winter use, or just put fresh sprigs in freezer bags and freeze it.
Sage has a strong bitter flavor, and is generally used in stuffings, stews, sausages and herb breads. A little sage goes a long way in cooking.
It comes in many colorful varieties, and as a small shrub, can be planted around the garden as an attractive filler plant. It will grow in most climates, and if cut back severely in fall, will come back well next spring. It also can be dried, and the dried herb retains its full strong flavor.
French Tarragon has slender green leaves with a licorice aroma and a loose shrubby growth. It cannot be grown from seed, but you can take cuttings from the new growth in fall to start new plants. Its licorice flavor makes it an interesting addition to vinegars, fish dishes, poultry and vegetables. Freshly cut tarragon will last for several weeks in the refrigerator.
Before you plan your perennial garden, research each herb to familiarize yourself with the best growing conditions and soil type. You can grow them in containers, but most perennial herbs prefer a permanent position in the garden. Decide which ones you will actually use in cooking, teas or herbal preparations. Your perennial herb garden will supply you with both fresh and dried herbs to enjoy for many more years.
Designs for Your Herb Garden
Many questions come to mind when thinking about how to design a herb garden.
The first question to answer is where to put the garden. Look out your kitchen window for inspiration. You probably already trek back and forth between the herbs and the kitchen every day of the growing season. You can cut that trekking down by siting your garden near the kitchen door. You will need a sunny spot with good air circulation and easy access to water.
Next, consider how much time you have to devote to maintenance. This will determine how big the garden is, whether to make it formal or informal, and what kind of plants to use. Your gardening budget plays a big part in this, as well. If you’re new to herb gardening, it will be easiest to design, plant, and maintain a small space. A 6 to 8 foot square or round garden will be plenty large to begin.
Designing a Formal Garden
Formal herb gardens are geometric, usually subdivided into symmetrical spaces by gravel or brick paths or low hedges. Herbs are planted in the spaces, with a pattern in mind. You can grow a different culinary, fragrance or medicinal herb in each section, or perhaps plant herbs of a single color in each space. Your garden shape could be circular, diamond, a square within a square, or shaped like a wheel.
Imagination, and planning are essential in designing a formal garden. A formal herb garden should be planned out on graph paper. It should be 6 feet square or larger. For inspiration, find patterns of knot gardens in herb books. A formal herb garden is best planned as a feature or centerpiece of your main garden, or as a stand-alone feature. A piece of garden sculpture such as a fountain, a statue or a sundial can be used to create a focal point with herbs and flowers encircling it.
Informal Gardens
Most herb gardens seem to be very informal, and the herbs sprawl and creep all over the place. They are a little bit untamed, but this makes for a nice mix of textures, foliage and flower color, and plant heights. A little bit of planning goes a long way, so do pay attention to the mature spread and heights of your herbs. You don’t want that rampant mint to choke out your chives, or the tall rosemary bush to shade your sun-loving basil.
Pay some attention to foliage – plant some fuzzy gray-green herbs among the green or some ferny-leafed ones with the broad-leafed ones. This will make your garden more visually interesting. As you gain experience, you’ll see just where to add a sage here or a chive there. Mix it up!
Your can plant your herbs as a theme garden devoted to culinary uses, potpourri mixes, or tea herbs. Other types of theme gardens concentrate on bloom color, an all white garden or one with only shades or purple, yellow, red. You could go with themes around use of herbs: one for Italian cooking herbs, or herbs just for enhancing health, or edible flowers and salad herbs.
If you live in a hot dry area, consider planting Mediterranean herbs such as lavender, thyme, sage, rosemary and artemisia. If your yard has more shade than sun, suitable herbs would be any of the mints, valerian, foxglove, sweet cicely, sweet woodruff, angelica, and lady’s mantle. If you are planning to grow annuals and perennials, group all annuals together to make taking care of them easier.
Low growing herbs are especially suitable for rock gardens. Make your rockery with local rocks you’ve placed and dig them in so they look as natural as possible. Plant low herbs among them. Start with chives, Roman chamomile, bush basil, dwarf oregano, dwarf sage, winter savory and the creeping or upright thymes. Prostrate rosemary, golden marjoram, lady’s mantle, parsley, and saffron crocus are good rock garden plants as well. Throw in a few marigold and calendula seeds for color.
These are some ideas for planning and designing your herb garden. Study photos of herb gardens in herb books, look them up on the internet. See what catches your eye, and what you draw away from. Then think about what types of herbs you ill use, where you can locate them, and how far your budget will stretch, and have some fun. This will be an investment of your time, imagination, space and money that will repay you for years.
Leaves to Brew – Growing Tea Herbs
What could be more invigorating than filling your teapot with a blend of fresh herbs, and enjoying an early morning cup of herbal tea from your own tea herb garden! Each day you could make a different brew – citrus flavored lemony herbs like lemon verbena and lemon balm, refreshing peppermint or spearmint, a tonic of sage and yarrow flower. The combinations are endless, if you grow your own tea herbs.
You’ll find your blends vary with the seasons. Summer teas may include lemon or cinnamon basil, along with tender pineapple sage and a bit of scented geranium. The pushy mint plants will provide you with zesty leaves spring, summer and fall. In winter, you can use your dried herbs and still enjoy your favorite blends.
Your home grown herbal teas have several benefits. First, they are fresh, and grown free of pesticides and other chemicals routine used in commercial growing and processing. They cost next to nothing, beyond the initial cost of the seeds or starter plants. And you can grow a variety of herbs for tea, giving you an unlimited number of tea blends to enjoy.
Herbal teas are mainly made from leaves, but can include some flowers or seeds. Calendula flowers, rose petals and spikes of lavender can be used. Seeds from dill, along with chive flower heads can make a bouillon-type tea along with parsley and savoury leaves.
Some of the easiest tea herbs to grow are:
Mint – This cooling and refreshing plant, with several varieties will need restraining in your garden, since they’re rapid runners. The active ingredients act on the digestive system, helping with nausea, cramps and abdominal pains. Choose 3 or more varieties, such as spearmint, apple mint, peppermint, pineapple mint and ginger mint, and plant them in a half-barrel. In fall, cut and dry the leafy stalks for winter teas.
Chamomile – Sprinkle some chamomile seeds on any soil, and you’ll have chamomile forever. Harvest the flowers for teas, either as buds or full blooms, and dry them. Be careful not to over-steep the tea, as it will get bitter. Chamomile blends well with spearming or lemon balm.
Bergamot – This decorative herb, often grown for its gorgeous color, requires moist fertile soil. Use the leaves in blends with other herbs, or even with black tea.
Roses – Not usually though of as a tea herb, the hip or rose fruit is often brewed for tea. Rugosa or wild roses make the best teas. Dry rosehips by cutting them in half and scooping out the seeds and fibers. Once dried, you can pulverize the hard hips in the blender. They can also be used fresh, as can rose petals.
Lemon Herbs – Three lemon-scented and flavored herbs add a citrus tang to your herb teas. They are lemon balm, lemon verbena and lemon grass. The first two are perennials, and can be used fresh or dried. Lemon grass is a tropical plant, and can be grown in a container. Just a few spears make a mild and delicious lemony tea.
Most herbal teas will be steeped longer than black tea, but you will have to experiment, since taste varies from herb to herb. Some, like sage and rosemary are stronger and more bitter, while lemon balm and anise-hyssop are milder. Teas from garden grown herbs are as varied as your imagination, and a little experimental brewing and sipping will be necessary to find your perfect blends.
Growing Herbs for Profit
You’ve been growing herbs for a while, and suddenly you find yourself thinking about growing herbs for profit. After all, why not make money with something you love? All the gurus tell you to follow your passion, and herb growing is definitely turning out to be a passion.
You don’t have to start out with a retail shop. In fact, it’s probably much better to start out small, and expand as you get comfortable with doing business. There are several ways you can make a profit from your herb passion. So, where to start?
The obvious first choice is to start selling seedlings and herb plants. This is probably the easiest and quickest way to start a business from your hobby. First, consider which herbs you would like to focus on in your new business. Basil, that popular and well-loved culinary herb? Or perhaps an exotic herb that you just can’t find locally.
If you’re growing medicinal herbs for profit, decide which ones people would likely use and buy. Which ones are the easiest to use, and have the most benefits to health? Are there herbs that span two or more categories – used in cooking, for teas, and also with medicinal properties? You may find these more popular.
So how do you actually start selling? Start out with word of mouth advertising – just let people know that you’re starting a small business venture, and that you have home grown organic herb plants for sale. You can also put out flyers locally, or advertise on local bulletin boards.
Many shops and restaurants are happy to accept flyers for local residents. I’ve even seen small roadside stands, made attractive with colorful signs, where people sell their seedlings and other items. Some even do this on the honor system, with a locked box for collecting money! You’ll be pleasantly surprised how honest people are about paying.
If your area has a farmers market or a local flea market, how about taking a day to set up plants and seedlings there. This is a perfect venue – lots of people, expecting to spend just a couple of dollars on something! Remember to have some business cards (you can get these for free on the internet, paying only shipping and handling) and make sure everyone who stops to talk to you gets one.
Start your herb plants in late winter, in flats, and micro-manage them so you have a vigorous and lush crop. A few of weeks before you’re ready to sell, transplant the seedlings into individual pots so they have a chance to settle in. You want to give top quality, as inexpensively as possible, so your customers will come back next season for even more plants… and any new items you’ve expanded to selling!
After all, why not aim for your own herbal empire.
6 Herbs for a Shady Garden
Every yard has a semi-shady corner – somewhere the sun penetrates only for a small part of the day. Perhaps its in the lee of some trees or shrubs, or maybe a boundary fence blocks the sun. Instead of settling for ferns, why not transform these semi-shady spots into a shade herb garden. Although many herbs require full sun, others adapt very well to partial shade. Here are six herbs for semi-shade or shady corners.
Angelica
Angelica will grow to an impressive 3 to 5 feet tall, with large leaves and white flower umbels. If you plant more than one, you’ll need to space them about 3 feet apart, and they may need staking. It is a biennial, so you’ll need to buy a new plant every year or two to have a continual supply. The seeds, leaves and stalks of this plant taste like licorice, and all are edible. Enjoy their sweet flavor in salads, soups and stews. Preserve the stems as candied angelica, which can be eaten or used in jams, stewed fruits, and jellies. It is also used as a flavoring in several liqueurs.
Chervil
Chervil can be mass-planted, and makes a pretty sight with its parsley-like leaves and small white flowers. You can use it as a ground cover around large shrubs or tall herbs like angelica. Stagger your seeding for a continual supply. It will self-seed, but the flavor of the leaves is best before flowering.
Chervil has a delicate anise flavor, and the leaves are good in soups, salads and casseroles, and make a tasty herb butter. It goes well with fish, spring salads, and spring’s first fresh asparagus. Stir chervil into ham and cheese omelets, or sprinkle it over grilled chicken breasts. Use it in dressings for pasta or potato salads. Because of its delicate flavor, its best added at the end of cooking or just sprinkled on fresh.
Lovage
Lovage is another tall herb, growing to 7 feet tall. It resembles a giant celery plant with its hollow stalks and umbels of greenish-yellow flowers. It is a perennial, so plant it in late summer or early fall, and the following year new shoots will appear. It grows best when it has a dormant winter, but may die out in colder areas, so winter mulching may be necessary.
It has a celery-like flavor, and works well in green and potato salads. The leaves can be used to flavor soups, casseroles, sauces and marinades. It may also be lightly cooked as a green vegetable. The seeds can be used like celery seeds.
Mints
There are many varieties of mints, and all can be recognized by their square stems. They all have a fragrant foliage, and are great for teas, jellies and cold drinks. These perennials like partial shade and lots of moisture, and you’ll find that in the right spot, they’ll spread voraciously. To avoid being over-run with mint, plant it in a bottomless bucket or have a bed just for mint.
Shear mint back two or 3 times a year to encourage the best tasting leaves. At the end of the growing season, prune back the mint plants and cover the area with a bit of mulch. Mint can be dried and stored in airtight containers for later use, or even used in potpourris and homemade bath products.
Parsley
Parsley is probably the world’s most used herb. It is a storehouse of nutrients, and if you only use it as a garnish, you’re missing out. Here are a few ideas for using it:
- Combine chopped parsley with bulgur wheat, chopped green onions (scallions), mint leaves, lemon juice and olive oil to make the Middle Eastern classic dish, tabouli.
- Add parsley to pesto sauce to add more texture to its green color.
- Combine chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest, and use it as a rub for chicken, lamb and beef.
- Use parsley in soups and tomato sauces.
- Serve a colorful salad of fennel, orange, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and parsley leaves.
- Chopped parsley can be sprinkled on a host of different recipes, including salads, sauteed vegetables and grilled fish.
Italian parsley is the best choice for intense flavor. It’s the one with flat leaves and a looser growth habit than the curly-leaf variety. This biennial can take full sun or partial shade, and grows well in ordinary soil. The seeds are slow germinators, so you may want to purchase your plants.
Tarragon
French tarragon has an untidy scraggly look. It is a low growing plant with narrow leaves on drooping stems. Either full sun or partial shade will suit it, as long as the soil is rich and well-drained. French Tarragon rarely blooms and even if it does, the seeds are sterile, so you’ll need to buy a starter plant. The leaves have a licorice flavor, and when you’re buying plants, break off a leaf and rub it to make sure you are getting the true French tarragon.
It has a very intense flavor, so use it sparingly at first, until you’re used to it. It’s a suberb culinary herb to use in sauces, soups, salads and herbal vinegars.
Cooking With Herbs
Are you one of those gardeners who says, “I grow a lot of herbs, but don’t really use them very much. Sure, I make pesto, but I’m really not sure which herb goes with what”.
Many of us are like that – not very adventurous in our cooking; reverting to our old standbys in the kitchen. Instead we tend to have a revolving repertoire of dishes we cook with little thought… roast on Sunday, shepherd’s pie on Tuesday, spaghetti on Friday, and so on.
But our palates welcome a change! There is no simpler way to add variety to your meals than adding a few fresh herbs. Most cookbooks have recipes with a variety of dishes that require herbs, or simply Google any herb, and you’ll find recipes online easily.
One way to become more familiar with herbs is to just add them to the foods you already prepare. Add snips of fresh chives to your omelet or scrambled eggs. Blend parsley or chervil into cottage cheese or cream cheese, or make your own salad dressing with oregano, garlic and basil and add it to salads. Add some fresh thyme and savory to your soup pot or stew. Use that pesto with your pasta, jazz up those mashed potatoes with some chopped parsley and chives.
In cooking with herbs, a little goes a long way. Use culinary herbs sparingly – they’re meant to enhance the natural flavor of your food, not overwhelm it. Fresh herbs should be added at the end of a recipe. Gentle heat will release the flavors, but long cooking will often cause the flavor of the herb to be lost or destroyed. See which herbs you prefer with what dish, and experiment with combinations of herbs.
You can also add fresh herbs to cold foods. Add chopped herbs to softened butter, along with a bit of lemon juice, and you’ll have a delicious herb butter for your bread, biscuits, or even to use in sauces on vegetables. Leafy herbs, such as parsley, chervil, basil or chives are a flavorful addition to your salads. Use herbs to make a marinade for meat or poultry, along with wine, vinegar and oil, and marinate overnight in the refrigerator, thus adding flavor and tenderizing.
Homemade salad dressings are far superior to commercial versions. Make them yourself, and cut calories while adding flavor. And there are no ‘long chemical name’ additives. Just shake oil, vinegar and your minced herbs together and let it infuse for 30 minutes before you serve it. You can also add crushed garlic, capers, or spices for even more flavor. Make enough for one use, as home made dressings will last for just a couple of days in the refrigerator.
Here are some other ideas for using herbs in your cooking:
- Rub fresh herbs like marjoram or lemon basil into poultry or fish before grilling.
- Add fresh dill or basil to mayonnaise or cream cheese for a special spread.
- Try herb and cheese combinations in your omelets, such as parmesan and basil or feta and dill.
- Knead in a teaspoon full of chopped herbs such as rosemary, sage or oregano in your bread dough or biscuit dough.
- Make a salt substitute with freshly dried and ground herbs mixed with black pepper and a bit of salt.
- Stuff your roast chicken with a bundle of thyme, rosemary and sage, along with several garlic cloves.
The best way to learn how to use culinary herbs is to grow them! A windowsill stocked with special herbs in pots, or a fragrant herb garden just outside your kitchen door will will be your best inspiration for culinary success.
Growing your own herbs will provide you with just what you require for that extra ’something’ that will spice (or should I say, herb) up your cooking. Yes, fresh herbs can turn any everyday dish into a journey of discovery for your taste buds.
Herbal Healing Plants
Herbal healing plants can provide a safe, healthy complement or alternative to treat various aliments and diseases, or just enhance your quality of life. However, there are some things that you should keep in mind before you use them. Herbal medicinal plants, just like pharmaceuticals, should always be treated with caution and respect. While they are more natural than processed drugs, they still share a lot of the components found in over the counter medications.
Many healing herbs, such as thyme, are easy grow and care for, and can be used for home remedies. Another healing herb is oregano, which can be used for home remedies as well as for cooking. This will transform your garden into a multipurpose venure, allowing you to get the most ‘bang for your buck’ with the plants you grow.
When you are planning which herbal healing plants to grow, keep these points in mind. First, always label each plant, or map your herb garden, so you know exactly which plant is which in your garden. Some plants may have poisonous components, so these should be clearly labeled and kept out of the reach of children and pets. Many useful herbs have poisonous components, so this is very important.
In addition , keep detailed notes on how your herbal plants should be processed for use. It’s not as simple as just eating them to get benefit from them. You will need to dry the leaves or steep them as teas, make them into tincures, ointments or poultices in order to release their medicinal properties. Learn how to make these preparations, and how to use them safely and properly.
In some cases, the flowers and berries are what you will preserve and use for medicinal purposes. It is especially vital that you handle these types of plants with care, as these types of plants may have poisonous components.
There are some ailments and diseases that herbal medicine plants can help treat. Ranging from the common cold, sleep disorders, fatigue, negating pregnancy symptoms and relieving more lethal ailments such as cancers, these herbs can help improve your quality of life. They can also be used to promote healthier weight, as well as assist your system’s ability to digest food and rid itself of waste.
If you have any concerns over the use of herbal medicine plants, please consult your pharmacist or local herbalist.
Using and Preserving Herbs From a Home Herb Garden
Your home herb garden has grown and flourished. You’re excited and ready to start using these fragrant herbs you have chosen to grow. You will gain the most flavor and fragrance from your herbs by following certain harvesting rules.
Timing the harvest is the first important factor in using herbs from your home herb garden. Both the wind and the heat of the sun can disperse the essential oils of the herb plants. Choose a calm dry morning for the best harvest of your herbs. Herbs produce fewer oils on extremely wet days. Harvest the herbs after the dew has dried, but before the flowers open.
Never take more than one third of the plant’s foliage at one time, and take it from the growing tips. This will encourage new growth, so you’ll have a constant supply of flavorful foliage. You can use the herbs immediately, or preserve them for future use. This is a good time to inspect the plant for insects and damaged leaves.
Herbs are typically preserved in one of three ways: drying, freezing, or preserving them in a medium like salt, oil or vinegar.
Drying:
To dry herbs, cut fairly long stems, and remove any foliage from the base of the stems. Bundle six to twelve stems together and tie it with string. Hang the bundle in a cool location away from sunlight. When the leaves are dry and crisp, remove them from the stems and store them in a jar away from light.
You can also dry individual leaves by placing them on a screen or a rack, and turning them often. You can use dehydrators, ovens or microwaves to dry herbs but the end product is less satisfactory. Oregano and thyme are best preserved by drying.
Freezing:
Freezing herbs is a fairy simple way to preserve herbs. Cut the herbs into ¼ inch pieces and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Once the herbs are frozen, you can place them together in a bag and store them in the freezer until use. Delicate herbs such as parsley and chives are best preserved by freezing.
Another interesting way is to chop the fresh herbs, blend them with a small amount of water, and freeze the herbal paste in ice cube trays. This is an efficient way to have herbal ice cubes to add to your soups, sauces or stews.
Preserving:
The third way to preserve herbs is through a medium. For instance, you can cover herbs like chopped mint, basil or tarragon with vinegar or oil and it will be preserved for several months. My e-book, Secrets of Successful Herb Gardening describes this in detail.
Another way is to use salt to preserve herbs by alternating layers of fresh herbs between salt. When the herbs are completely dry, separate the brown herb from the flavored salt and store it in an airtight container.
When you use herbs fresh from the garden, clean them before you use them by placing them in a bowl filled with cool water (or for a large quantity of herbs you can use the sink). Place about two tablespoons of salt in the water. The salt in the water will get rid of any insects. Gently swish the herbs, then remove them and pat them dry between towels.
Each different type of herb has their own use, method of harvest, and ways to prepare them for use. Read up on the specific type of herb you are using to use it correctly, and you’ll have much enjoyment from your home herb garden.
