Colleen Vanderlinden
DCL
For the last few years, I have finally put effort into growing and maintaining an herb garden. I had always grown basil, mint, and parsley, but I finally went beyond plunking herbs in wherever I could find room and actually planted a nice little herb garden. In addition to my beloved basil and parsley, we're now growing chives, garlic chives, oregano, thyme, rosemary, borage, lemon balm, and sage. My cooking has been vastly improved as a result!
After living and cooking with herbs, I was not at all thrilled with the idea of spending all winter without them (or paying hefty prices for them at the grocery store.) I grow a few herbs on my kitchen windowsill, but that isn't really enough to get us through the winter. So I make a point of cutting and preserving my herbs before frost hits them. There are two easy methods I use: drying and freezing.
Any garden herb will work well with either of these methods, though some work better with one method than the other. Start by cutting stems from herbs that haven't started to bloom - herbs that have bolted generally won't taste as good. Wash and dry them well, then you're ready to start preserving.
Drying Herbs
You can dry your herbs two ways. The first way is to air dry them. The most common way to do this is to bundle the stems, and wrap them tightly with a rubber band. Insert the herb bundles in a brown lunch bag with holes punched in it (or use cheesecloth) and hang them in a cool, dry place until they are dry. It can take several days, but when they are dry, just remove the leaves from the stems and store them out of direct sunlight. Another way to air-dry them is to set them out on screens and let them dry that way.
The second method is to use a dehydrator, which is very simple and a bit faster than regular air drying.
Don't dry herbs in the microwave. I've seen this advice, and all you usually get from the process is burnt herbs.
Herbs that Dry Well:
- Basil
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
- Mint
- Tarragon
- Lemon Balm
- Dill
Freezing Herbs
While dried herbs are great, the method I prefer is freezing. It's very easy, and the herbs seem to retain more flavor and taste fresher than dried herbs. Chives in particular are pretty flavorless when dried, but freeze very well. Basil can turn black when you freeze it, but it will still taste fabulous. If you want your basil to stay green, consider making pesto from it and freezing the pesto in an ice cube tray so that you can use it later.
To freeze herbs, simply lay herbs in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray or plate and place in the freezer. When they are firm, place them in a labeled freezer bag or storage container and store them in the freezer.
As you can see, it's simple to preserve summer's herbal bounty. You should use dried or frozen herbs within a year. But I can't imagine keeping herbs around for that long without using them!
