Drying and Storing Herbs

If you haven’t been drying and storing herbs for use all winter long, you still have time!  Now’s the time to start, while herbs are still putting out new leaves (although barely) and it’s not cold enough out to damage them. (At this point, I’d hurry and cut some herbs to dry now.  As in, right now.  What are you waiting for?!)

I hang my fresh-cut herbs from the beam that divides my kitchen and family room.  I usually cut such large branches branches that I don’t need bundle them, but smaller branches can be loosely bound together with some jute twine for easy hanging.  The idea is to hang them in a dry place that has good ventilation, away from direct sunlight.  Note: It is not necessary to wash your herbs first, unless they are visibly dirty.

Once completely dry (it can take a few weeks), store the dried herbs in any kind of resalable container.  I like mason jars, but since I’m a spice-dropper (okay, I'm an everything-in-the-kitchen dropper), I use plastic containers, like Gladware or even Ziplock plastic bags.  This year I tried Ball freezer jars (for jam), which have screw-on plastic tops and are BPA free.  These seem like they’ll do a much better job of keeping my herbs fresh.  Or, fresh-er, since they’ll never be as fresh as they were the day I picked them from the garden.

I don’t know about you, but I love reaching into my spice cabinet during the winter months and pulling out herbs that I grew and dried myself.  I remember growing the plants and feel proud that I'm using what I've grown.  Drying my own herbs is resourceful and self-sufficient, easy to do and just tastes better.  There’s no good reason not to dry your own!