Drying Herbs
It’s getting to be harvest season, which means plenty of work around my household trying to preserve some of what we’ve grown. Because of our love for flavorful food, we’ve tried to expand the variety of Herbs around our household over the last several years. Herbs are an excellent way to expand the flavor of those rice and beans we’ve all been stuffing into our long term storage. Those wonderful foods that make up such a major part of our plans will become quite monotonous though, if we cant’ get some flavor variety in them. Now, what is an Herb? Basically it’s a leafy part of a plant that we use for flavor or medicine. This is compared to a Spice, which is pretty much any other part of the plant (bark, seeds, roots, etc). Now, actually growing herbs, and which you want is the subject of another post, today I just want to touch on how to store herbs for later use. At it’s heart, an herb is useful because of the oils contained inside. These “Essential Oils” are inside the plant, and are exposed whenever the tissue is damaged, such as when chopped, or crumbled. With this in mind, you need to figure out the best way to not lose the oils, nobody wants dry flakes of tastelessness.
Harvest
Herbs can be many different types of plants. Some are annuals, others perennial. Some can be fickle growers (we’ve never had good luck with rosemary :( ), while others will take over your garden (Mint, Feverfew), so harvesting can be different for each one. There are some things that are common to them all though. First, try not to harvest while the plants are wet (after watering, rain, or in the morning). Not only can the cuttings quickly go bad, but it can also promote disease among your plants. Send any bad leaves (bugs, dead, etc) directly to the compost so they don’t accidentally make it into your food. Once cut, then you will want to wash your harvest, getting it as clean as you can before using one of the storage methods.
Air Drying
Some plants have enough oil, and structure that you can dry the plant, and use it dry for up to a year before losing flavor. Many of these you probably have already bought at the store in that form (though who knows how long they were sitting there).
- Sage
- Mints
- Lemongrass
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Dill
- Bay Leaves
- Feverfew
- Tarragon
Freezing
Due to reasons such as moisture content, some herbal plants lose too much of their flavor when dried (garlic chives come out tasting worse than my lawn, I tried). But not all is lost, you can freeze several herbs with good results. When freezing, remember to dry thoroughly, then simply put into a plastic bag, label it, and you are good.
- Basil
- Parsely
- Cilantro
- Chives
Storage
Dried herbs are best kept in tins/jars easily accesible for cooking. Remember, after a year, the oils will disperse, and you will end up with semi-flavorless ‘stuff’, much like the overpriced junk you often find in the grocery store. Of course unless you are processing vast amounts of herbs, it shouldn’t be hard to keep that in an easy rotation given the excellent flavor it adds to your food.
More Information
List of Herbs (wikipedia) with pages explaining each one International Herb Association Herb Society of America Your Backyard Herb Garden: A Gardener’s Guide to Growing Over 50 Herbs Plus How to Use Them in Cooking, Crafts, Companion Planting and More 
The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs 
Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)