Drying Herbs

One of the easiest things to produce, harvest, and store are herbs! I haven't purchased Oregano in at least 7 years because it loves growing in my backyard and it is very easy to dry.

You want to harvest your herbs early in the day after the dew has dried, but before the sun has zapped all the essential oils away. Cut the stems fairly low to the ground shake 'em off to get rid of bugs or grass/other weeds that have snuck in. If you want, you can swirl the stems in a sink full of water quickly, then shake each stem off and get ready to dry.

Actually, all herbs are easy to dry even without a food dehydrator (Which is a worthwhile piece of equipment for the homesteader- I've found 2 of them at garage sales for under 5$).  In the past I've used rubber bands looped around the base of a handful of stems and hung them from the ceiling in a dark, dry place (the garage, a closet, bedroom...).

If you use the garage you may want to cover the bundle in a paper lunch sack with holes poked in it to keep garage dust and smells off of your herbs.

I just found a way to make it even easier... Use binder clips!

All you have to do is line up the base of the stems and then using one of the larger clips, clip them together. It has a handy loop that makes it easy to hang on a hook.

Let the bundle hang for a week or two depending on the humidity. The leaves will look dry and shrively. When you can pinch a leaf and it crumbles instead of squishes the herbs are dry and ready for storage.

I use a clean gallon ice cream bucket to de-stem my herbs. The wide container and the lid makes it ideal  for this.

Simply pinch the base of the stem in one hand while holding it over the tub.

With your other hand pinch the stem close to your first hand and slowly pull your hand down the stem allowing the leaves to fall into the bucket and the stem to be set aside for the compost bin.

The best places to store herbs long-term is uncrushed, in a glass jar, in a dark cupboard.

 Sunlight will deteriorate the color and the essential oils in the herbs. Keeping the leaves uncrushed will also preserve the flavor. I rub the herbs between my hands as I need them in my cooking to crush. Use within a year.

Enjoy!