My goal in the past two years had been to put up enough dried herbs to carry us through the entire year without having to buy more. The garden had become so abundant, that I am now looking at putting up herbs that will become part of Christmas baskets. I don’t yet have the needed paperwork to offer them for sale, though.
Have you ever tried to dry herbs? It's easier than you would think. There are two basic ways of drying herbs. The first is to tie your herbs in bunches and hang them upside-down in a cool, dry place in your house. After a couple weeks, the herbs will be crisp and ready for you to crush for storage.
The other way is to use a dehydrator and dry them on low. There are some thicker herbs, or ones which woody stems (hello, thyme, yes, that would be you) when I will use the medium setting for at least half the drying time. I avoid “high” for herb drying because I have found that you lose flavor and color at the setting and end up with a burned leaves.
Some people dry them in the microwave or in the oven. I don’t recommended either, especially since I have burned herbs doing both methods. I also don’t like the idea of using a microwave on the organic herbs I spend months carefully tending. Nope. Just, nope. When I haven’t burned my herbs, I still find that the oven and the microwave affect the color and flavor. Again, when you spend so much care raising herbs, it just doesn’t make sense to have a less-than awesome product at the end of the process.
Oregano has been the first herb to be dried this season. It grows quickly and likes to spread out. Since it seems to have decided that the parsley should move, I started cutting stalks on that side of the garden. Parsley is important for ranch salad dressing, and by golly, you don’t mess with the ranch dressing!
Oregano is also a very versatile herb. It goes in broth, soups and stews, tomato sauce and pretty much anything else I’m making on the stovetop. Since we go through it pretty quickly, I tend to put up more of this herb than others.
The stalks are easy to clip; just use your scissors and cut close to the base but above a leaf join – this will encourage the plant to send up two stalks in its place. It's best to clip your herbs in the morning after the dew has and before the day gets hot.I like to carry a cup of water out with me when collecting herbs. This works well especially if you're gathering something like basil or chives, which will quickly wilt or get a little bendy before you're ready to use them in your meal or dry for later.
You want to wash your herbs before you use them. Remember, they came from outside and even if you’re careful to keep them clean, the rain and the birds tend to think differently. Wash tender herbs gently to avoid bruising, since bruises can discolor. Bruises also release the herb’s essential oils (which make them smell so yummy) and cut down on the scent and flavor later.
I prefer to use the gentle swishing method. I place them in a bowl with water and a little bit of vegetable cleaner. Swish them nicely to make sure there's no debris on the leaves and rinse under gently flowing water. Pat them dry and set them aside until you're done.
Once you have washed all your herbs, you wanted to give them one more look over and discard any leaves that are bruised, yellowed or have been chewed on by garden the bugs. Those bruised leaves can go straight into your compost pile.
It’s time to take the oregano apart. Since I try not to dry anything I don’t have to, I clip the stalks apart. The leaves, two large and two or four little ones, grow in joints, so I clip the stem away from the joint and leave the leaves attached to a small bit of stem. Once you've clipped the oregano, spread the leaves and joints on your dehydrator racks.
Herbs will vary in drying time from a few hours to a few days, depending on the herb and the humidity where you live. Oregano takes about 24 hours for me, but that can be as long as 36 if it’s very humid for us.
I check them every so often, at least once every six hours. Usually, I'll check them before retiring for the night and first thing in the morning. Rotate the racks so that the leaves dry evenly. You have to have the herbs nice and dry before you can crush them and put them into storage. Any moisture still in the herbs can make them go sour or become moldy. Neither is a good situation.
Check your herbs for dryness by gently crushing a leaf between your fingers or checking how easily stems break. If you can crush or snap them easily and cleanly, they’re done. If not, close the dryer back up and check again in a few hours.
Once your herbs are dry you can store them in a clean glass jar or give them a nice crushing. Crushed herbs are ready for sprinkling or measuring, but can lose their flavor more quickly than whole herbs, so if you plan to store for more than year, you might want to keep them whole.
I prefer to use the chopper tool for my stick blender for crushing my herbs, but you might want to use your blender or food processor. The old-fashioned way would be to throw them in the mortar and pestle and give them a good swirl until you have crumbled herbs.
Herbs keep their freshness for at least a year, and if they're stored in a dry, dark area they may stay fresh for about two years. After that you'll start to notice a drop-off in flavor. Anytime you open up a jar and the leaves have turned brown and you don't smell the fresh scent, you know that your herbs have gotten too old. They won't give you much flavor for your food. At that point you can add them to your compost pile. They can help the next batch of herbs grow.
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