Herbs in the Garden and kitchen

To begin to have your own home grown fresh herbs there are a few things you should know.
1) What herbs you want to grow
2) How and when to harvest them
3) How to store them once harvested
4) How to use them.

Simple steps sure...but so very important. Some herbs can be harvested often some can't. Some have edible flowers others don't. It is good to know before you even prepare the soil and buy the seeds the basic in's and out's of Herbs.

These little beauty's I bought just for my herbs. They have slits to aid in removing the leaves. They come apart for easy cleaning or even to use to chop up the herbs a little. The scissors are laying on a mesh back like you would use for delicates in your laundry. These are great bags to dry your herbs in. In fact it is all I use....they allow for great air flow but keep them contained. I have them hanging in my laundry room.

Some herbs though are best dried in a brown paper bag though so be sure to read up on them first.

Now to store my herbs I chose these small canning jars. I wanted to be able to see the herbs but be able to store them well. So far all the herbs that I have grown and harvested I dried them and put into their own jar.



To harvest most herbs you just simply need to snip the stem. If you are using them fresh like say Parsley or Dill then just snip the leaves. If you are going to dry them I have found it best to snip the stem.



Drying your herbs:

Make sure you have a fairly cool and dry place to hang them. Some can be hung just as themselfs in a bunch. Most I have are like that but I prefer the mesh zipper laundry bags so that as they are drying if the leaves fall off I don't loose em. The drying process can take a few days up to a few weeks. It depends on the weather, where you are hanging them, and well it depends on how they feel.



So how do you know if they are dry? Actually it is pretty easy to tell. Can you break the stem? Not bend it...break it. if so then they are ready. Still not sure? Well try using 2 fingers to slide down the stem past some leaves. If the leaves fall off then you are good to go. If not give it another day or 2.



Once you know they are truly dry I like to use a paper plate to de stem the leaves. WARNING these leaves have a mind of their own and will go everywhere.....a big paper plate it best.



For some herbs like mint just remove the leaves and then place in a sealable jar. Try not to crush the leaves to much. When you use these to cook you crush them at that time and the flavor is stronger. Basil can go either way. I crush some and I don't others. Just depends on how I feel that day.



To take the leaves off you can use just your fingers as they fall right off or you can use scissors like the ones I got. They do work good but sometimes it is just much faster to use your hands.



Here is my Mint all dried, and off the stem. Some is crushed...just a natural part of being in a jar and more put on top. But it's no big deal as it still packs a powerful punch of flavor and smell when used.

More herb and veggie post to come soon....keep a look out for them.