Farming for Dummies

[plumtreeblossom]

I have herbs in the planter ready for harvest, but I don't know the first thing about how to properly dry them, particularly in this humid weather. I know about hanging herbs, but I wonder if they'll just rot and mold in the humidity. Should I own a food dryer?

Comments

[minkrose]

Andy says he doesn't know much either, but leaving them hanging in direct sunlight might combat the humidity. This seems relatively logical to me.

[jostajam.livejournal.com]

Some of them you can chop fine and freeze in zip baggies for inclusion in soup later. The freezer method keeps the flavor better than drying. Parsley, cilantro, basil and such lose most of their herby goodness when dried. Cilantro seeds (coriander) are worth saving, and dry all by themselves. If you have basil, another way to preserve it is to make it into pesto and then freeze the pesto.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I never thought of freezing them! I'm going to do that. My parsley really needs to be harvested, and the thyme is overgrowing the container. Thanks for the suggestions!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

It's okay for thyme to overgrow the container, though -- it just makes it look cooler. :)

You can also dry in your oven at the lowest temp, and also in the microwave.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

This morning I discovered that my thyme has flowered. Is that a bad thing?

[ka9sqb.livejournal.com]

Came across this site on preserving herbs:

http://lifehacker.com/5588155/properly-dry-and-store-your-fresh-herbs-for-year-round-flavor

Little more info. I especially liked the wine bags for drying.
anon, Don