How To Harvest, Store and Dry Your Own Herbs

I like grow a lot of my own herbs to keep on hand for cooking and even dry them and then make my own seasoning mixes, one in particular my Italian Spice Mix.

Container gardening is my choice of preference for growing my herbs and I like having them right on the patio.  It tends to get so hot in Southwest Arizona I find this works perfect for me and I don't have to worry about the brutal heat of the sun killing them off faster than I can plant them.  

Of course you don't have to grow your own in order to dry herbs, its quite fine purchasing them at your local grocer. I often do that myself for certain herbs that are just to delicate for my climate.

I air dry them by hanging them upside down and tied at the stems with twine.

I will go into more detail in a bit.  While air drying herbs can be a slower process than oven drying, the advantage to air verses oven is air drying will not strip out the natural oils of the herb where the oven method tends to 'cook' them a bit and that takes away flavor.  Basil tends to take longer to dry than most because it is a "moist" plant and holds much more water that the majority of your herbs.

Depending on the herb you are working with this process could take anywhere from 5-14 days but so well worth it!  

Your herb garden is flourishing and it's time to harvest them. 

Harvesting

• Harvest before flowering. If you've been harvesting all season which in Arizona I am able to do that, your plants probably haven't had a chance to flower. But non-hardy herbs will start to decline as the weather cools, so late summer is a good time to begin drying your herbs.
  
• Cut in early to mid-morning when its cool or if you live where there is dew it is no longer present on your plants, but pick before the plants are wilting in the afternoon sun.
  

How To Dry Herbs

1. Cut healthy branches from your herb plants.
   
2. Remove any dry or diseased leaves
   
3. Shake gently to remove any insects.
   
4. If necessary, rinse with cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Wet herbs will mold and rot so be really careful 
   
5. Remove the lower leaves along the bottom inch or so of the branch.
   
6. Bundle 4 - 6 branches together and tie as a bunch. You can use string, twine or a rubber band. The bundles will shrink as they dry and your binding will loosen up, so check off and on that the bundle is not slipping. Make small bundles if you are trying to dry herbs with high water content like Basil.
   
7. Punch or cut several holes in a paper bag. Label the bag with the name of the herb you are drying.
   
8. Place the herb bundle upside down into the bag.
   
9. Gather the ends of the bag around the bundle and tie closed. Make sure the herbs are not crowded inside the bag.
   
10. Hang the bag upside down in a warm, airy room.  I have a spare room with a closet that works perfectly.
    
    
11. Check every few days to see how things are progressing until your herbs are dry and ready to store.

Storing Dried Herbs

1. Store your dried herbs in air tight containers. I like to use extra small canning jars. Zip closing bags will do fine just make sure those herbs are dry because any moisture and you'll end up with moldy herbs.
2. Be sure to label and date your containers.
3. Your herbs will retain more flavor if you store the leaves whole and crush them when you are ready to use them.  
4. Discard any dried herbs that show the slightest sign of mold.
5. Place containers in a cool, dry place away from sunlight.
6. Dried herbs are best used within 1 year. As your herbs lose their color, they are also losing their flavor.

I hope you enjoyed this post and as always wishing you my best,

 

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