Harvesting and Drying Herbs
For flavor and taste, there's nothing better than fresh herbs for use in
your kitchen. Herb growers quickly learn that the way an herb is harvested
and dried, affects flavor. The biggest key to success is harvesting them
in the morning. It's the oils in the herb, that gives it flavor. Those oils
are the strongest and freshest in your herb plants in the morning hours.
Here is how to properly harvest and dry herbs, to capture their flavor at
it's peak:
Harvesting:
Most herbs are ready to harvest as soon as there are enough leaves on the
plant, that picking a few will not impair the plant's survival.
Harvest herbs in the morning hours, when the plant's oils are at their highest
concentration.
Pick them using a sharp knife, pruning scissors, or shears.
Immediately after harvesting, rinse them gently in cool water.
Allow to air dry, or pat them lightly with a paper towel.
Use them immediately. Or, store in the refrigerator for later use.
How to Dry Herbs:
There are two ways of drying herbs:
The first way of drying them, is to spread them out on a drying rack.
The second way, is to tie them into a loose bundle, and hang them upside
down to dry.
It is essential to dry them in a cool, dry place where there is good ventilation.
This minimizes the likelihood of mold forming, while they are drying. Watch
for mold, and discard any affected plants.
Before storing dried herbs, it is important that they are completely dry.
It will take a few days. When in doubt, leave it out to dry another day or
two.
After herbs are completely dried, they can be cut up as desired and stored
for future use.
Many herbs can also be frozen for later use(culinary herbs). If you freeze
them, drying them is not necessary.
Related Topics:
Herb Seeds Looking for quality seeds? Stop here.
Many herbs can be grown indoors during the winter. Then, drying and storage
is not necessary, as you will always have them fresh.
Herb Gardening
at Garden Hobbies
Organic gardening starts with
Organic Herb Seeds
The Compact ComposTumbler quickly convert kitchen and yard waste into
rich, organic compost.
Buy a Composter now
More
on Composters |
