Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Monday, July 09, 2012

Preserving Herbs

I know it's summer and you have lots of fun things planned, but if you have herbs growing in your garden, don't forget to pick some of them at their peak, bundle .. and then hang to dry.  You will be so glad come winter when you can have your own supply to use for soups and stews.  Today I picked lots of dill .. leaving the smaller growth and any seed heads intact to continue growing.  Dill will reseed itself each year.  Some of the seed heads will be picked later and used when making dill pickles.  I'm off to gather some thyme.  

5 comments:

Sue said...

When I first saw the picture, I thought you were making garland-LOL! Looks nice. I dry basil,oregano,mint. I freeze parsley and chives--love to have those "fresh" in the middle of winter. I'm ashamed to say, I don't save dill--still haven't tried making my own pickles. Shame shame on me!
:)

Felisol said...

I agree. I love to go to the freezer and find summer there. I freeze most of my herbs, but I have successfully dried both peonies, black elder blossoms and jasmine.
Oh, It's a wonderful garden season.

Trish said...

Does Cilantro dry well? I have an abundance of it and it is going to seed faster then I can use it!

Mrs. Mac said...

@ Trish .. yes, it should dry just fine. If it goes to seed, you can harvest some seeds to grind. . . and you'll have coriander.

Dorothy said...

I've dried and ground my home-grown oregano. It's a herb I use a lot, and I love knowing it's my own chemical free addition to meals. I have lots of mint I'm going to dry next, for tea. A favourite of mine.
Blessings
A new friend from Australia,
Dotti :)