North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style
Hello, friends! Today I will be guest posting over at The Vintique Object on natural, non-toxic pest control as well as ways to “green” your home for the safety of pets and children. I encourage you to come join me!
I decided to try drying some herbs from my pots outside. I LOVE fresh herbs….the smells are divine and I love cooking as much as I can with them. Growing, drying, and storing your own fresh herbs is a wonderful way to be more self-sufficient in your cooking and homesteading activities, but it’s also a money-saver!
To start, I collected several healthy stems from my small herb “kitchen” garden. I then tied the stems in bunches with some twine and hung them from a wrought-iron metal gate we have in our foyer area. I thought this would be a good place since it stays dry and pretty cool.
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| dried herbs |
Next I simply plucked the leaves of each herb from the primary stems and stored each in an air-tight container. It is best to use your dried herbs up within a year. It is also recommend not to chop or mince the leaves until you are ready to use them in order to preserve freshness. It couldn’t be any easier!
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| plucking the rosemary from its stem |
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| Store your dried herbs in air-tight containers. It is recommended that you not chop or crush the herbs until you are ready to use them in cooking. They will retain more of their flavor this way. |
Harvesting frequently and drying in the summer allows you to enjoy fresh herbs throughout the colder months. I could not believe how simple a task it was. I am never buying store-bought herbs that I can grow in my backyard again!
I decided to try drying some herbs from my pots outside. I LOVE fresh herbs….the smells are divine and I love cooking as much as I can with them. Growing, drying, and storing your own fresh herbs is a wonderful way to be more self-sufficient in your cooking and homesteading activities, but it’s also a money-saver!
To start, I collected several healthy stems from my small herb “kitchen” garden. I then tied the stems in bunches with some twine and hung them from a wrought-iron metal gate we have in our foyer area. I thought this would be a good place since it stays dry and pretty cool.
|
| dried herbs |
Next I simply plucked the leaves of each herb from the primary stems and stored each in an air-tight container. It is best to use your dried herbs up within a year. It is also recommend not to chop or mince the leaves until you are ready to use them in order to preserve freshness. It couldn’t be any easier!
|
| plucking the rosemary from its stem |
|
| Store your dried herbs in air-tight containers. It is recommended that you not chop or crush the herbs until you are ready to use them in cooking. They will retain more of their flavor this way. |
Harvesting frequently and drying in the summer allows you to enjoy fresh herbs throughout the colder months. I could not believe how simple a task it was. I am never buying store-bought herbs that I can grow in my backyard again!
We’ve recently been enjoying the fruits of our labor with our first garden harvests of the summer!
The heirloom speckled bibb lettuce has been coming in strong for quite some time now. We have enjoyed many good summer salads. The beans and peas seem to be doing well (although the leaves from the ground up to 2 feet have suffered from the chicks snacking on them). I am very excited to see tiny tomatoes and peppers starting to come in as well!
Last night we enjoyed our first heirloom yellow crookneck squash of the season. I made a squash au gratin casserole dish with them and it was very yummy!
I cannot wait for the rest of my vegetables to start producing! We plan re-seed the spinach that didn’t take and plant fall pumpkins hopefully very soon. How does your garden grow?
We’ve recently been enjoying the fruits of our labor with our first garden harvests of the summer!
The heirloom speckled bibb lettuce has been coming in strong for quite some time now. We have enjoyed many good summer salads. The beans and peas seem to be doing well (although the leaves from the ground up to 2 feet have suffered from the chicks snacking on them). I am very excited to see tiny tomatoes and peppers starting to come in as well!
Last night we enjoyed our first heirloom yellow crookneck squash of the season. I made a squash au gratin casserole dish with them and it was very yummy!
I cannot wait for the rest of my vegetables to start producing! We plan re-seed the spinach that didn’t take and plant fall pumpkins hopefully very soon. How does your garden grow?