exposure by Cherie Langlois
Right up there with oregano , golden sage isanother herbaceous plant I utilise a lot in the kitchen .
I noticed a few day ago that some of our herbaceous plant stores were getting dangerously low-down — especially dry oregano , a critical ingredient for the homemade pizza pie we often make on pizza / movie nights .
So did I panic and escape to the supermarket ? No manner . I grabbed scissors , step out to my lushly - leaved oregano plant , and dress off fragrant bunches to dry out for succeeding usage . I also reserved clean sprigs for that night ’s Greek salad .
Collecting and dry your own tasty herb is easy and rewarding , save you money ( checked out the prices on those shrimpy herb bottles at the computer memory lately ? ) and return you a reposeful aromatherapy session at the same time . Here ’s how to do it :
1 . On a dry , sunny day , head out to your herb and use clean scissors or pruners to snip off the top 6 to 12 inches of stem , bet on the herb.(Clickherefor bakshish on how to start a herbaceous plant garden . )
2 . Pull off the very bottom leaf on each root , saving them to use fresh , and discard any pathologic or plague - overrun leaves . Gather the stems together into small-scale bunch — too expectant a gang and the herb take longer to dry out , which may extend to rotting .
At this point , I give the herbs a blue handclasp ( out of doors ! ) to remove bugs , dust and pollen . Since we shun pesticides and weedkiller on our farm , I do n’t bother wash them .
3 . Tie the lower stem together with dental dental floss or thin twine , or wrap a rubber lot around them . Your clustering should now look like a leafy bouquet .
4 . Hang your herbs in a ironic , warm , well - ventilated region out of verbatim sun . Do n’t let the bundles disturb : this raise airwave flow and keeps powerfully - perfumed herbs from defile more touchy ace . If your drying orbit is dusty or the herb is one that tend to lose leaf , seed , or heyday while dry out , place the bundle in a paper bag punched with holes before hanging .
5 . take into account the herb to dry until they experience brittle , but not so juiceless they fade away into gunpowder . depend on humidness and other factor , the dry sentence will take from several days to several weeks .
6 . Once ironical , pillage the leaves off the theme and compact them whole into fresh , dry spicery bottles or small canning jolt . Be sure to tag and date each container .
7 . Store your herb in a dark , dry billet , and check them sporadically for mold and microbe . They should last about a year — if you do n’t use them up first.(Be certain to mark off out some of Michelle Bender ’s yummyrecipesusing herbs . )
Enjoy !
~ Cherie
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