Preserving Herbs

Harvesting Herbs:strong light,
either in
dark glass jars, in tins, or behind cabinet e-mail
Harvest in the morning of a hot and drybox every Fridays. It's
day--wait until the dewbest to
is offthrow them
the plants.out after a year and restock with new ones.
Snip off the top growth--about 6 inches of stemFreezing Herbs:
below the flower
buds.
Drying Herbs:Blanch herbs before freezing them. Hold them by
their stems
with
If the leaves are clean, don't wash them--oils aretongs and dip them in boiling water briefly,
lost in theswishing them around
washinga little.
process. If they are dusty, wash briefly underWhen their color brightens, remove them from
coldthe water.
water.Blot dry
Shake off excess water and hang the herbs,with towels. Remove the stems, chop if you
tied in small bunches,wish, or leave
in thethe leaves
sun until the water evaporates.whole. Lay the dried herbs out in a single layer on
Hang the bunches (upside down) in a warm, drywax
place that is wellpaper and
ventilatedroll or fold the paper so there is a layer of paper
and free from strong light. To prevent dust fromseparating
accumulating, puteach layer
them in a brown paper bag that you've punchedof herbs. Then pack, paper and all, in freezer
some holes in tobags or wrap
increasein freezer-rated
circulation.plastic wrap. To use, break off as much as you
If you don't hang them up, remove the stemsneed and use
and dry them onfrozen.
baking sheets,You can also thaw them out in the
window screens covered with clear sheeting orrefrigerator--they will keep
cheesecloth, orfor about
even on aa week.
towel.You can freeze individual portions of herbs by
You can also dry herbs in a food dryer. For themaking ice cubes
bestout of
flavor, thethem. Prepare your herbs by removing the
temperature in the dryer should stay under 105stems and
degrees F.chopping, and
Storing Herbs:then pack them into ice cube trays. Cover with
boiling
water (to
Leaves may be crushed before they are storedblanch them) and freeze. When frozen, remove
away, but theythe cubes from
retain theirthe trays
oils better if they are kept whole and crushedand store in freezer bags.Rachel Paxton is a
right before theyfreelance writer and mom who is the author of
are used.What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing
Herbs should be stored in a cool place, out ofmore than 250 quick easy dinner ideas.