Sweet Basil
With Sweet Basil’s fleshier leaves they’re easier to freeze than to dry.
Snip the leaves on a sunny morning after the dew is gone, rinse if needed, pat dry and place in freezer bags. Take out as much air as possible and then toss in the freezer! Doesn’t get much easier than that…
OR chop your clean basil, pack them in ice-cube trays, fill the space with water and then freeze. This works well for soups.
How wonderful to have herbs all winter! yum…
Show Date: 21 May 10
I’ve had lots of folks ask about what veggies might grow in some shade. Well, there are some. Admittedly, most veggies GENERALLY grow best in full sun, they’ll produce more, however the follwing will do just fine with a few hours of shade.
Show Date: 31 Mar 10
Are ya ready for it????? It’s DILL!
Dill
The feathery foliage, pretty little yellow flowers AND seeds are all edible.
Dill flower
Dill is a cool season herb that grows fast and furious, peters out in the heat of summer but will reseed if allowed and you’ll get another crop in the Fall.
Dill may be small but it packs a pungent punch! Try it on salads, veggies, egg dishes, meatloaf and more! Freeze it in ziploc baggies for up to 6 months.
Sweet Basil leaves are fleshier than my ‘Spicy Globe’ variety but can still be dried. It just takes longer. Some folks say they’ve lost some of the flavor but I’d still take my homegrown dried over what you buy in the store.
You can freeze the leaves as well.
Chop them up, stuff them in ice-cube trays and top the leaves off with water. Freeze them, pop them outta the trays, place them in a freezer baggie and they’re great for cooking!
I use a dehydrator to dry my herbs. Mine’s not real glamorous but it works great. I’ll bet you could find one at a garage sale for a great price!
I don’t pack the herbs, or whatever I’m drying, too tightly so the heated air is able to move around better. Because the heating element is at the bottom I move the trays around for more even drying. (btw, that baggie in the picture is full of ‘Spicy Globe’ Basil!)
Dehydrator
You can bunch your long-stemmed herbs, such as spearmint, tying them together at the stem end and then place in a paper bag with the bottom cut out and ventilation holes punched in the sides. Hang upside down in a sunless room with low humidity.
Paper bag herb drying
The microwave method is quick but you can scorch the herbs or even start a fire so you’ve GOT to keep an eye on them.
If you washed the herbs, then make sure they’re dry before you nuke them. Put only 4 or 5 herb branches in at a time and place them between two paper towels. Microwave them for 2 to 3 mins.
If they’re not brittle and dry, then nuke again for about 30 seconds. Let them cool and place them in air tight containers.
With the upsurge in vegetable gardening folks are rethinking the flower bed. I highly recommend unless you’re used to spraying the heck out of your flower garden to fight off all varied forms of pests, then I suggest you skip planting veggies there! OR skip the chemicals!
Cilantro is a wonderful herb that tastes great and repels aphids. Strong scented herbs have a tendency to keep out some pests. I love Kale in the flower bed. It’s a pretty ornamental itself and tastes wonderful. I lightly steam mine and stuff my potatoes with it. YUM! Click here for a chicken & sausage skewer recipe using rosemary! FYI: You can toss fresh Rosemary sprigs on bbq coals to add flavor to grilled foods.
I recently read an article about how much bacteria is on those bags and it was frightening. We use them for all kinds of things and then don't always think to wash them.
It's easy to just toss them in with a load of clothes or, if they're the more plastic type, hand wash them.
