herb drying

for garden cooks out there... if you've run out of friends to share your copious amounts of fresh herbs with here's my drying technique to save leaves when they're at there peak for future use.

you'll need:

twine

paper bag

scissors/hole punch

method:

tie a small handful of your herb together, allowing a long tail of twine for hanging.

cut/hole punch some holes in the bottom of the paper bag. 

hang your herbs upside down inside the paper bag and secure it in the corner. my bags work by folding the corner over, however you may need to tie the herb bunch through a hole or use the twine to tie it all together.

tie your bag up in a breezy spot and leave for at least 2 weeks. check your herbs at that time. the leaves and stems should be dry and stiff. if they feel soft and aren't dry enough that they would  fall apart if you crunched it between your fingers - they need more drying time.

once dried, store them in an air-tight container. from what i've read use your dried herbs within 3months.



i've had success so far with basil, mint, parsley and thyme. mint needed longer time to dry then the others in my climate.

wishing you herb drying success. enjoy!