Fresh herbs
Summer has drawn to a close and your herb garden will soon be sleeping under a blanket of snow. Make sure you preserve all that natural goodness to use throughout the cold winter months!
If you have freezer space, a good way to keep herbs handy while still maintaining their color and flavor is to freeze them.
Freezing Fresh Herbs:
FIRST, place several leaves of your herb in each opening of an ice cube tray.
THEN, fill the rest of the openings with clean water. Place the trays in your freezer until the water is solid.
LAST, pop out the cubes which now contain your fresh herbs and store them in a freezer-safe plastic bag. Whenever you need fresh herbs for cooking, simply grab an ice cube or two and place them on your meat or toss in your soup. Easy!
Another way to preserve fresh herbs is by drying them.
Drying fresh herbs:
Traditional drying by hanging plants upside down is fine, but there is the problem of dust gathering on your plants.
- Place your freshly cut stems in small paper lunch bags and staple or fold shut.
- Make sure there is enough space in your bag for the plants to "breathe" so they can dry efficiently.
- Store the bags anywhere you want out of the way; perhaps in a cupboard or the top shelf of a closet.
- When the herbs have dried, store them in an airtight container.
- You can store the stems whole, or remove the leaves.
Check out the Blissful Food section in the Blissfully Domestic Ning for wonderful recipes to showcase your homegrown herbs!
Tamra Klaty brings common sense and beauty into keeping a home. You can find Tamra at It All Started With A Kiss, where her heart and soul spill over onto her blog.
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