Drying herbs

Now that harvest has started on our farm, I am thinking of all the work that I need to get finished before the first frost. I always grow some parsley and sage in my garden and I always dry some for the winter. I think that my fresh dried herbs really taste better than anything I can get at the store. I do have a dehydrator that I use for drying herbs. It does not take long to harvest the herbs and I have sometimes done it on the same day the first frost is expected. I cut nice, unblemished sage leaves from the sage plant and stems of parsley. I wash them well and place them on the racks of my dehydrator. Usually it takes an entire day or overnight for the herbs to be dry enough to package. I store them in zipper style freezer bags in my pantry. I always discard any leftover herbs from the previous year.

I know that this sounds easy, since I have a dehydrator, but I have not always had one. You can also dry herbs like these by laying them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and allowing them to dry naturally. If you would prefer to dry them more quickly, you can use your microwave or your oven. The microwave is really only suitable for drying herbs, but you can dry other produce with your oven. Thanks to the folks at the National Center for Home Food Preservation for all the great directions for preserving food.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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