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| Photo Credit: Judith K. Mehl |
| Drying herbs and seeds to save for use during cold weather is a great way to enjoy the fresh aromas and flavorful tastes from your garden year-round. |
Do you love your herbs but have a hard time growing them indoors for year-round use? The good news is that your herbs can live long after your plants are gone – if you take steps to preserve them. It’s easy to dry herb leaves, flowers, stems and roots, and with a little elbow grease, you can make infusions or essential oils for culinary use, personal beauty care or to make your home smell wonderful.
Don’t let the fancy terms scare you. Anyone can make an infusion or essential oil. And drying herbs is easiest of all. Either way, it’s worth a little extra effort to have your herbs available year-round. To dry your herbs, pick leaves and flowers early in the day after the dew burns off and right before flowers open because that’s when they hold the most volatile oil. Take 6-inch cuttings and strip off the flowers just as they open to dry flat. Dry the leaves on the stem in a warm, airy place away from light and humidity. Make individual bouquets of the cuttings from each herb, tie and hang upside down to dry. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Johnny's Selected Seeds | | To harvest calendula, pull off each petal and dry. |
Flowers and leaves can also be dried on screens. Herbs may be oven-dried if the temperature can be set under 100 degrees. Even then you can leave the door open, since too much heat destroys the oils (which are what provide the flavor and aroma). Just place the leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet and put in the oven. Stir and check often. When the leaves break, the herbs are dry. If they powder, however, they’ve been left in too long.
Once dried, the leaves can be removed and crumbled for culinary use in the same mouth-watering dishes as fresh herbs – from meat dishes and soups to herb butters and oils. The flowers are most often used for teas, bath soaks, creams and potpourri. You can use both for making body oils and lotions or just store them in a tight jar away from heat and light. The herbs retain their flavor and aroma for six months to a year.
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