I have always thought that fresh herbs are one of the most wonderful items to have in the kitchen I mean who doesn't love fresh mint or basil? The reality though is that keeping herbs alive indoor over the winter can be challenging. At our home we choose to grow all of our herbs during the Summer and then dry them to store in cans for the rest of the year. If you're new to this, there are no fancy machines needed. This can be done through many methods you likely already have available in your home.
Let's use dill for an example since it is one of my favorite herbs to grow! It’s a very minimal plant and does exceptionally well in the Pacific Northwest. The fact that throughout the summer I can ask my children to go grab a few sprigs from the garden for dinner is so special to me.
GROWING: I start the seeds about this time of year (April/May) either inside or out. Seed starting inside is a good option, but I have also had much success just putting some seeds in a pot already outside. If you are planting in a pot and not in ground, make sure you are very aware of watering. the dill can easily dry out. For this reason, we put ours in the ground or a pot with a self watering feature - https://amzn.to/3e1D154 OR https://amzn.to/3xwh2Li. - As the dill grows you will begin to notice yellow blooms at the top. As soon as you notice these simply pinch them off. So long as you continue to catch the buds before blooming at a large scale, the dill will continue to grow taller as summer passes. By the end of the growing season you will have more than enough dill to fill a large jar, maybe more!
PRESERVATION: Dry your drill on the stalks either in the oven, dehydrate them in a machine, or hang upside down to air dry. My preferred method is our dehydrator as I set everything on the trays and then let it work overnight in the garage. We have an older model of this dehydrator if you are in the market, https://amzn.to/2Pukftp.
If you have the time and would prefer to not use any machines a simple piece of string and some nice sunny weather will also do the trick. Tie the string to the stalk of dill and hang upside down outside. Dependent on your climate this can be a relatively quick process or could take up to a week. It is highly dependent on weather and how much humidity is in the air, but is an easy option!
If using an oven set the temperature at the lowest setting (about 100 degrees) and cook for two hours.
Once the dill feels brittle and will crumble off the stalk it is done! I know people that take all of the plant including stalk and place it in a food processor. You can also break the dill leaves off by hand and discard the stalks. Personal preference. At this point I have a clean, dry canning jar that I transfer the dried herb into.
In my opinion there is absolutely no comparison between home dried herbs and store bought. When herbs are dried at home they still have much of the same flavor instead of a lifeless grass clipping labeled as an herb. I hope you try out growing herbs this year or maybe just buying some and preserving them yourself. Either way good luck and let me know how it goes!
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