Drying Herbs the Easy Way

My favorite way to dry herbs is to use nylon mesh hampers that have cloth handles. These were designed for college students, and they come in various colors. They are also collapsible for easy storage, so we have several of them and we usually dry four to five different herbs at a time.

We have installed hooks used to hang plants in the ceiling of our carport, and we loop the hamper handles over the hooks. Since we have a lot of wind in our area, looping the handles over a second time secures them from being blown off the hooks and they can dry in the shade of the carport.

The herbs need to be stirred up occasionally to separate them and make sure they are getting enough air, and it is easy to just hit the bottom of the hamper a couple of times as you go by. Some dry within just a couple of days. If it is going to rain it is better to take the hampers and hang them indoors. Even though they are protected under the carport, it is still better to put them in a place away from the moisture while they are drying.

Herbs on stalks – Cut the whole stalk, and put it in the hamper.

Leafy herbs like comfrey – These are more compact, so I leave the stems on the leaves and put just a small amount of leaves in each hamper, and I stir these more often.

As you put the herbs in the hamper you will get more of a feel about how many to put in as you see how much they compact. I usually don’t fill the hampers more than one-third full.

When the herbs are dry, just strip the leaves down off the stalks. For comfrey or mullein leaves, wear gloves and crumble the leaf off the stems. You can use a coffee grinder if you want to powder some of the dried herbs. Store the dried herbs in separate bags. When the herbs are in the bags you can crumble them up some more. I prefer using the gallon size plastic storage bags, but not the kind with sliders. You can also store the dried herbs in jars. Keep the stored herbs out of the light, in a pantry or other cool area.

This is an archive of: http://growyourowngroceries.org/drying-herbs-the-easy-way/