All about garden herbs

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I'm hoping that my Rosemary will regrow but I'm really worried that the polar vortex nuked it... The only other herbs out there right now are the mint (pineapple and spearmint), curly parsley, lemon balm, and lemongrass. Everything looks dead. I did save a cutting of sweet basil which is safe in the house. I will put it out in the spring. Everything else I'll probably have to start over.

I am trying a few new herbs this year - flax, sesame, and black seed (commonly called black cumin). I think there's 1 more but I don't remember what it is.

My lavender seems so strong! Pic from today in CT.

 

[Swiss]

Anyone just air dry their herbs or do most use a dehydrator? I am thinking about a dehydrator but don't want to spend the $$ right now, so was wondering about hanging them. I worry about dust--dusty in the country and in an old farmhouse

I just watched a Melissa K. Norris video yesterday where she dries herbs in a paper bag. Here's the video.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I will get new photos. Most my herbs are 10 years strong.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I have a couple new herbs I'm trying this year...

Sesame
Black seed (often called black cumin although it's not cumin)

 

[TJAnonymous]

I just watched a Melissa K. Norris video yesterday where she dries herbs in a paper bag. Here's the video.

I have a dehydrator but I haven't used it for herbs. I've simply air dried my herbs last year - sweet basil, butterfly pea, and stevia.

 

[TooCheep]

I have a dehydrator but I haven't used it for herbs. I've simply air dried my herbs last year - sweet basil, butterfly pea, and stevia.

Most herbs are too thin to really need a dehydrator as they can pretty quickly air dry. Dehydrators are really better for larger/thicker items that would take forever to air dry- vegetables, jerky, etc.

 

[pennyJo1960]

This is black mustard seed and lettuce. These are the started for the garden
also.

 

[Swiss]

I have a dehydrator but I haven't used it for herbs. I've simply air dried my herbs last year - sweet basil, butterfly pea, and stevia.

Most herbs are too thin to really need a dehydrator as they can pretty quickly air dry. Dehydrators are really better for larger/thicker items that would take forever to air dry- vegetables, jerky, etc.

I have heard that using a dehydrator will make your whole house smell lovely.

I was mainly posting it for the paper bag option, which I had never heard about before, and which is supposed to help with keeping dust and bugs and such off while they are drying.

What am I growing? Let's see..... I bought a lot of herb seeds, as I was planning on having a main crop garden and a separate kitchen/cottage/medicinal herb garden, but decided to work on the k/c/m.h. garden's infrastructure throughout this season.

Currently overwintering in the garden:

• Oregano- so far I've only used it fresh in foods
• Common Thyme- Again, only used fresh, but am hoping for a bigger harvest this year (I made a tea with thyme, lemon, and honey a few months back when I had a sore throat. Not only delicious, but definitely helped)
• Sage- fresh and dried for food so far
• Possibly some parsley is surviving, but I'm not sure with all the snow covering it

The rest that I will be starting from seed:
Cinnamon basil, purple dark opal basil, borage, calendula, chamomile, cilantro/coriander, dill, chives, purple echinacea, dandelions (I saved seeds from some in my yard), Vera lavender, lemon balm, peppermint, purslane, and spearmint. I have grown basil (not these two varieties, though), cilantro/coriander, dill, lemon balm, peppermint, and spearmint before. Chives aren't exactly new, but I haven't had more than a tiny amount come up, so I'm hoping for better from them this year.

I also have yarrow, common mallow, wintergreen, rosehips (they are very small), raspberry, and stinging nettle (I saw it in the woods in the spring, but couldn't refind it to save my life when I figured out what it was) that grow wild in my yard. I even had St. John's Wort pop up in my backyard, but it is known to weaken many pharmaceuticals, so I was ok mowing it down.

Just to throw this out there: Before using any plant medicinally, do your research and make sure it is right for you. Some have contraindications with pharmaceuticals.

 

[TooCheep]

I have heard that using a dehydrator will make your whole house smell lovely.

I was mainly posting it for the paper bag option, which I had never heard about before, and which is supposed to help with keeping dust and bugs and such off while they are drying.

Quite a collection you have going there. I have a fair number, but have a small property and garden so I've had to be more selective.

A dehydrator will indeed make a room or so smell like whatever you are drying. It is basically warm/hot air (90-140 degrees) blowing over your product. My biggest problem with dehydrating has been that much of what I'm collecting is when it is warmer outside, so I don't want to heat up the house and I'm doing a lot of my drying outside. I'm thinking about building a solar dehydrator this year to do the drying without using any electricity.

I can see the bag being good in a dusty area and possibly to help with bugs. I really haven't had much of a problem with either. I've taken to hanging the herbs to dry- so far with lemon grass, mints and parsley. Once they are done, they can be left there and used over time or chopped and stored in containers.

 

[Swiss]

Quite a collection you have going there. I have a fair number, but have a small property and garden so I've had to be more selective.

A dehydrator will indeed make a room or so smell like whatever you are drying. It is basically warm/hot air (90-140 degrees) blowing over your product. My biggest problem with dehydrating has been that much of what I'm collecting is when it is warmer outside, so I don't want to heat up the house and I'm doing a lot of my drying outside. I'm thinking about building a solar dehydrator this year to do the drying without using any electricity.

I can see the bag being good in a dusty area and possibly to help with bugs. I really haven't had much of a problem with either. I've taken to hanging the herbs to dry- so far with lemon grass, mints and parsley. Once they are done, they can be left there and used over time or chopped and stored in containers.

I feel like I've read that some people on here put their dehydrators outside, sometimes... I can't remember who, but I think someone drying hot peppers does so they don't accidentally mace everyone in the house. But hanging does work well. I dried sage and yarrow this past season.