Drying herbs

As I have mentioned my garden is growing like crazy. It is quite a surprise to me since I live by the sea and it is not all that warm here most of the time. So I have found myself with more herbs than I know what to do with. I decided to try drying them. This is my first time...so you may or may not want to use this as a how to. I should say it took me WAY longer than I thought it would.

My first round of drying~Golden oregano, black stemmed peppermint, lime thyme, rosemary, and regular thyme.


I stripped off a few of the leaves at the base of the plants after picking them in the mid morning. I carefuly wiped each sprig to make sure it was free of bugs and things. Then I bunched the sprigs in little bundles and tied them with string.


Then the bundles go upside down in small paper bags that I have punched holes in for airflow and labeled.


I didn't have a lot of bags so with small herb bundles I tried to tie several bundles in one bag without letting them touch.


Tea break! I used some of the snippets that I cut off the ends to make a nice fresh herb tea. You would be surprised how many herbs taste good as tea. Be sure not to add too much they will be much stronger than dried tea that you get in the store. My favorite combo currently is rosemary and lemon balm.


This cup had cuttings from Rosemary, lime thyme and some mint. Odd combo but it tasted fab!


The thyme was so tiny I suspended several little bundles together


I have more tarragon and marjoram than I know what to do with.


I found that my IKEA shelves have great little holes in them that are perfect for tying off herbs to! (Yikes a peek into my messy pantry)