Preserving the Harvest…..Herbs

One of our goals this year was to add more herbs to our garden for both culinary and medicinal uses. Many times those uses overlap. The thing with herbs is that they do not grow year round outside (even in zone 9) and they are not always ready at the same time complimentary vegetables are ready. For instance cilantro is one of the first herbs ready in our garden and by the time the tomatoes and onions are being harvested, the cilantro has already gone to seed.

The remedy to this dilemma is preserving the herbs. There are several different ways to preserve herbs. You can decide how to preserve them based on how you are going to use that herb.

The best time to harvest herbs is early in the morning when they still have a high moisture content.

I have a set of worksheets I print each year to keep track of what I’ve preserved. You can get the worksheets emailed to you by filling out the form below. 

{This post contains affiliate links. You can learn more on our disclosure page.}

Dehydrating Herbs

Dehydrating herbs is probably the easiest way to preserve herbs. You can tie them in small bunches and hang them upside down to dry. This is also a really pretty way to dehydrate herbs. It’s best to hang them out of direct sunlight so that they do not get bleached out. 

You can also take the herb leaves off of the stems and use a dehydrator to dry out the herbs. This is what I usually do. Most herbs will be dry in less than an hour in a dehydrator. 

You can use solar screens to dehydrate herbs outside. This hanging one is really neat. Or put them on a tray in the oven on the lowest temperature to dehydrate. I’m always afraid someone will come try to preheat the oven and cook my herbs so I don’t use the oven method. 

Dehydrated herbs are the kind of herbs you buy on the spice aisle at the grocery store. So, however you use those is how you would use your homemade ones. 

This season I’ve dehydrated mint, sweet basil, lemon basil, Thai basil, stevia, rosemary, cilantro, parsley and dill. I love seeing my jars fill up a little each week. I crumble most of these a little as I’m adding them to the jars. 

Freezing Herbs

So, apparently there is a right way and a wrong way to freeze herbs. I know you will find this hard to believe (especially if you read about how I freeze green beans) I do it the wrong way. And it turns out just fine. 

The right way to freeze herbs is to chop them up, put them in ice cube trays with some water. When you want to use them you can add a little cube of herbs to whatever you are cooking. 

The “wrong way” to freeze herbs is to put the herbs into a ziplock bag, remove all the air and put in the freezer. I do remove the leaves from the stems and make sure there is no excess water on the leaves before freezing.

I rarely freeze herbs. There is nothing wrong with freezing herbs, it’s just not my preference. But I do freeze cilantro while we’re waiting for the tomatoes and onions to ripen to make salsa. Salsa needs bright green cilantro in it and dried cilantro just isn’t the same. When we make salsa, I just break off however much cilantro we need and add it to the pot. We cook and can our salsa so the texture of the cilantro is fine. Now, I wouldn’t use this cilantro in pico de gallo since that isn’t cooked. 

Herb Pastes

Herb pastes are quickly becoming the new cool way of seasoning food. Did you know you can make them at home…for just a fraction of the cost? You can. 

To make an herb paste just put some fresh herbs in a food processor (a small one is just fine), turn it on and drizzle olive oil over the herbs until you have a paste. Yep. That’s it. Put the paste in a jar and it will keep for two weeks in the refrigerator. Or put the paste in ice cube trays and freeze. Or you can do like I do with our basil pesto and put it in small jars but then freeze it. 

You can do single herb pastes or mix herbs together and make your own blends. 

The only herb paste I do right now is our basil pesto, which also has garlic, pecans and Parmesan in the paste. We use it on our pizza, to stir onto pasta and added to soups. 

Preserving Herbs in Salt

Preserving herbs in salt is a new method for me. I read an article on Melisa K. Norris’ site and was intrigued by it. She covers three methods but basically you put both herbs and salt in a jar (make sure all the herb is covered) and the salt preserves the herb. 

I’m trying this method with basil right now. You can read her full article here. 

Herbal Extracts 

So much can be said about herbal extracts and tinctures that I’m just going to hit the highlights.

Herbal extracts can be made using alcohol, water, glycerin or vinegar. It really just depends on what you’re going to use the extract for. If you are wanting to make herbal extracts (or tinctures) to use medicinally, I want to encourage you to check out some of the courses at Vintage Remedies. Their free Herbalism 101 course is a great starter course. 

For culinary uses, most extracts are made with alcohol (usually vodka) or vinegar. For culinary uses you also do not have to be as exact in your recipe as you would need to be for dosing medicinal herbs. 

A popular way of making an herbal extract is to fill a jar about half way with herbs and cover with either vodka or vinegar. Put the jar in a cool, dark place and give it a shake every day for 4-6 weeks. After that time, strain out the herbs and you have an herbal extract to use in your kitchen. 

If you want to measure your herbs and liquid you can use a ratio of 1 part dried herbs to 5 parts liquid or 1 part fresh herbs to 3 parts liquid. This is by weight, not volume. 

Right now I’m making mint and ginger extract. 

What are some of your favorite herbs and how do you preserve them?

Psst: Don’t forget you can get a free copy of our ebook Ten Herbs from Garden to Table when you subscribe to our blog. You can do that by clicking here. 

Thanks for sharing with your friends!