Herb Garden

I hope you are all having a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend. I was going to have lots and lots of time to relax since I took Thursday and Friday off but every day just seems to fly bye. I am getting a lot done though.

I think I've crammed all the herbs I can in my little garden. I plan on freezing and drying some this fall. I get a lot out of my little space. I was happy with the herbs I dried last fall so I'll be doing more this year. I cringe every time I have to buy fresh herbs at the grocery store. Some are so pricey.

I've had to have a few (A LOT) of talks with Bailey, he keeps eating my tarragon and chives and digging out the rosemary. You should see him cower when I catch him, you'd think I beat the poor baby or something. Their grass is growing now so in a few days they will have that to chew on. Plus they have their catnip!! So please leave Mommy's herbs alone!

Why is it that it is so nice and sunny, even hot, during the week and weekends are cool and rainy? It was actually 90 last week and this weekend it is cool cloudy and rainy again. Go figure! We seem to be following this weekend snow/rain pattern since our no snow winter. We need the moisture so I'm trying not to complain but it would be nice if it would rain during the week when we are all stuck inside.

Have a great weekend!

Drying Herbs

I want to thank everyone for your very kind comments on my previous post. I don't know what I would do without you. I am feeling better tonight. Keeping busy helps. A special thanks to a couple of you and I think you know who you are who were extra special sweet.

It is supposed to be cool, rainy and maybe even some snow flurries this weekend so I decided it was time for me to get the herbs in. I've been putting it off all month but when it's 70's you really can't think about it freezing. It won't be a hard freeze but for the tender herbs like basil it might be too much. I don't think it will be that bad but you just never know. I read in the Cooks Illustrated flyer that they send me every once in awhile because they want me to subscribe that you could dry herbs in the microwave. So here goes!!

I don't know why these silly pictures post sideways when they look okay when I upload them....Oh well. This is Thai Basil. Have you ever tried it? I love it with roasted potatoes. I just cut potatoes, add some garlic cloves and a few leaves of Thai basil. Sprinkle with salt/pepper and olive oil. Toss and throw in the oven at 400 and bake.

I also did regular basil. All I did was wash and dry everything. Pull the leaves off and put them on a paper towel. Lay in the microwave and turn it on for 30 seconds. Then another 30 seconds and then 10 second intervals until they were dry. Each herb was different but I don't recommend doing more than 30 seconds at a time. I did with my Parsley and I kind of had a fire in my micro...not a good thing!!
I dried sage and also froze some. All I do when I'm freezing is wash, dry and put in a Ziploc freezer bag. I leave those on the stems but I recommend taking the ones you are drying off the stems because that is what caught fire on the parsley. Live and learn!! This is the first time I have dried herbs this way and I am really happy with the results.
Sage and parsley while they were drying.
Below is the sage after I dried and crumbled it.

Finished product that I later labeled so I wouldn't forget what was in the jars. Sage, parsley (2 jars) and regular basil and the Thai basil below.
I didn't crumble the basil, just put it in the jars. I crumbled everything else. I froze Sage, Thyme, Oregano and Chives. Everything went in the Ziploc bags whole on the stems but the Chives I snipped in little pieces for adding to omelets, etc.