Don’t Let Your Herbs Go to Waste

There’s no good reason to watch a perfectly good herb garden disappear when the weather turns cold.

If you grew rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, basil, parsley, dill or other useful herbs this year, you already did the hard part. Now it’s time to put some of that harvest away for winter.

Done right, a few hours of work during the growing season can leave you with jars, bags and freezer containers full of herbs for soups, roasts, stews, sauces and seasoning long after the garden is finished.

And you don't need expensive equipment or a complicated system.

Start With the Herbs You Actually Use

Don't make the mistake of preserving everything just because you grew it.

Think about what you reach for when you're cooking. If you regularly use thyme on roast chicken, rosemary with potatoes and sage in hearty dishes, those are the herbs worth putting up.

Hardy herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano and marjoram are particularly well suited to drying. Parsley, cilantro and basil can be better candidates for freezing.

A little planning goes a long way. The goal isn't to fill your pantry with jars nobody will touch. The goal is to have the herbs you actually want when the garden is buried under snow.

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Pick Your Herbs at the Right Time

Harvest on a dry day after the morning dew has disappeared.

Late morning or afternoon is usually a good time. You want the leaves reasonably dry before you begin the preservation process.

Regular harvesting also helps many herb plants keep producing. Rather than stripping the entire plant at once, take manageable amounts throughout the season.

If the plants are beginning to flower, don't automatically throw the harvest away. Depending on the herb, trimming the flowering stems can encourage fresh growth.

Drying: The Old Standby

For many herbs, drying remains one of the simplest and most dependable ways to preserve the harvest.

Spread clean herbs in a single layer on trays, screens or paper towels. Give them plenty of air circulation and keep them somewhere dry and out of direct sunlight.

The big enemy is moisture.

Don't pile wet herbs into a heap and expect them to dry properly. Trapped moisture can lead to mold and spoilage.

A dehydrator can speed things up, but you don't necessarily need one. A well-ventilated drying area and a little patience can do the job.

Once the herbs are completely dry, strip the leaves from the stems if desired and store them in clean, airtight glass jars or tins.

And label the containers.

That may sound obvious, but once several dried herbs are sitting on a shelf, they can be surprisingly difficult to identify.

Don't Grind Everything Into Powder

There's another advantage to keeping dried herbs relatively intact: you can crush them as you need them.

Whole or larger dried leaves generally retain their character better than herbs that have been pulverized months before you use them.

Keep the containers sealed, stored away from heat and sunlight, and use the oldest herbs first.

Dried herbs can remain usable for a long time, but their strongest flavor and aroma are generally best during the first year.

Freezing Works Better for Some Herbs

Not every herb shines when dried.

Parsley and cilantro, for example, can be frozen in chopped form so they're ready to toss directly into a recipe.

Basil is another story. Simply freezing fresh basil leaves can leave you with a dark, limp mess when they thaw.

One practical approach is to chop basil and freeze it with olive oil in small portions. Once frozen, the portions can be added directly to sauces and other cooked dishes.

Use freezer-safe containers or bags and label everything with the herb and date.

Ice-cube trays are particularly handy because they give you small portions instead of one giant frozen block.

Make Your Own Cooking Cubes

You can also combine herbs that you commonly use together.

Try a mixture of chopped basil, oregano, parsley and thyme. Put a small amount into each section of an ice-cube tray, cover with olive oil and freeze.

When you're making tomato sauce, pasta, pizza or another cooked dish, pull out a portion and add it to the pan.

It's simple, inexpensive and saves you from digging through the freezer for several different containers.

A Few Other Uses for Your Harvest

Kitchen herbs aren't the only things worth preserving.

Dried lavender can be used in sachets for drawers and closets. Mint and other strongly scented herbs can be used for household projects and fragrances.

You can also dry flowers for decorative purposes or save suitable herbs for teas.

Just remember that herbs intended for medicinal use deserve more caution than herbs you're simply using as seasoning. Know the plant you're working with and use reputable guidance for any medicinal preparation.

Put Some Away Before the First Frost

The best time to think about winter herbs isn't after the garden has been killed by frost.

It's while the plants are still producing.

Take a little time each week to harvest, dry or freeze what you know you'll use. By the time cold weather arrives, you'll have built a useful reserve without turning preservation day into an all-day chore.

That's really the beauty of putting food by.

You grow it when conditions are right, preserve it while you have plenty, and use it when you need it.

A few jars of homegrown herbs sitting on the pantry shelf may not seem like much. But when winter comes and you can reach for something you grew yourself instead of buying another overpriced container at the store, you'll appreciate the work you put in months earlier.

Grow what you use. Save what you grow. Waste as little as possible.

That's a pretty good way to run a garden—and a household.

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