#herb drying

Mosquito ward!

[herb drying extended]

Herb drying(link)

Answering Benji in an extension to my last post on the topic!

best method, best tea

depending on the herb you use to make your tea, any of the three methods i talked about can work just fine for making a tea blend from.

it's most a matter of time as each method and plant have a different time span of drying out.

air drying by hanging is likely the longest but is most commonly used for flowering herbs like lavender or even sage, mainly for the lingering scent they give off while hanging.

you could very well use the microwave method for a faster batch of dried herbs.

when it comes to the herb youre using for tea, leaves and buds could be crushed up or steeped whole, so regardless of the method you choose however you go about making your tea from dried herbs is fine and completely up to you.

of course things like how ling they sit to dry and loose theor moisture can effect how they might taste when sitting in hot water but not by very much, the amount of time they sit in the water can be recommended differently depending on the plant or part of said plant as well.

its perfectly fine to experiment until you find the right combination that you like best.

there are plenty of other methods for drying tea herbs as well, some onclude the oven rather than the microwave or the stove, or you can use tools like a dehydrator if you have one. no one method is best over all, its very much up to opinion.

whatever method you find best is a-okay.

moldy stash

how can herbs expire after storing and drying if the idea is to do that so they last longer?

a lot of things have a different length of shelf life, canned goods included.

if you dont keep your herbs tightly seald and stored awat from sunlight and moisture, you risk them rotting amd molding. they are dead plants after all and dead plants do eventually rot away at some point.

the average shelf life for dried leafy herbs is 1-3 years before it looses its flavor, 4 years for seeds and a week to 6 months for fresh (ground) spices. salt is really the only thing that lasts indefinitely.

after the dried herbs loose their flavor theres really no use keeping them around as anything with them will just taste bland or very very mild if at all.

the herbs will start to lose their colour and brown after being stored for that long so its best to throw them away at the 3 year mark.

i hope this helped! if theres anything else i can expand on please let me know.

@benji-screem @kodiescove @writingbrainrot

(thought you might like to see)

For the fullest flavor, harvest herbs before they flower. If you've been harvesting branches all season, your plants probably never get a chance to flower. However, by late summer, even herbs that have not flowered will start to decline as the weather cools. This is a good time to begin harvesting and drying your herbs

How to:

-Cut healthy branches from your herb plants.

-Remove any dry or diseased leaves. Yellowed leaves and leaves spotted by a disease are not worth drying. Their flavor has already been diminished by the stress of the season.

-Shake the branches gently to remove any insects. There are always hitchhikers and since you won't be thoroughly washing the stems, you want to get rid of as many as you can now.

-If you've picked your herbs while the plants are dry, you should be able to simply shake off any excess soil. Rinse with cool water only if necessary and pat dry with paper towels. Hang or lay them out where they will get plenty of air circulation, so they can dry out quickly. Wet herbs will mold and rot.

-Remove the lower leaves along the bottom inch or so of the stem. You can use these leaves fresh or dry them separately.

-Bundle 4 - 6 stems together and tie as a bunch. You can either use a string or a rubber band. -The bundles will shrink as they dry and the rubber band will loosen, so check periodically that the bundle is not slipping. Make small bundles if you are trying to dry herbs with high water content, so they get air flow between the branches and do not rot.

-Punch or cut several holes in a paper bag. Label the bag with the name of the herb you are drying

-Place the herb bundle upside down into the bag. You can include the loose leaves you removed from the bottom inch of the stems if you like.

-Gather the ends of the bag around the bundle and tie closed. Make sure the herbs are not crowded inside the bag.

-Hang the bag upside down in a warm, airy room. -Check in about two weeks to see how things are progressing. Keep checking weekly until your herbs are dry enough to crumble and ready to store.

When to Harvest Your Herbs for Drying -For the fullest flavor, harvest herbs before they flower. If you've been harvesting branches all season, your plants probably never get a chance to flower. However, by late summer, even herbs that have not flowered will start to decline as the weather cools. This is a good time to begin harvesting and drying your herbs. -Cut branches in mid-morning. Let the morning dew dry from the leaves, but pick before the plants are wilting in the afternoon sun. -Do not cut the entire plant, unless you plan on replacing it. You should never cut back by more than two-thirds or remove more than about one-third of a plant's branches at one time. Storing dried herbs: 

-Store your dried herbs in airtight containers. Small canning jars work nicely. Zippered plastic bags will do as well.

-Be sure to label and date your containers.

-Your herbs will retain more flavor if you store the leaves whole and crush them when you are ready to use them.

-Discard any dried herbs that show the slightest sign of mold. It will only spread.

so as you can see, i foraged and found some chickory and lemon verbena today. unfortunately i only had my purse to store em in, and taking them home took a HOT second, so... they got a leetle wilty. im trying a new way of drying them though!!!

folded it up in a paper towel, put in a bowl, and...

... placed in the hot, hot Californian sun. hopefully theyll be dry by dusk.

Drying Basil should be EASY and the flavor retained!