HOW ABO 



HERBS 



Preserving Summer for Winter's Use 



Tanya Jackson 



The next time a customer asks 

 "Does this herb dry well?" be 

 prepared with the answer 



For culinary use, it's best to dry 

 them as quickly as possible in a 

 dehydrator and store them in a 

 container as soon as they are thor- 

 oughly dried Much of the time, the 

 dried herbs available commercially 

 are better. Many are "freeze-dried " 

 or at least dried quickly enough to 

 allow the flavor to remain. It's diffi- 

 cult to air-dry herbs well at home 

 As romantic as it is to see them 

 hanging from the beams of a ceiling 

 or around a fireplace, are these the 

 herbs — full of dust and spiders — 

 you want to cook with? If you do 

 choose to air-dry culinary herbs, 

 store them as soon as they are 

 crisp, finishing them off in an oven 

 if necessary 



Herbs will dry in the microwave, 

 but you'll need to stand right there, 

 watching over each small batch. Lay 

 the sprigs side by side, nor piled 

 up or in layers. Paper towels 

 should be underneath and loosely 

 laid over the herbs to be dried. 

 Then do the drying in small incre- 

 ments of 10-20 seconds, repeating 

 until the herbs are crisp, but not 

 overdone 



There are, of course, exceptions 

 The culinary thymes air-dry very 

 well. One of my favorites is the 

 oregano thyme. It dries green and 

 flavorful and keeps its flavor and 

 fragrance for a long time. 



People have told me that if you 

 have a frost-free refrigerator, you 

 can hang small bunches of herbs 

 inside along the walls and that the 

 air that keeps the refrigerator free 

 of frost also dries the herbs. I was 

 amazed, but it works. Simply hang 

 them there until they are dry — 

 which depends on how full your 

 fridge is and how big the bundles. 

 Small bundles work best. 



Herbs should not be crushed un- 

 til you are ready to use them, as 

 the oils quickly dissipate from the 

 crushed leaves' many surfaces. Sim- 

 ply put the dry sprigs in a con- 

 tainer and close tightly, then store 

 in a dark cool place The best con- 

 tainer is glass, as this won't take on 

 the flavors of the herbs. Keep your 

 eye on the container for a few days 

 to make sure no droplets of mois- 

 ture appear on the inside of the 

 glass. If this happens, empty out 

 the herbs and dry them a bit more — 

 an oven on pilot light works well 



Many herbs are simply better 

 when frozen. After first washing 

 them and patting them nearly dry, I 

 freeze chives, sorrel, tarragon, and 

 parsley in small sandwich bags. 

 (Don't forget to label them!) I usu- 

 ally freeze basil as pesto or at least 

 with some olive oil to keep it from 

 turning black On a winter day, it's 

 hard to beat a plate of pasta gener- 

 ously dollopped with emerald 

 green basil pesto! 



Of course, drying herbs is not 

 just for the cook. The art of crafting 

 leaves and flowers into wreaths, 

 swags, and such has been around 

 for thousands of years. Homes in 

 the Victorian era in particular were 

 filled with such art. 



It's necessary to grow lots of dif- 

 ferent plants for this craft and to 

 purchase some as well The harvest 

 begins as soon as the gardening 

 season begins. Some plants must 

 be harvested almost as soon as 

 they make their blossoms because 

 if you wait, the flowers open up too 

 much and will be too fragile for 

 use Chive flowers are a good ex- 

 ample. If you decide to use them, 

 dry them when they are only par- 

 tially opened. 



A list of herbs used for crafts 

 might include any of the following; 

 alliums, dill flowerheads and seeds. 



bay leaves and branches, baptista 

 seed pods, bee balm, calendula, 

 common sage, flax seed heads, Joe 

 Pye weed, lady's mantel, nigella (lav- 

 ender, of course), common oregano 

 (with a pink/purple flower), pop- 

 pies. Queen Anne's lace, tansey... 

 the list goes on. All are considered 

 herbs; some have become weeds. 



I recommend an excellent book 

 on the subject, written by Barbara 

 Radcliffe Rogers of Richmond, New 

 Hampshire. The Encyclopedia oj Ever- 

 lastings covers just about everything 

 and includes basic instructions on 

 all the main methods of drying: air 

 drying, silica gel and sand, press- 

 ing, and even drying by watering! 



This last method is useful for a 

 flower or leaf that needs to dry 

 slowly in order to preserve its color 

 or shape. It is placed in a container 

 with only about two inches of water 

 in the bottom of it. As the water 

 evaporates, the stems (cut at an 

 angle) absorb a little — which slows 

 the drying process and preserves 

 the color I use this method totally 

 by accident when I get so busy that 

 I forget to take care of a bouquet. 

 This is how I discovered that tulips 

 and daffodils dry very well. It took 

 nearly a month, but their color was 

 excellent and a drop of glue at the 

 base of each tulip held the petals 

 fast. 



There are herbs and flowers from 

 all over the world that work well in 

 dried arrangements and crafts, just 

 as there are culinary herbs from ev- 

 erywhere for use in your kitchen. It 

 excites me that such a world opened 

 up to me so many years ago when I 

 first discovered gardening I hope 

 you will help your customers dis- 

 cover the same world by helping 

 them when they have questions. 



Tanya \ackson, a well-known area herbal- 

 ist, can be reached at 603-431-6774. 



28 



THE PLANTSMAN 



