How To Use Herbs 
While leaf herbs are at their best freshly gathered 
from the garden, seeds used for pickling and baking 
must be dried before using. After the ripe seeds are 
easily pulled from the heads, wash them and spread 
them on a tray or screen in the sun to dry. Drying may 
be done in a cool oven but it is well to leave them 
Open to the air for several days before storing in 
air-tight containers.Large stems are removed by passing 
the seeds through a series of coarse strainers or 
sieves. Anise,Caraway,Dill,Fennel and Sesame are sprink- 
led whole on cookies and rolls before baking. Coriander 
must be crushed and ground fine to extract the flavor 
from the nut-like kernels inside the shell. The other 
seeds may be ground also for mixing in batters and 
doughs. 
Leaf herbs produce the greatest amount of volatile 
flavor-bearing oils just before the plants flower. The 
optimum time to cut the foliage for drying,is on a 
clear day,after the dew has dried off the plants but 
before the sun has dissipated the oils. However it is 
possible to use the annuals fresh all summer and then 
pull them up,cut close to the roots and hang the whole 
plants in an airy place out of the sun to dry. Sage 
and Thyme should not be cut too late as they need their 
tops to go through the winter. Frequent clipping of 
leafy tips can be made at intervals during the summer. 
The herbs are spread on screens to dry,stirring daily. 
In one to two weeks they should be crisp enough to 
crumble and store. Finishing off in a cool oven is per- 
missable here too. Use only one quarter as much dried 
herbs as fresh,as when dried they are much concentrated. 

