Does anyone have a herb garden growing? maybe an Aerogarden? What do you use all the herbs…?
Posted by pano | Under Herb Garden Thursday Jun 3, 2010…in? What do you do with any
extra that you have too much of? How can you preserve different herbs? How can they freeze? How do you dry them? basil, mint, thyme are the three I need to be able to preserve. Give me your ideas and what has worked for you. I keep mine in a paper towel in refrig for short term. But I need longer storage ideas, as we can’t use it all up quick enough. Please help
And you could try to make a basic sauce with your excess. You can freeze other herbs, but I’ve always found the essential oils tend to degrade. I keep mint sprigs in the regrigerator in a glass or vase of water; only last a short time, but longer than in a paper towel. I have made infusions—herbs in olive oil or mild vinegars. You can dry them (naturally or in a very low temp oven) and store them in airtight (they need to be completely dry) containers at room temp. Any processing you do will degrade the herbs some, but they’ll still taste better than the stuff in McCormick’s jars.
Outside of chives, I’ve never really tried herbs over winter. Never tried the Aerogarden, but have used a growlight setup for seed starting, and it would probably work. I’ve usually just enjoyed them fresh in season; makes you anxious to get back to the garden come spring to start anew. ‘Course, I don’t know if you have a winter.