I have an herb garden in my yard. It was newly planted this year so I am new at this. Can I harvest the herbs now before they freeze? If I do, Do I freeze them or do I dry them and freeze them or do I dry them and place them in a jar?
I have parsley, rosemary, thyme, mint, sage, basil, lavender etc.
Thank you so much!
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I am not an expert, but I would say drying would be the best way of preparing your herbs. I am sure you are going to enjoy the freshness of your herbs. Good luck.
yes you can harvest them now.
for best results, dry them well and put them in a dark, airtight container, and use within 3-6 months. if properly dried, they will usually remain good indefinitely, but will lose some of their fresh flavor after about 6 months.
you can freeze them also, but it is not my favorite way to go, it seems to me to steal some of the flavor and is not as convenient as drying or using oils.
another option is to put them in oil (like olive oil) and let them stay there for about a month, then remove the herbs by straining the oil through a very fine sieve. you will then have a nicely flavored oil that can be used for cooking.
here is more info:
http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/DryingHerbs.htm
Herb Gardening – How to Dry and Store Your Fresh Garden Herbs
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/greenline/i1289_384.html#11
The Green Line
http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/FreezeHerbs.htm
Herb Gardening – Preserving Herbs by Freezing
http://world.std.com/~krahe/oils.html
Flavoring Olive oils with herbs
nuke em and place in zip lock bag. last up to 6 months
Go ahead and cut them or harvest them. Rinse them off and dry very thoroughly:
1) toss in ziplock bag and freeze (label with black marker) or
2) dry, dry, dry on a paper towel (absorbs moisture) then toss in labeled bag & put into cupboard with your spices. I put my dryed out herbs in cupboard; easier to find.