Drying Herbs

I love growing herbs. I love the textures, flavors and fragrances. Weeding my herb bed is one of my favorite gardening tasks. These are plants that are fun to bump into.

I use fresh herbs occasionally in cooking. I often keep a pot of herbs by the door for a quick sprig of parsley or chives.

But mostly I just grow herbs for the fun of it. Several times a friend has walked through my herb garden and asked how I use a particular plant. "I don't use it, I just grow it," if my usual reply. It sounds ridiculous. I have several thriving oregano plants yet I purchase dried oregano at the store. My mint bed is flourishing but winter time finds me buying dried mint for my hot tea.

Part of the problem is that I never think of drying herbs for winter use until fall. By then the leaves are wilted and ragged. This year I was determined to plan ahead.


I borrowed my mom's dehydrator  (still have not purchased my own) and went on an herb drying binge. I picked the herbs in the morning as soon as the dew dried from the plants. I did not wash them as they are not sprayed and I'm not worried about a bug or two.


I stripped the leaves from the  stems, placed them on the dehydrator trays and turned it on.

The aroma in the kitchen was wonderful!


The leaves dried in only a few hours.


A dehydrator is not necessary. In the past I have dried a few herbs in the attic. But I usually would forget about them until they were dusty and I didn't feel that the flavor was best. I am trying the dehydrator method in hopes to keep more flavor.


Once the leaves were very crunchy dry, I placed them in sealed bags and jars. Label everything well as dried leaves all start to look the same after a while.  I plan to keep the leaves whole until winter, then I'll grind just what I need to refill my spice containers. I'm even hoping to experiment with making some seasoning mixes like Italian seasoning.

I know that dried herbs don't cost that much. You can get them at the dollar store for very little. But I'm thrilled to finally be putting my herb garden to use and being able to grow one more item that I normally purchase. Of course, I'll still need to purchase the exotic spices like cinnamon and nutmeg that I'll never be able to grow in PA!

Do you dry your own herbs? Anything I should know?