Your fresh herb growing is now hopefully in full swing and its time for us to look at preserving fresh herbs by freezing or preserving fresh herbs by drying.

Hopefully like me you will want to preserve your fresh herbs for later use. Lets face it, growing and preserving your own herbs means you could be eating your own tasty herbs all year round without ever having to buy them from a supermarket again.

Well that’s what we would like to achieve, isn’t it? If the answer is ‘yes’, read on!

Five step guide to drying your fresh herbs Virgin Gardener style!

1. Cut herbs carefully with pair of scissors
2. Shake and wash to remove bugs
3. Dry with kitchen roll
4. Use string and tie stems together
5. Hang upside down in a warm place and dry

When tying the stems together I put between 4 and 8 stems of herbs in a bunch depending on how bushy they were, and do make sure the herbs are dry after washing to avoid any rotting.

The herbs should be ready when the stalks and leaves are brittle, then all you need to do is remove the leaves and break them up by hand or gently with a rolling pin. There you have it, your very own dry herbs!

Remember to obtain some airtight glass jars to store the dried herbs. If, like us you have bought herbs from the supermarket before, why not re-use those glass jars.

Other tips you may find of use which I have learnt post drying include firstly blanching fresh herbs before hanging because it preserves the flavour. Secondly whilst crushing can be therapeutic, dont crush your herbs into submission and instead leave bigger pieces which will also help retain the flavour for longer.

Do you have any hints or tips on drying or preserving fresh herbs?