It’s that time of year when firewood is prepared, critters seek refuge in homes and produce from gardens is stored for winter use. If your herbs are anything like mine, they will produce far more than you can possibly use before they develop flowers and go to seed. What to do with that abundance?

Throughout the summer I cut my herbs before they flower to be dried and stored for later use. I clip the stem using scissors or small pruning sheers, leaving about 3-4 inches of the parent stem. The parent stem then regrows, giving you more herbs in about 3-4 weeks time. (Or sooner during a prolific summer) The only herb I do not do this to is cilantro. I’ve never had success drying cilantro while retaining its flavor. With this delicious herb, I select about half of the plantings to go to seed, to be saved for next year’s planting or ground into coriander, and use or give away frequent cuttings from the remaining half.

The hanging method is one of my favorite ways to dry herbs. Seeing them when I walk into my kitchen just feels homey. It’s time consuming to wrap each stem just right, so that when they begin to dry and shrink down, they don’t fall into the sink below. I use saved twist ties for the task and have found them to work well over the years. After the herbs have dried out enough to crumble with slight pressure, I carefully remove them, holding a bowl underneath to catch any mishaps. Then untie or slip off the twist ties, saving for later use. I save and wash the containers my store-bought spices have come in, and reuse those to house my homegrown dried herbs.

Not having a dehydrator, I spent some time researching how our recent ancestors dried their herbs for later use. Hanging is the most obvious method. There is also the screen method. Place fresh cut herbs on a clean screen and allow them to dry in the sunshine. Surprise pop-up storms and clumsy kids have set back my testing, but I am hoping to post my results from that method soon!