Snip Your Herbs: Use or Save for Winter

by Carol Kagan, Master Gardener



My Herb Garden July 2014

Another nice morning to work in the garden although at 7:30 am it was already a bit muggy.

Some C'munks in the Back Yard

Dale is alternating between munching on bird seed and raisins and chasing some other chipmunk around and out of the garden. I'm not quick enough with the camera to catch them running in and out of the petunias, daisies and herbs.

There seems to be a few new c'munks this year, hanging out in the back yard. Maybe they're scooting around front to munch on birdseed. We'll have to throw some out back, too.

 

The weather has been kind to the plants in my yard, providing just enough rain and warm weather. The herb bed, moved this year from the back raised bed due to black walnut contamination, is thriving.

Garden Sage

 The garden sage needed pruning so I took the opportunity to document what has become known as Maria's Drying Technique (after MG Maria G.). This is in preparation for the October 18 MG Workshop: Herbs 103: Harvesting, Preserving and Overwintering Herbs. *

Here's my first try at documenting this. The big picture is that the herbs, after washing and drying thoroughly, are wrapped in a paper towel and dried in the crisper or butter compartment of your refrigerator. This won't work with all that basil. Make pesto and freeze it.

After 2-3 weeks, the dried herbs can be removed and stored. The herbs dried with this method retain their color and do not turn that funky gray-brown like many of the air dried herbs.

Wash, dry thoroughly (Tip: Use a salad spinner to get most of the water off.), and carefully remove leaves from the stems. Place in a paper towel and fold up to a triangle. Fold the flaps in toward the center.

Fold the top triangle down past the bottom fold. Wrap the flap around to the back and tuck it in to form an envelope.

Close-up of the folded envelope

* Penn State Master Gardeners, Franklin County hold workshops all year. To register for a workshop, to get on the e-mailing or snail-mailing for information about workshops and events, call 717- 263-9226.

 

Here's a few of the upcoming workshops held at the Franklin County Ag Center, 181 Franklin Farm Rd. unless noted otherwise.

Sat, July 12:  Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head: 9-11 -Learn how to use rain barrels to store and use water in your garden. Make a rain barrel ($40) or just sit-in ($10) Deadline to register to make a rain barrel is July

Sat, August 2:  Succulents: 9-11 Learn how to grow and propagate these beautiful and nearly indestructible plants

Fun Events include

Sat, Aug 23: Tomato Tasting Day: 10-2pm Day change by popular demand!    Moved to Saturday- Open to the public. Free parking. Save the Date. Do blind taste tests of over 20 tomato varieties. Taste and vote in the Salsa Contest. See the winners of the ugliest tomato and the biggest tomato contest. Pick up some great tomato recipes. See and feed the ducks in the stream. Enjoy talking with Master Gardeners.

Sat, July 26 Summer Garden Experience: 9-1 pm -Tour the center, do tomato tasting which includes paste tomatoes this year, enjoy seminars; Speaker-Stephanie Cohen, Perennial Diva $10/carload– Located at 1446 Auction Rd Manheim, PA 17545