Drying Herbs

dried mint leaves

Drying herbs the old fashioned way is the easiest thing in the world. All you need to do is to make a bundle, tie twine or thread around the stems and hang the upside down somewhere warm and dry. When we were kids, my mum used to tie all sorts of herbs and flowers and hang them in the attic under the eaves.

big bunch of mint drying

Last week a friend gave me an enormous bunch of mint. Yes, I know it looks like bundle of weeds, but if only we could photograph smells, you'd be yearning for a mojito right now! When drying herbs, I hang them on cute pink hooks off the side of the freezer, where it is nice and warm. In this Summer weather they dry super quickly.

Here's some I dried earlier in the year. I store the aromatic leaves in larger mason jars to keep the moisture out. They make fabulous, digestive tea. Pop 2 or 3 into a mug, add water that has gone off the boil and leave to infuse for a few minutes.

rosemary ice cube

If you have nowhere suitable to dry herbs, or don't like the look of them hanging up, you can freeze them instead. To learn how, please refer to my older post 'Herby Ice Cubes.'