Drying Herbs at Home

I am growing more herbs this year and using them more often in my cooking. Fresh herbs can add amazing flavor to many dishes and I'm looking forward to experimenting. Recently I visited my CSA farm and picked up some fresh mint, oregano, chives and thyme. I got so much that I knew I couldn't use it all before it spoiled so I pulled out my husband's neglected dehydrator and attempted to dry herbs for the first time.

Our Dehydrator

Joe uses this dehydrator a couple times a year to make beef jerky. The rest of the time it sits up on a shelf. This year I'm growing more things so I'm going to get more use out of the thing.

First I washed and dried the herbs and then set them out on the trays. I had enough mint for 2 trays and the other things got one tray. I stacked them up, plugged in the dehydrator and let them dry all day. I rotated the trays a couple of times for even drying. The thyme became brittle and dried quickly while the leafy mint took much longer. My house smelled very interesting during this process.

5 trays of herbs

After they were all dry and brittle I crushed them up and placed them in clean spice jars I'd saved. Now I've got organic, dried spices waiting in my cupboard for the next time they are needed. The mint is the one I'm not totally sure about what I'll do. I think I'll make tea with it but I need to find the right recipe.

Anyone else dry their own herbs? What do you dehydrate?

This post is featured on: Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Your Green Resource.

Community Supported Agriculture

On Saturday I took my oldest son Zane and headed to Richmond to visit Green Earth Farm. This year our family bought a CSA share in the farm and we went to visit for the first time and pick up some early produce.

When you are part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) you pay an upfront cost at the beginning of the growing season and in exchange you get a weekly share of the farm's crops. This means that from June to October I'll get a weekly box containing a variety of fresh picked heirloom produce that is certified naturally grown.

I first joined a CSA in 2010 and often got vegetables I had never cooked with before. This year I'm more prepared and excited to try new recipes when the weird veggies show up. I'm growing my own garden too and hoping I get lots of good things from it but for variety I'm excited to see what my CSA farm will provide.

First we went to the hoop house to check out what was growing. This hoop house is great for protecting the tender veggies and extending the growing season. Zane was anxious to explore everything so we didn't stay in there long.

Zane took one picture of me...I took thirty of him. That's parenting, right?

Zane enjoyed the tire swing next to the goat pen. A lot of kids were swinging on it at first so he had to wait a while to get it to himself.

There were lots of free range poultry running around. I had to restrain Zane from chasing them.

Here's all the fresh picked produce that was the main reason for our visit. Our kind farmers told us to take as much as we wanted so that's what we did. We had leafy lettuces, kale, swiss chard, mint, chives, thyme and oregano to choose from. I had planned on homemade pizza for dinner Saturday night and it got spiced up when I added oregano and thyme to the toppings and of course we had to added a leafy lettuce salad to the meal..

The weekend outing ended up being just what I needed to calm my soul and get me in touch with nature. It was fun to go with just my oldest son and explore the farm together.

To find a farmers' market or CSA in your area, search the site Local Harvest.