Every year I love discovering and growing an ever expanding range of herbs in my backyard square foot garden. There are endless varieties of herb seeds available online and in person, presenting both experienced and novice growers alike the annual delight of diversifying their crops. Of course a large variety of common herb seedlings can be found every spring anywhere from garden nurseries to corner stores - parsley, dill, thai basil, italian oregano, and the like - but the most unusual and interesting herbs must be grown directly from seed, that is, unless you have a herbal emporium nearby (which I don’t, unfortunately).
Choosing herb varieties and rearing them from seed is more economical over time than buying specialized seedlings, and is indeed part of the fun of the whole herb growing enterprise. Searching through eagerly anticipated seed catalogues and saved online links for those special varieties that whet the appetite and tickle one’s culinary fancy, waiting for the seeds to arrive in the mail, and then watching those miraculous ovules spring forth into the tender new growth that will eventually yield novel and flavoursome harvests; these are the pleasures that await the curious and adventurous herb gardener.
Every discovery of unusual seeds comes with its own unique set of beguiling characteristics that may guide a grower to choose a specific herb in particular; a humorous if antiquated name, such as Married Man’s Pork - a rare culinary basil from Guyana, the pleasure of savouring the delightfully rendered herbal history of the medieval Cilician Parsley, or the burst of fragrance that unexpectedly arises when the first tender seedlings of Tulsi are handled when repotting.
Once the seedlings have grown and are ready to be planted out into the garden, they merrily grow away with little care except for the usual needs of the garden, and before too many sunnier months have passed, everything from the tender, and delicate slow growing varieties, to the large and unruly bushes of hardy herbs, are ready to be savoured. There is something just so incredibly satisfying about preparing a meal and just popping out into the backyard with a small bowl and a pair of scissors, to clip a selection of fresh herbs that will be used moments from when they were picked. Having access to fresh herbs makes it much easier to incorporate them into any meal, instead of waiting to buy a bunch of something from the greengrocers or supermarket.
However, the zeal to grow large amounts or many varieties of herbs also presents its own tasty dilemma - there is usually just too much to use in a season ! Even a small store-bought seedling can turn into an oppressive bounty that stymies even the most tenacious cook - such as the single Perilla plant I bought this year that has literally turned into something monstrous, over generously providing me with more leaves than I could use even if I cooked with them every single day (which I don’t!).
The antidote to this most welcome, if sometimes vexing, challenge is to use one of a number of methods of herbal preservation to save your harvest for use throughout the year, especially for those residents of locales where the colder months do not allow fresh herbs to survive outside. Drying fresh herbs and their edible seeds provides one such solution.
Why dry herbs and seeds ?
You would not be remiss in thinking, but do I really have time for this? I myself have even fallen into this thinking trap, when overwhelmed by masses of herbs I know I will regret wasting, yet still feeling that dealing with the situation will take too much time. I have found that preserving herbs in a variety of forms, in this case drying, presents another pleasure for the herb grower - the chance to slow down and deeply appreciate the very herbs you have worked so hard to select and grow, presenting an opportunity to practice a kind of herbal mindfulness. As you pick through dried coriander or dill seeds, or wrap fragrant bundles of fresh green herbs and find yourself enveloped in sweet, spicy, and perfumed fragrances as the leaves release their volatile oils - this is one of multiple reasons why it is worth drying herbs and seeds.
What seemed like too much time at the outset turns out to be a gift to one’s self, a chance to quiet a busy or troubled mind, to allow the senses to really turn on, and to prepare something that will help to nourish us and our families in the times ahead, if only in the small gifts of flavour that the herbs impart. I won’t easily forget the first year I collected a tiny harvest of coriander seeds, after all the cilantro leaves had been harvested. As I picked the dried seeds from their stalks, my mind turned to all the women, and growers, and gardeners, and farmers who had performed the same task I was completing, for millennia before me. I enjoyed noticing how plain and unassuming the dried seeds looked, knowing how piquant yet earthy the flavour of ground coriander seed truly is. The time it took to collect and pick out the dried seeds wasn’t too long in the end, and I saved my small treasure to make an Ottolenghi dish for a special family meal. I revelled in the alluring, sweet, and spicy fragrance of the toasting seeds as I prepared them for the recipe, and noted the feeling of quiet satisfaction as I ate the dish, knowing where the spice I had used came from, how it was made, and that I had done so myself. Perhaps small moments and small pleasures in the scheme of life, but these small moments all add up.
As I love experimenting with different kinds of herbs, I can’t possibly grow every herb I love or want to grow every season. A few years ago I grew a few interesting Mexican herbs, such as pepicha and epazote, but as I don’t use those herbs all the time, I didn't grow them again the following year. Drying a harvest of certain herbs one year allows me to continue to enjoy their flavours in dried form for a longer period of time, while also allowing me to diversify my planting the following year with another set of seed choices.
Another important reason to dry herbs and seeds for culinary use is to broaden the practice of self-sustainability, of connecting the labour we do in our gardens with tangible results, and allowing us a small sense of self sufficiency through doing so. One small thyme plant harvested and dried means I don’t buy commercial dried thyme for an entire year; it’s one less thing to buy, one less set of packaging materials used up, it’s more economical, and, homemade dried thyme is definitely better!
How to dry fresh herbs
Happily, drying herbs for future use is easily done, and you don’t need masses of herbs to do so - even the leftovers from a bunch of store bought herbs or a modest harvest from your own garden is worth saving. Herbs that are slightly woodier, such as rosemary, thyme, and oregano are great candidates for drying in this way, and their flavour seems to be preserved more intensely than parsley or basil for example, which benefit from being preserved in oil, in pestos or purees, or in vinegar. Some softer herbs, such as pepicha, epazote, nepitella, zaatar, marjoram, and some varieties of basil, can be dried with good results.
To dry herbs, simply clip your herbs at the base of their stems - making sure you get the longest lengths possible - and gather them into manageable bunches. If you find your herbs are especially dirty you can choose to wash and dry them first, but to be honest, I never find it necessary, and as my garden is completely organic, I know that a few stray particles of dirt is usually the only thing on my harvests. Using paper twine, which can be recycled, or natural jute or hemp twine, which you can later reuse, tie the small bunch at its base as tightly as you can, as once the herbs start to dehydrate you will find the bunch becomes looser, so the tighter to start with, the better. I like to make little tags using scrap paper and a hole-puncher with the name of the herb on it, as once they are dried, many herbs start to look alike and I can’t always tell what something is just by tasting it dried. As you are bunching and tying your herbs you will find yourself immersed in an aura of soothing herbal aromas, an experience itself that is ample reward for your efforts.
Once your bunches are tied, find a dark and dry place to hang your herbs - I simply hang them off a metal storage rack in my basement. Once the herbs are well and truly dried - a dried leaf should crumble between your fingers and be close to crunchy in texture - it’s time to process the dried herbs. Lay out a piece of kitchen paper or some other smooth and clean surface and gently shake the bunch over top - quite a bit of the leaves should fall off. Then, just go in and rustle the leaves away from the stems, picking off larger leaves like rosemary from the stem, or even running your fingers along the stems for delicate herbs like thyme. I personally don’t care if small bits of stem get into the mix, but if you wish, you can pick them out until you have a clean pile of dried leaves. Use a clean and dry glass jar to bottle them up, label with the name and date, and store in your dark cupboard.
Drying seeds and flowers
To date, I have harvested a number of seeds for culinary use from my garden; so far I have had success collecting and drying coriander seeds, fennel seeds, dill seeds, and garlic chive seeds.
To dry seeds from your own garden, you need a little bit of patience before you get to the drying stage. For example, if you are growing cilantro, you will need to wait until the seed heads form on your plant, and then wait for the seeds themselves to start to brown before you can begin your harvest. This is also true for fennel and dill, although in the case of garlic chives, the seeds become black in colour, not brown.
Once your seeds of choice have browned - you will know it is time as they will appear dry-ish, definitely not green, and seem browner in colour, you can place a small bowl or paper bag under the seed head and clip the seed head using scissors. I usually then just tip the contents of the bowl or bag into a small wooden bowl for example, and leave the seeds to dry for a week or so on the counter in the sun.
Once the seeds seem dry to the touch, with no trace of moisture about them or any attached stems, I follow the same procedure as picking dried herbs: laying out a piece of kitchen paper or some other smooth and clean surface and gently separating the seeds from their seed heads or attached stems. Use a clean and dry glass jar to bottle them up, label with the name and date, and store in your dark cupboard. Even if your harvests are quite modest, as mine usually are, they will surely satisfy and delight you when you enjoy them in a special dish in the months to come.
While you are in the garden, look for other edible treasures that you may want to dry - I have dried fennel pollen, borage flowers, chamomile petals, calendula flowers, basil flowers, oregano flowers, and garlic chive flowers, amongst other garden discoveries. While these items may not offer much in the way of nutritional value, I have found they certainly bolster the senses and make special dishes that much more memorable if not flavoursome. I recently used dried flowers from last year’s garden as a garnish on a dessert made for a friends’ pre-wedding celebration, a unique and homegrown touch that added to the meaning of the dish and it’s beauty.
If you're ready to daydream about which herbs to grow next year, my current favourite herb seed vendors are Farmacie Isolde, West Coast Seeds, and Richters Herbs.
Rosie Jeffares
Your florist neighbour certainly agrees that dried edible flowers made a meaningful garnish! Your food was unforgettable - beautiful and delish'.
daraeats
Thank you Rosie! (and I'm sorry I didn't reply to this sooner!)