Preserving Fresh Herbs - Part 2

Before the frost in the next few weeks I'm scrambling to finish harvesting and preserving the fresh herbs from my garden. Herbs can be kept for a long time by drying or freezing (or transforming into another ingredient like a flavored oil or butter.) Some I scoop up and take indoors too - for example chives, parsley and basil. 




Most often herbs are kept for long periods by drying or freezing them. Some recommend using the oven or a dehydrator, but I find air drying is easiest, the least expensive, accessible to all, and keeps the flavor better. While air drying is a slow, the herb leaves should retain flavor oils than other methods mentioned. Microwaves can also start your herbs on fire (now that's a funny story to share some other time...) 

Formal Herb Garden - Dublin

How to Air Dry Herbs:

Preserving Fresh Herbs

It's no secret that I love to grow my own herbs. When harvesting fresh herbs it's best to nearly decimate the perennials - so that often leaves me (pun intended) with large quantities of herbs at one time. That has lead me to investigate different ways to preserve their freshness. Keeping herbs fresh is mostly about water - preserving water in the plant and avoiding excess condensation on the leaves to cause rot.

For the love of fresh Herbs!

Leafy herbs - like parsley, basil or mint, do not keep as long as non-leafy ones (like tarragon, rosemary, chives, thyme, or dill.) More large leaves gives greater surface area for water loss and space to capture moisture which lends to rot. So keep that in mint when you harvest or buy fresh.

Once during a class, a gentleman asked me when fresh herbs were no longer suitable for use. I wanted to say "when they don't look fresh" :? but instead the reply was when the leaves turn dark, dry out or any part of the plant begins to show traces of mold or rot.  

Not all herbs are equal - they need to be treated differently. 

Kitchen Scraps to Garden Treasure - Easy Plant Propagation

Starting plants from leftover scraps

Springtime and fellow gardeners are getting excited about planting seedlings. Seed starting is a key activity. This year I'm excited to be planting food scraps. Yes, there are a number of foods that you can grow from kitchen scraps. That's pretty great. The next best thing to buying local is not buying at all. Is this food recycling? It's nice to always have a home-grown supply of these items on my kitchen window sill or garden.  While it saves a little bit of money - it is also easy and fun! Kids that come over find it amazing.

To facilitate the process I use a plastic container from Costco apples. These little impressions are the perfect place to put the root end of celery, carrots, lettuce. Take a look at how this all works with examples of specific veggies. 

Here's my list herbs and veggies that I've (tried to) regrow from the scraps. Others listed at the bottom can be grown from seeds - but that's another story :)

Planning My Vegetable Garden

Home Grown Goodness! 

One of my favorite garden activities in the winter time is planning out the plantings for spring and summer. This year I'm getting more serious about the vegetable garden. That is because I'm eating lots more veggies this year :) and my neighbor cut down mature ash/elm trees which were along the property line and reducing the sun available to my garden.

Last year I broke my wrist in the spring so the vegetable garden never really got planted. It sat fallow all year. So this year it should be ready to burst forward with an abundance of produce!

There are many great resources for planning a vegetable garden. Advice for site selection, soil preparation, and more available. My task was selecting the plants and arranging them.

Harvesting Herbs for perfect flavor

Do you want to know when to harvest herbs from you garden? Here are tips I've garnered over the years. 

First off - is the herb something that you grow for the leaves, flowers, or seeds. That matters. For example, when harvesting (the evil) mint, pick the leaves you need. For thyme or rosemary you may take a whole sprig for putting with a roast. In other cases, like garlic, wait until the plant practically dies away and dig up the bulb. 

Tips for harvesting leafy herbs:

• When: Harvest as soon as the plant is established and frequently to encourage plants to produce new leaf growth. (Chicago would say early and often!). I like to cut herbs in mid-to late morning when they are no longer moist from dew and after I've figured out dinner plans in early evening ;)   In the heat of the day, if it's really hot, plants may droop a bit and harvesting at that time may harm the plant.  Especially with the hot summer's we've had lately.  

Make Your Own Herb Flavored Oil, Butter & Vinegar

I harvested my first crop of spring chives which is quickly followed by a flurry of kitchen activity making compound butters, flavored oil & vinegar and drying chopped chives.   The compound butter in particular makes a fun gift for foodies, it's easy to make, and comes in handy for quick / delicious meal preparation.  Below I've captured my thoughts on using fresh herbs in this way featuring chive blossom vinegar.

Spring Chive harvest - Using all parts to make Compound
butter and flavored vinegar

Compound or Herbal Butters

A great method for using fresh herbs is to make them into flavored butter. 

I've tried two techniques - 

Propagating Herbs - get more for less!

If you have a mature herb plant, multiply the joy and get more plants from the one you already have.  One way is with seeds - but I find collecting seeds challenging so I use cuttings, division, and layering to get more for less.   also included below some photos of very inspirational herb gardens!

Here are the recommended techniques for some common herbs. 

Source: thecafesucrefarine.com

• Basil (Ocimum basilicum) – stems will sprout roots in water. See the photo of sprouting basil. Check out this post for easy steps. 
• Bay  - take semi-ripe cuttings in late summer or early autumn. Divide suckers in spring. 
• Chives  - Divide bulb clumps in spring or autumn.
• Lavender - take softwood cuttings.
• Marjoram  - Take softwood cuttings in summer or divide in spring.
• Mint - Take softwood cuttings in summer. Rhizome cuttings in spring. Divide in spring.
• Oregano - Take softwood cuttings.
• Rosemary  - Take semi-ripe cuttings in late summer or heel cuttings in spring. Can be layered or mound-layered in summer.
• Sage  - Take heel cuttings or softwood cuttings in early summer. Layer after flowering. Mound layering in spring.
• French tarragon - Underground runners for root cuttings taken in spring. Divide mature plants every two to three years in spring
• Thyme  - Take softwood cuttings in late spring or summer. Simple layering in early autumn. Mound layering in spring.

Below is more of description of each of the techniques mentioned above. 

Container Gardens - Growing Herbs

Grow Your Own Fresh Herbs - Container Gardening

More recently as I teach Container Garden classes I'm asked specifically about growing herbs.  In particular small urban patio gardens and families with small children seem to enjoy this activity. I am an avid consumer of fresh, home grown herbs! Photo of harvest of mint, dill, parsley! Herb container gardening is a great way for new gardeners to dig in. There is a great satisfaction in serving delights from your garden. Plus the fragrance from herbs is wonderful. There are many herbs that I always grow in container (aka mint!) This year I'm putting more herbs and veggies in containers to make it easier to access from my kitchen! Planning container gardens is one of the many tasks on my Spring to-do list for my cold climate garden. 

Homemade Orange Flavored Cooking Oil

This time of year I always get a case of oranges from the store. We need that vitamin C! After exhausting the orange zest for every type of baked goods, and alternating using the rind for chicken recipes - today I thought I'd make flavored cooking oil. Adding a little orange brightness into the oil would add a special something to stir frys and many other dishes - and use up these rinds! Waste not want not.

Dried Orange Rinds

Low Heat Extraction of Orange Oil

I had already dried several days worth of orange rinds. I did not try to remove the whites at all - just rough chopped them a bit and then placed into a pan and popped onto the stove.  I placed roughly 3 cups of light oil in the pan and turned on low heat. I used corn oil - you could use anything. I had thoughts of using some coconut oil - wouldn't that be a fun combination?  

Strained Orange Flavored Oil

After leaving on low heat for a few hours I turned off the heat and let it cool down. Then strained the oil.  You can see the rinds turned brown and or white - perhaps I had the heat a bit too high.

The flavor of the oil does have a nice subtle zip of oranges! I'll call this experiment a success.

Thank you for being a grey, snowy and wet day which sparked my creativity!


I guess I should be singing something by Anita Bryant :)

Teresa Marie

Butternut Squash - skin irritant or natural beauty product?

It wasn't until a few months ago that I ever had fresh from the garden summer squash.  There was an upside and a downside. The upside was I started to dig in to learn a bit more about this plant and it's history plus I had discovered a plant that I enjoyed eating (I "hated" it as a child.)  On the downside I discovered some ill side-effects from handling the butternut squash - which also made me dig in and learn more. All of which I've summarized below. 

The summer squash, is native to Mexico and Central America. It was cultivated in the United States by Native Americans. Columbus and other early explorers introduced the squash back to Europe, where it became popular.  Most likely in part because of how long after harvest it would stay edible!  There are several hybrids and heirloom seeds out there. They seem to be pretty easy to grow (if you have the space.)

Butternut Squash that did me wrong :(

Butternut squash was the lucky squash that introduced me to how delicious and dangerous this plant can be. It's a summer squash of the "straight neck squash."  I didn't know that Butternut and Acorn squash can cause an allergic reaction when the squash skin is cut and exposed to the hands.  The first time I cut and peeled the squash within a few minutes I felt a tightness in the skin on my hands. I thought it was just the juice (or sap) from the squash drying on my hands. Then I realized that the flesh was staying moist after I cut it - it wasn't drying there, so probably not drying on my hands. Next I noticed that my hands were actually peeling from handling the squash. Revealing sensitive pink skin underneath.  Over the next few hours I scrubbed, rubbed, and picked at my hands until there were no more dry spots. It took a day or so for my hands to feel normal. 

Some articles say this is an allergic reaction (contact dermatitis - first noted in 1994 medical research), other articles say it is the sap drying on your hands. Too many online options - my experience, n=5, says something in the squash "juice" is a strong exfoliant, which may contribute to skin peeling.  The reaction to butternut or acorn squash, for me, was cracked skin, a sensation of "tightness" and "roughness." After the peeling completed my hands felt "sensitive" or "raw."  Applying lotion did not help me and even was a tad painful at that time.  Some people have developed blisters. I could definitely see this if peeling squash was your job! This reaction was immediate - within minutes of starting to handle the squash. By the next day, it was gone, creams and lotions felt great. Plus the skin on my hands was very soft :)

Please note - I also have contact allergies to cats, pine trees.... if that matters I don't know, just FYI.

I could not find any research that specifically identified the compound in the squash that triggers the reaction. There were studies that indicate it might be a reaction to a sugar or protein  Others that indicate that as the squash ages the potential for reaction declines (aging for weeks or months). This would make sense as the composition of the squash (in terms of sugars and proteins) would be changing as the fruit matures. Researchers conclude that the allergic contact dermatitis to the squash species Cucurbita moschata, including butternut squash, Kentucky field pumpkin, and calabaza pumpkin - can vary highly. The outer skin of the squash is not a trigger reaction so it's only cutting and handling the internal moist portions that are the problem. So it can be avoided. 

The best way to avoid squash sensitivity is to 

1. Let the squash age a bit before you cut/prepare it
2. Wear rubber or latex gloves while cutting the squash. 

It may seem strange - but I went for the gloves tonight as I prepared butternut squash. And there was no problems at all, no skin reaction. Just clumsy knife skills. Look at how stained the gloves were? Wow that would have been all over my hands.

Proper Butternut Squash Handling technique - Latex

Squash residue on gloves - great protection barrier

BTW - don't you just love the mushroom tiles in my kitchen (NOT!)

All the best - happy growing and cooking.

Today I can't get the sound of jingle bells out of my mind.

Teresa Marie