August 1, 2014

Dried oregano

I use a lot of oregano in kitchen.
So I was almost overjoyed,
when I got a division of seedling from the lady next door few years ago.
And this particular one was part of her mother's plant.
So it has seen hard winters, hot and dry summers
all the possible weathers and survived.


I am usually late picking it up,
and even though I very well know,
that all herbs will be better if picked up in mornings,
I really don't have time to do it then.

And I also know it should picked up before blooming,
but quite often I may find out blooming has started already...

Even with braking these rules,
I have got great oregano for winter.


I have tested drying in oven with low heat,
but they burn easy,
and get a little bitter taste.

So I spread them on baking paper and let dry in the air:


Last year I separated leaves before drying,
but it took ages, I can tell you!

So now they were lying down 
and after a week 
(it has been un-normally hot lately)
I just striped leaves into jar.
It was fast and easy,
and I will do the same for peppermint, for sure.

I also hanged some,
but I didn't felt it any more effective way.
They look nice,
but how much dust they will collect if they are kept this way?


So they all went into jars waiting for winter:


Peppermint is already put on paper...


See the flower buds?

2 comments :

  1. please let me start by saying i love your owl a lot, i find drying herbs a pain because i don't have space to spread them and if i hang them they fall down haha xx

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, I love that owl, too - just because it shows clearly, how my gardening is going :-)
      Right now I am having better space for drying than I used to have, but earlier I used even form boxes, which I think are quite practical for drying, because they doesn't take so much room. Ikea Dokument is great.

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