'Herbes de Provence'

While the herbs from your garden are best when used freshly picked, only a few hardy herbs like rosemary and sage can be picked year round. Harvesting your garden herbs in early autumn for drying, freezing or oil infusion allows you to enjoy the produce of the herb garden year-round. The choice to dry your herbs or to infuse them in oil depends on the herbs; both are much more flavourful options than store bought commercial brands.

Early autumn as the weather cools is a good time to begin harvesting your herbs. For the fullest flavour, harvest herbs before they flower and cut bunches in mid-morning once the dew is dry from the leaves and before the plants are wilting in the afternoon sun.

Air-drying herbs is the best method for herbs that do not have a high moisture content (Bay, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Savory, Thyme) as the slow drying process helps retain the essential oils of the herbs so you get a purer cleaner taste than other methods. Some herbs like oregano may even be better dried than fresh. Drying concentrates the scent while lessening the bitter, hot quality of fresh oregano making it one of the easiest and best herbs to dry

You can either air-dry herbs in bundles, or spread them out over racks, which will take up more space but will ultimately dry your herbs faster, with less chance that they rot or go moldy before being completely dried. Oven-drying is a quicker method of air-drying: one hour at the lowest temperature in the oven will dry a rack of herbs but make sure you separate the leaves from the woodier stems. The micro-wave is even faster and the way I choose to dry the oregano from my garden: wrap leaves in a clean tea towel and microwave on high for one minute; then at 30 second intervals until the herbs crumble easily. Dried oregano actually tastes better than fresh.

Your herbs will retain more flavour if you store the leaves whole and crush them when you are ready to use them. When you are ready to use them you should be able to crumble the leaves by running your hand down the stem of the dried plant. Use about 1 teaspoon crumbled dried leaves in place of a tablespoon of fresh herbs.

Store your dried herbs in airtight containers. Small canning jars work nicely.  Place containers in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Your herbs will keep for six to twelve months, but the sooner you use them, the more flavor they will have. As your dried herbs lose their colour, they are also losing their flavour. Dried herbs stored in salt last longer and make a practical seasoning.

Bay leaves add a pronounced clove-like aroma which tends to mellow out when dried to impart a more subtle flavour to your stews and soups without risk of overpowering as fresh leaves can.

You can dry any herbs you like, but some retain their flavor better if they are frozen instead. These delicate herbs include basil, chives, cilantro, parsley, and tarragon.

To freeze herbs, you can either spread as a thin layer on a metal sheet in the freezer (some herbs like chives will only take a few minutes), then keep them in an airtight plastic container in the freezer; or you can chop them finely and place them into an ice cube tray which is covered completely with extra-virgin olive oil, and frozen until use in cooking. You can also make a paste by mixing 1/3 of a cup of oil with 2 cups of herbs in a blender and then freeze the paste in ice-cube trays until use in cooking.

Herbes de Provence

preserving the your garden herbs for the winter