This year in our garden we planted several types of fresh herbs. I realized quickly that it was awesome to be able to go out and pick fresh herbs to add to our nightly meals, BUT we were producing a ton of them, and I didn’t want them to go to waste. So, in order to save some of those precious herbs to use year-round, I decided to dry a good bunch of our basil.
In order to preserve some of your own basil {or any other herb}, you’ll need:
mason jars
herbs of your choice
chalkboard paint
chalk pen
baker’s twine
printable tag {optional}
Drying the Basil: To dry basil in particular, simply cut some stems, low on the plant. Wash and rinse well. I did this a few times to ensure that I got any dirt or tiny bugs off our leaves. To dry the basil you could do one of two things: leave the leaves on the stem and hang upside down, perhaps in your kitchen or pantry OR remove the leaves from the stem and set out on a paper towel to dry. I chose option two and just let them rest on our kitchen counter top for about a week.
Since I had some awesome chalkboard paint from Deco Art in my paint supply, I decided to paint the lid of my small mason jars in order to write a chalkboard label on each. I love to use chalkboard pens as opposed to regular chalk because it doesn’t smudge off as easily.
Breaking Down the Basil: To break down the basil, I put as much of it as I could fit into a plastic baggie and used my rolling pin to crunch up the leaves. If your leaves are not falling apart, your basil is most likely not dry enough.
Once I had small bits of basil, I filled my mason jars…
…popped on the lids and rims…
…labeled them with my chalk marker and added some simple twine around the rims.
This would make a perfect gift from the garden for a neighbor, friend, or family member!
Great share!!!