Three Bags Full

You might remember my "Divide and Conquer" post where I put in this herb bed. Since then it has really done well!

 These herbs all grow really well in the rocky, well drained soil that we have and the fact that I keep throwing horse poop in their general direction does not seem to hurt their feeling at all.

I have two kinds of oregano: Golden and Italian. Their flavor is pretty much the same, so the only reason I have two kinds is because I love the way they look next to each other.

The bees love their small pinkish blooms and I cannot bear to cut them down until the weather turns cold and the bees are staying in the hive. When I do cut them, I try to do it on a sunny day so that I can keep the cuttings and dry them for winter cooking. Underneath the tall stocks are the tiny leaves of next summers Oregano. 

Also needing to be tidied is the Rosemary bush which sends out long branches in all direction each summer.

Some of the branch tips get pushed into soil for rooting new plants. Others get dried and the needle-like leaves are pulled off the branch and put into jars and bags for the spice rack. I like to keep the woody branches to use as skewers for lamb or beef on the BBQ. And if I am feeling lazy, I just throw the whole dried branches on the coals under steaks and put the lid back on, fantastic flavor with no work at all.

The sage plant is actually pretty well behaved but she gets a haircut too. Thanksgiving and Christmas need those fuzzy leaves to flavor the stuffing, baked chickens and turkeys.

I don't get fancy with drying these herbs. I just clothes pin the tops of the paper bags shut (to keep out dust) and set them a safe distance from the wood stove. The top of the fridge is a good spot too. It is surprisingly warm up there. Two weeks later they are dry and ready to jar up.