Drying and Freezing the Basil... Herb Garden

Basil

It's getting late in the season, so today I decided to go ahead and cut most of my basil.  How to preserve it for winter?  I've always hung up all my herbs to dry, but this year after doing some research I'm trying a couple different methods.  Instead of hanging it up, I snipped off all the leaves...

I recommend that you carefully and thoroughly wash the basil leaves, and then of course get them thoroughly dry before proceeding.  Yes, washing them makes them harder to dry!  But at least four garden spiders of various sizes came in with my basil bunches, so again... unless you want to season your soups with dried critters, wash your herbs!

Anway, once the leaves are all clean and dry, I'm going to dry some and freeze some.  The leaves for drying I spread out in a single layer on paper towels and after a few days when they are dried out I will put them in freezer bags and suck the air out with a straw to "vacuum pack" them.

The others I will freeze.  You can freeze basil?  Accordingly to my research you can!  Some people say you have to coat the basil in olive oil first, but others claim that in Italy it is common to just freeze the leaves, so I'm going to try it!

Rosemary

My rosemary, which is so much like an evergreen anyway, survives the winters just fine here in middle Tennessee.  It's in a pot, but the pot sits on my West-facing front porch, where it gets plenty of direct sun, next to a brick wall that absorbs and radiates lots of warmth.  So it does well there.

My thyme usually survives as well, but even if the frost kills it, the plant comes back in the spring.  But thyme, with its tiny leaves, dries so easily that will dry some of it, too.

The last thing I have is my mint patch -- six flourishing bunches of lovely-smelling mint!  Mint is apparently a native plant here, it grows so well, spreading and always coming back stronger the next year. I think I'll dry and freeze some it just like my basil, and leave the rest happy in its place.

Mint

I need to grow more herbs next year!  In addition to my usual rosemary, basil, and thyme, and my beloved mint patch, I want to add maybe some dill and chives and plenty of parsley plants.  And garlic!

Herbs are so easy to grow, you really should try it if you never have.  Mediterranean herbs like thyme and rosemary and oregano need plenty of warmth and sun but aren't actually too fussy about water or even great soil.  Basil does need to be watered more often, but it's an easy (and attractive) plant and it's so satisfying to snip a few leaves for your pasta or soup!

Thyme

Do you have any tips for preserving herbs for the winter?  What grows in YOUR herb garden?