I pushed off harvesting my herbs as long as I could, not because I didn't feel like it, but because Joel had a medical emergency that took all my attention. Hmmmm.....husband's are like that, you know?
I just love going out to the garden first thing in the morning to check out how the beds have filled in. It's amazing what a little fertilizer and regular watering will do for your plants. My herbs went crazy this spring; parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil and tarragon. Early each morning last week, I'd wander out to the garden and cut back all of just one type of herb and bring it inside to the kitchen.
After removing the biggest stems, the leaves were plopped onto the dehydrator tray and the timer would be set for 16 hours at 125 degrees. By morning, the herbs were ready to put in a clean Ball jar with an appropriate label (wouldn't want an "inappropriate" label, now would we?) Pretty simple process. Then, I'd start all over again with a different herb.
By weeks' end, these are the herbs I had "put up", as my Penna. Dutch relatives would say. And, oh, the aroma. I wish you could smell them, too! Not like the stuff that you buy in the grocery store that has been in that jar for who knows how long?
And I'm still harvesting tomatoes and okra! Some mornings I've even popped a few blueberries and a blackberry or two in my mouth while I weeded and watered the garden. Too bad I don't have an acre or so to put in an orchard.....now wouldn't that be fun?
Oh, my, almost forgot to tell you to check out my other blog to see what else we were up to this weekend.
Signing off from the Garden of Eatin',
Debbie
