Did you have a bountiful herb harvest this season? There’s definitely nothing more rewarding but I know that it can be very hard to consume them all fresh.
If you still have a ton of herbs and don’t know what to do with them, I have a perfect solution for you: dry them!
Well, I guess now you’re wondering how to do it. Don’t worry; I’ll show you how to easily dry your homegrown herbs using one laundry room essential!
Let’s get started!
Here’s The Secret Tool
What do we have in our laundry rooms that can be used for herb drying? Believe it or not, the answer is a mesh garment bag.
We all use these bags to protect our laundry from damage during washing. But they also make an excellent tool for drying your herbs because of their 3 main features.
The first one is good airflow because the weave enables the air to circulate well. The second is allowing the moisture to escape and this is extremely beneficial because herbs may rot if the surrounding moisture is too high.
The third feature is the tight-knit fabric which prevents pests and other contaminants from reaching your herbs during the drying process.
These laundry tools are cost-effective and don’t take up too much space, so you can dry your herbs even if you have a smaller space.
But the question is, why choose these bags over classic herb drying methods, such as hanging them from twine or drying them on the table?
Well, the answer is pretty simple. When drying your herbs using classic methods, you may lose leaf crumbles during the process. Additionally, these methods are messy and no one has that much time for cleaning.
When using mesh garment bags, you save every leaf of your prized herbs and there’s no need to clean up after. We all know that growing herbs indoors or outdoors isn’t always an easy task, so every plant is precious.
How To Use It
The number of herbs you’ll put in a single mesh garment bag depends on a few factors.
However, as long as the air circulation is good and moisture is low, your herbs won’t be damaged, even if you put more plants in one bag.
It’s important to know how to store specific herbs in these bags. For instance, if you have parsley or cilantro, you can put them in the bags whole. These herbs have edible stems so there’s no need to separate anything.
You can do the same with rosemary and thyme. The stems of these herbs aren’t really delicious but it will be easier for you to remove the leaves and store them after drying.
If you harvested basil and want to dry it, it’s better to remove the leaves from the stems and put them in mesh garment bags.
You can hang the bags from a rod, hanger, or hook but make sure each side of the bag receives enough air.
Herbs typically take a few days to dry fully; simply take them out of the bags and put them in airtight containers. When dried and stored this way, herbs retain their heavenly flavor, and that’s exactly what we all wish for!