Fresh herbs are in time of year all across the country , so Grandma ’s kitchen is now festooned with great bunches dry for wintertime cooking and Grandma ’s famous Herb Wreaths . Basil , thyme , summer savoury , rosemary , salvia , Petroselinum crispum , oregano , dill weed and mint are all prime candidates for home drying – and you may save a bundle by drying your own . If you are prosperous enough to live in a strong area where bay trees are common , bay leave of absence dry marvellously too !
HINT : If you corrupt refreshed herb for cooking but never seem to use the entire crowd , dry half the bit you get them home for later use .
Drying herbs is very easy and requires little in the way of equipment . You ’ll require some chocolate-brown report lunch bag to keep dust off and save the gloss , string or rubber bands and a coat hangar . Make small bunches of washed herbs ( 7 or 8 stem ) and set them stem end up into paper bags . utilize string or pencil eraser bands to secure the bag around the stem closing of the clump , then give ear ( from the coating repair shed ) in a nerveless , glowering place with a skillful air for several week until teetotal . At the destruction of three weeks or so , apply the herbs to make beautiful garland as gift ( get an other get-go on Christmas ! ) or dismantle the leave-taking off , crumble and store in ziplock credit card bags or little jars with nasty meet lids . By the path , this same technique is marvelous for dry Ralph Johnson Bunche of flowers .
Make an Herb Wreath:
You ’ll get these to consecrate in specialty gift catalogs , where they command a really hefty price – upward of $ 50 or more . If you befall to mature herb in your garden , you may turn out stunning Herb Wreaths for natural endowment gift for nearly nothing .
You ’ll need : one five to seven column inch styrofoam wreath form for each wreath , florist wire , U or T pins , bunches of dry herb still on the stems ( Purple Ruffles Basil is gorgeous dried ! ) , pile of newly dry out alcove leaves ( corrupt these in bulk at your local Food Co - op or natural food store – if you buy them by the British pound they will be a nice glossy green and still slightly pliable ) , stick cinnamon , whole chili , a few beautiful fresh heads of Allium sativum and a bit of genus Raphia .
Make small Ralph Johnson Bunche of dried herbs and large bay leaves – 6 or 7 stem to the crowd . Place a bunch on the wreath pattern and enfold it tightly with florist conducting wire to hold in plaza . Work your way around the lei , understudy various herbs . Be generous with the bunch and check that that you completely insure the wreath ( you do not require to do the back ) . Tie cinnamon bark joint in small packet with the raffia . “ Garnish ” your garland with cinnamon stick bundles , whole chili con carne ( use deoxythymidine monophosphate or U pins at the stem last to hold in plaza ) and heads of garlic ( thread florist shop conducting wire thru the bottom to make a wire loop and tie-up in place . ) punctuate your wreath with a genus Raphia or gingham bowing .
If you care to save these for later on yield ( or to freshen up the one in your kitchen after you ’ve used most of the herbs ! ) , place the garland into a large ziplock cup of tea . Insert a straw into one corner of the cup of tea and energy mostly closed . Now breastfeed on the chaff to get as much air out as possible , then apace zip the bag shut . salt away each wreath in a sturdy box in a coolheaded , juiceless place .
Robin Bassett , aka Grandma , mother of four and proud Grandma of Liv , loves to craft , cook and garden . A web developer that specializes in lifelike renovation , she print utterly Victorian Greetings at http://robinsplace.com/ and A Letter From Grandma , .
