The Herbarium

Even though it has gotten quite chilly over the past week, the herbs on the patio have been very hearty.  As long as I keep watering them, they keep holding on.  But I decided that it was time to try my hand at preserving some of them, so I moved their pots into the kitchen for evaluation and trimming:

The mint is doing pretty well with only some crispy yellow leaf edges, but a bunch of new branches toward the bottom.  I think I can re-pot some of those for keeping inside during the winter.  I'm planning on drying the rest in the dehydrator for tea.

The basil has suffered the most, and it's my fault that I didn't bring it in and preserve it sooner.  I love fresh basil so much, I was hesitating to preserve it, and kept thinking that we would use up all the fresh leaves before the frost.  It just smells and tastes so delicious! 

I took the remaining leaves, blanched them, and then froze them in olive oil. After looking at all the various methods of preserving basil, that one seemed like the healthiest and the best way to keep all the flavor in the leaves.

The parsley has really surprised me.  After nearly dying off completely in July, it has rallied and completely regrown itself.  Although I don't use a ton of parsley, I think that there will be plenty to make it through the winter.  I washed it, chopped it, and then froze it.

 

 

There is also the beautiful rosemary plant that my mother gave me.  It will live for many years, so it has been moved to the warmth of the indoors and is now on the desk near the window. 

 

Isn't it beautiful?  It reminds me of a bonsai tree.  I love the smell and taste of rosemary with roasted vegetables, and as I was googling herb preserving, I stumbled upon a recipe for rosemary salt.  It was a simple mixture of fresh rosemary, sea salt and kosher salt.  Here's how it worked in my mini food processor:

 

Now there's a wonderful jar of rosemary salt ready to use with soups, veggies, meats, and pastas!  And it's wearing a rather jaunty little crocheted jar cap thingy, the purpose of which I'm not quite clear on, but which seems de rigueur in all the British crochet pattern books.  I just had to give it a try, and I think it does give things an "English cottage" sort of look! ; )