Home gardeners are being encouraged to start preserving their flourishing herb patches this month.
This will ensure a year-round supply of fresh flavours like basil, mint, and rosemary.
"August is the perfect time to start harvesting some of your herbs," advises Manoj Malde, TV and radio presenter, author, and RHS ambassador.
Malde is set to appear on the Garden Theatre stage at this year’s Malvern Autumn Show.
“Herbs like mint, lovage and chives will die down for the winter and should come back next year, but herbs like rosemary, sage and other woody varieties become a bit straggly through autumn.”
“Cut herbs such as basil just above the nodes, which will keep the plant fresh,” says Didrik Dimmen, co-founder and CEO of indoor smart indoor garden company Auk .
“Cutting just above the nodes, where the new shoots spring out, will allow the plant to refocus its energy, making it grow more bushy.”
Harvest the leaves regularly when they are young, he advises. “If you wait too long to harvest and the leaves get really big, they also lose a bit of taste.”
Herbs which are harvested will last between a day and a week in the fridge, Dimmen estimates.
Alternatively, you could put them in a jar of water on a sunny windowsill, to last a week or two in summer. Some more delicate plants, such as coriander, won’t stay fresh in the fridge for long, he notes.
So, how can gardeners save their herbs now to use in dishes in the months ahead?
Air-dry
“Gather and prepare your herbs by harvesting them, removing any dead leaves and then tying the stems together in small bunches, then hang them upside down in a warm, well-ventilated place out of direct sunlight,” Malde advises.
“The drying process can take a couple of days to a couple of weeks, so keep an eye on them to make sure they are drying properly. Once the leaves on the stems have dried, remove them from the stems and store in an airtight container and keep them in a cool, dark, dry place.”
He says that sage, rosemary, mint, bayleaves, thyme, tarragon and oregano are all suitable candidates for drying. Drying herbs such as oregano can actually boost their flavour.
Freeze
Wash your harvested herbs, dry them and put them on a baking tray or a sheet of baking parchment and put them in the freezer, says Malde. Once they are frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag and store them in the freezer.
He warns that frozen herbs tend to lose some of their flavour.
Dimmen adds: “The leaves of plants contain a lot of water and when water freezes it expands, so it basically destroys the structure of the plant.”
Put herbs in ice cube trays
“Blend your herb in a bit of oil (olive or sunflower oil) or water, turn it into a paste and then put the paste into an ice cube tray to freeze through the winter. Then, when you don’t have herbs in the garden, you can take a couple of cubes out of the ice tray and put them into your pan to thaw out and use for cooking,” Malde suggests.
Take cuttings
You can grow herbs indoors if you take cuttings and propagate them on a bright windowsill. That way, they should carry on growing, but ease up on watering during the winter and water very lightly in the morning.
“The last thing that any plant wants is wet, freezing cold roots,” Malde observes.
Harvest seeds
Once a plant has bolted, such as coriander or nigella, you can harvest the seeds and either use them whole in cooking or grind them into a powder to add to different dishes.
“Coriander plants might start producing flowers in August and then it will run to seed. Let it bolt if you want to harvest seeds,” Malde advises.
Preserve in oil
Herbs like rosemary and other ingredients such as chillies can be submerged in olive oil in a jar or bottle to create a flavoured oil in cooking.
Make herb butter
Flavour butter with herbs using soft butter, salt, herbs and optionally garlic, which will last in the fridge as long as the butter does, says Dimmen.
Create a spice mix
Spread your freshly picked herbs evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dry them in a cool oven, checking regularly to make sure they don’t burn. Once they are dry, you should be able to crumble them in your fingers and then crush them with a pestle and mortar.
Store your spice blend in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place, where they can last up to a year, although they will taste better in the first six months, says Dimmen.
Make your own sauce
Make sauces such as pesto with your fresh basil, suggests Dimmen. “You can freeze the pesto in ice cube trays and then take them out when you need them.”
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