5 ideas for drying your own herbs

You can buy dried herbs at the store, but they won't be as flavourful as ones that you grow and then dry yourself. Here are some great tips about how, and why, to dry your herbs.

1. The day before you plan to gather long-stemmed herbs for drying, clean them with a fine spray of water from your hose.
2. The next day, after the dew has dried, cut the stems, remove the lower leaves and gather them in bunches secured with a rubber band.
3. Pin the bunches to a clothes hanger and let them dry for two weeks in a warm, airy place away from strong light.
4. When nearly crisp, strip the leaves from the stems and store them in airtight containers.
5. Wait to crumble until you use them, because whole leaves retain their flavour longer.

Dry seed-bearing herbs like dill or coriander by hanging bunches inside roomy paper bags with a few ventilation holes punched into them.

After two weeks the dried seeds will drop into the bottom of the bag, where they'll be easy to gather and store.

Freeze parsley and basil, which quickly lose their flavour when dried.

• The easiest way to freeze them is to simply chop clean leaves, place them in ice cube trays and cover them with water or stock.
• When the cubes are frozen hard, shift them to labelled freezer bags.

Make herb butters or cheese spreads when you have a few sprigs you need to use up.

• Mix the finely chopped herbs into softened butter, cream cheese or any finely grated cheese.
• Herb butters and spreads will keep in airtight freezer containers for up to two months.

Make herb pesto by puréeing herbs with oil.

• Classic pesto is made from basil, garlic and olive oil, but you can also make pesto from parsley, cilantro or even mint.
• Pesto will keep in the refrigerator for several days, or you can freeze it for later use.