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We had some ambitious warm-weather meal plans in mind this spring when we planted large pots of herb seedlings on our sunny backyard deck.
Summer suppers would feature homemade pasta sauce, seasoned with our fresh basil, oregano and parsley. We'd have tomato-basil soup. Parsley potatoes. Fresh herbs garnishing every dinner plate.
Let's just say, the seedlings grew far beyond our expectations.
There's no way we can keep up, so we've been looking for ways to preserve our fresh herbs to last through the cooler months.
For best flavor, we learned, start by harvesting your herbs before the plants begin to flower. Cut them in the morning, just after the dew has evaporated, rinse them gently in cool, running water and dry on paper towels.
Storing herbs in the refrigerator is a short-term solution. Most stay flavorful for a week or more if packed loosely in a plastic bag or placed upright in a glass jar with about an inch of water in the bottom. Basil is one herb that won't keep long in the refrigerator, however. It's best used on the day it's harvested.
Family and Consumer Sciences Educators at Ohio State University Extension recommend freezing herbs because this method retains more nutrients than other preservation methods. Sprigs and leaves can be spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet that is placed in the freezer and then stored in labeled freezer bags.
If you plan to use the herbs for soups and sauces, OSU experts suggest chopping them fine and freezing the herbs in ice cube trays with small amounts of oil or water. Once frozen, the cubes can also be stored in the freezer in a labeled freezer bag and used in cooked recipes without thawing.
Frozen herbs can keep for a year but should be used within six months for best quality.
As an alternative to freezing, garden herbs can be air-dried, oven-dried or dried in a microwave or dehydrator.
To air dry, tie bunches of herb stems together tightly and hang upside down indoors in a warm, well-ventilated, dry and dark place. Label the herbs before drying.
To oven-dry, our OSU Extension fact sheet recommends placing them in a conventional oven on a cookie sheet, arranged in layers separated by paper towels. Turn on the oven light in an electric range (or the pilot light of a gas range). Then, while leaving the door open about six inches to help circulate the air, allow the herbs to dry for eight hours or overnight with the heat off.
To dry herbs in a microwave or dehydrator, follow the manufacturers' instructions.
Dried herbs may be three- to four-times stronger than fresh herbs, so use less when substituting for fresh herbs in a recipe. Dried herbs can be used for up to a year for best flavor.
For complete details and methods for saving more herbs, go to https://go.osu.edu/saveherbs
Hixenbaugh is an Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in Mahoning County.