Herbs are a wonderful gift from our Creator. As we season our food, we are also improving our health! Herbs at the grocery store or health food store can be expensive, so if there are plants you can grow and preserve yourself, all the better. I have found a very simple, yet effective way to dry my herbs to use all year long. As many times before, the old way is usually the best way.

This is my bushy, healthy oregano, ready for a trim.

Oh my goodness! I didn’t want to be bald! No, actually it’s great to cut the plant right down. It’ll grow back quite fast and just as vigorous as before.

See, it’s okay. This is some lovage I trimmed about two weeks ago. Lovage is an excellent celery substitute, by the way.

Here’s my nice bundle of oregano stems. I use hand held grass cutting shears to cut them, because the stems can get a bit thick.

I bundled the herbs up with all the stems facing the same way, and secured them with a rubberband.

I ran a hanger through the rubberband, and hung in a closet in the laundry room.

In several weeks, the leaves will be dry and brittle. The lovage in the middle is about halfway dry. Then I will slide the leaves off each stem and crush the leaves into a bowl. They can be stored either in a spice jar in the kitchen or in a glass jar in a dark place.

How do you use and preserve herbs?