Harvesting & Drying Herbs and My $1 Drying Rack

A few of my herbs are still producing like crazy, so this past weekend I spent some time cutting, washing & preparing them to dry.

I try to cut my herbs early in the morning. I have read that this is the best time to do it because they have rested overnight and their oils and moisture are concentrated in the leaves. During the day they are growing so the oils and moisture are spread throughout the plant.  They are then taken in the house and given a dunk in some nice cool water.

Herb Bath

Then they are laid on a towel to drain for a bit. Once they have drained I fold the towel up over them and pat them dry.

Draining

I have tried several ways to tie them up and have settled on twist ties. They are very flexible and if you add two of them together they are long enough to tie around the herbs and whatever you are going to hang them on. When they begin drying the stems shrink and fall out of strings and rubber bands. Twist ties allow you to tighten them up as the herbs shrink.

Herb Bundle with One Twist Tie

Second Twist Tie Added for Length

Then they are hung on the drying rack. Remember the drying rack I told you I bought for $1.00 at a yard sale? Well here it is not quite loaded but still doing it's job.

$1 Drying Rack

It even has room on top to put extra egg cartons. I am sure this is not what it was intended for but it works really great for this purpose.  The Okra is for decorating purposes, and the Sumac may be used for tea and decorating.  I really like that color for Fall and am thinking it might look pretty cool stuck in the Christmas tree. If I use it for the Christmas tree, I might have to figure out how to dip it in something to keep the little balls from falling off.

I am loving how it looks and smells!

Have a great day!
Mae

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Update on Peppers

Remember the picture of the peppers I hung to dry?

Peppers Drying

Well, I wanted to show you an updated photo of the peppers. They have truly been amazing me. First off, I thought they would just dry. I didn't expect them to change colors. I don't know what I really expected. I just imagined all those pictures you see of red peppers on a string and wished for that. Guess what? I think I might get my wish.

Peppers After 6 Weeks

Peppers After 6 Weeks

Aren't they beautiful? When I first hung them, I loved the green colors together. Now They are yellow, red, orange and green. I hope they all turn red and I really think they are going to.

I love using my dehydrator but I like to dry things naturally, also. I know the dehydrator doesn't use much electricity, but it does use it and if things dry naturally they aren't costing you anything to dry them. The dehydrator also takes up counter space and in my tiny kitchen there isn't a whole lot of that to spare.

I bought a rack at a garage sale for $1.00 that has three round rods on it that is perfect for hanging things to dry. I have it hung on our back porch/mud room (which is enclosed) and I am going to be using it to dry a lot more things naturally. Once I get it filled with herbs and other things I will share a picture with you.

Do you have anything like this that turned out so much better than you hoped for? I'd love to hear about it.

Have a great day!
Mae

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I Can Because I Can

I saw an apron at Meijer's the other day with the title of this post on it, it got me thinking. There are many reasons to can: to enjoy garden fresh produce all winter long, to provide healthy nutritious food for your family, to stockpile for lean times, because you enjoy it, to be able to stand back and look at what you've accomplished, or because you can.

All of those reasons apply to me. It is very satisfying to look back and actually see what you've accomplished, to eat fresh peas in the dead of winter, and to know that you have some healthy food stored up when you need it. But part of the reason I can is because, I can. At this time in my life I am able to pick green beans, pull some weeds, stand over a hot stove while making jams or jellies, and keep an eye on a pressure canner while it does its thing. There may come a day when I can't do those things, but it isn't today. The good Lord has given me the opportunity, the ability, and the knowledge to can. So, to be a good steward of all that he has given me, including the produce, I can. My back may be hurting and me feet swollen at the end of the day, but I really believe when you quit doing what you can do, life just will not be as good.

There are many people out there who can can for various reasons. Some are not physically able. Some don't have the equipment, the knowledge, the space, etc.  Some just don't care enough to try they are like the Grasshopper in the old story "The Ant & The Grasshopper". But if you have what it takes to can, I encourage you to can. At the end of the day you will see your accomplishments!

Canning Cupboard

Some of this year's bounty

I Can Because I Can

Have a great day!
Mae
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Canning Peas

Since we are finally getting peas I am canning everyone of them I can get. My favorite are Zipper Cream and we aren't getting as many of them as we are the Purple Hull peas. I keep forgetting to take pictures of the Zipper Creams before I can them. But here is a picture of them and some Purple Hulls that I did can.

Zipper Creams & Purple Hulls

You can tell the difference because the Zipper Creams stay green. The Purple Hulls turn a brownish color.  They have the texture of a bean.

To can them you shell them, then wash them. They tend to have a lot of ugly black blossoms stuck to them and they need to be washed and picked through. Then you pack them into clean, hot jars. You don't need to tamp them down or pack them too tightly. Put a 1/2 teaspoon of canning salt in each pint or 1 teaspoon for quarts. Fill the jar With boiling water leaving 1 inch of head space. Wipe rims of jars and place lid and ring on jar. Place in your pressure canner and process for 30 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure for pints or 40 minutes for quarts. Allow the pressure to release then use a jar lifter to remove jars from canner. See complete instructions here. 

This is the first year that I have been brave enough to actually start using a pressure canner. I love being able to preserve our produce so that we will be able to enjoy our garden all year. It's a lot of work during the summer, but it's so worth it. Especially since you can't buy Zipper Cream peas in the grocery stores here.

If you would like to learn to can you might want to check with your local extension office. They may offer a class. Of course, there are all sorts of websites that are willing to teach you.

This post contains affiliate links.

Have a great day!
Mae

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Peppers, Sunflowers & Elderberries

This week's post is all about plants. Peter Piper could have picked his peck of peppers this week in my garden. I planted 8 pepper plants, 4 Jalapeno and 4 mystery peppers (they were supposed to be bell peppers).  You can tell from the pictures these are not bell peppers. I think they are banana peppers. Whatever they are they are really productive.

I picked 34 off of one plant. I still have plenty of pickled Jalapeno's from last year so I researched how to dry them on strings and this is the result.

I thought they look really pretty. They should dry within just a few weeks and then can be ground into powder.

We had a 3 volunteer sunflowers come up in the garden this year from some we planted last year. They were all 3 different. One had a lot flowers on it, one is just 1 smaller flower, and the other one was huge.

That is my 6 foot 2 inch son holding it and as you can tell it covers quite a bit of him. It has to be at least 1 1/2 feet across. I haven't measured it yet but I am going to. I think it must weight a couple of pounds. I am drying it now so that we can toast the seeds. The seeds are really large.

We have also been picking elderberries. I am making a tincture from them for the cold & flu season. This is the first time I have done this so I am not comfortable telling anyone how to do it and how it works. If you Google Elderberry tincture there are a lot of people who are willing to tell you how and how it works. I will have to test it out to see, but for now mine is brewing and I am shaking it everyday. The basics are to soak some elderberries in Vodka. Some people say only use 100 proof some say 80 proof will do. I am trying 80 proof.

I have also used the juicer attachment on my Kitchen Aid to juice enough to make elderberry jelly. And still have a whole bag to do something else with. I am thinking about elderberry syrup. I just have to buy some ginger to get this done. It sounds like it may taste better than the tincture.

Have you ever made anything with elderberries? I would love to hear how you liked it and if it worked as well as you thought it would.

Have a great day!
Mae
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