Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Drying herbs.


I planted a few tarragon plants a few years back which I grew from seed. Of course over time they are now the size of small cars and take over the front garden area (which before was the 'came with the house' generic landscaping). It grows fast, doesn't need much water, and I can cut it down a few times per summer and make infused vinegars and oils, dry it for culinary use, or ... make a wreath?

I clipped a lot this week and it is bunched and hanging from the gazebo to dry. I also had some massive woody stalks which were flowering, so I cut those and made them into a wreath. It is drying with the other herbs - we'll see how it works!

15 comments:

  1. I love the wreath, Denise!

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  2. Anonymous7:12 AM

    what beautiful wreath.

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  3. I grow a lot of herbs, tarragon too! But I just don't use it that much. What kind of dishes do you use it in? My French Guy uses a lot of herbs when he cooks. Every time he cooks, I think he is using an impossible amount of herbs but it always turns out so yummy. I am a bit more timid in my use of herbs. My goal this year is to really understand the use of culinary herbs much more.

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  4. Beautiful! I love the wreath, how fragrant that must be.
    Blessings.

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  5. I love the wreath idea! I've got way more herbs growing than I could possibly ever use for cooking.

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  6. I've never tried to dry herbs yet, and I have plenty of them growing on my back deck so I should try it out. Are there things to do or avoid? BTW - thanks for your comments on my blog - yes, the t-shirts were messy but we did everything outside so that helped a lot.

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  7. Anonymous9:53 AM

    I love that picture. Tarragon is definitely going in our garden next year!

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  8. Love the wreath idea!

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  9. Anonymous1:12 PM

    Ooh! So beautiful! We've got about a dozen bunches of Nettles drying in the basement. The smell is so wonderful - I can't imagine how great that tarragon smells!

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  10. I'm curious - where is your tarragon? I have three plants, no, make that four, and only one is thriving. The other three are doing okay, but certainly not bursting out with great energy. And we LOVE tarragon. Do you notice any particular aspects to your plants? Sandy soil? Fast draining?

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  11. tarragon...yum!

    the wreath was a clever idea for your woody tarragon.

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  12. Anonymous1:43 PM

    Hi Denise, I love your blog so much that I have nominated you for a blog award. You probably have many already, but check my site for details, if you are interested.

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  13. That's a nice shady place for drying herbs. I need a gazebo!

    Lisa

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  14. Hmmm...my whole yard of fire weed may be hanging from the deck soon!!! We had a grizzly in driveway yesturday. Fireweed is great for hiding in.

    :(

    Fireweed jelly, anyone?

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  15. Your garden is lovely and so is the tarragon you got from it.

    I'm catching up on my blog-roll reading. I just love coming to the pictures at yours!

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