Thank you to everyone who came to the Yorkton and District Horticultural Society Fall Plant and Bulb Sale last week: I hope you found some interesting new additions for your gardens! As always, thank you to all our hort members who brought plants, helped set up, and worked at the sale. Your help is so very much appreciated!
Everyone seemed to have an abundance of garden crops this year, and many people we know have been canning, pickling, and freezing this delicious bounty! But there is one more area that we could be preserving, and that is our herbs.
Mom used to grow a lot of parsley, and we always dried it to use in the winter. Drying parsley is pretty much one of the easiest herbs to dry: pick it, wash it, drain any excess moisture well, then you can dry it in a very low oven, in small batches in the microwave, or just leave it on a cookie sheet and let it air dry. Then crumble it into clean, dry jars, and store it in a cool, dark cupboard. (Just a reminder: if you are drying parsley or any other herb in the microwave, place a thin, even layer of the herb on a paper towel on a dinner plate, and microwave it for short periods of time, say 15 seconds at a time. Watch it very carefully because the herbs are delicate and they can burn very easily.) If you’re planning to use parsley for soups or stews, tie little bunches with kitchen string, throw them in a plastic bag and into the freezer. Done!
Drying sage was one of my first herb drying projects; I hung bunches of sage upside down in the basement, and it dried beautifully. But if that method sounds like too much trouble, just wash the stems, dry them between paper towels or tea towels, and then stand them up in a glass as if for a bouquet (but don’t add any water to the glass). Then once the leaves are curled and dry, pick them off the stems and store them in a clean glass jar. Oregano works well with this method, too.
You can dry all kinds of herbs, and they make a wonderful and flavorful addition to your cooking. If you are watching sodium intake, herbs can give that extra burst of flavor that can easily replace adding salt. Dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor than fresh herbs, so a guideline is three to one; that is, if you are using fresh herbs, use three times as much as you would dried. If a recipe calls for one tablespoon of fresh oregano, use one teaspoon of dried. (Remember, three teaspoons equal one tablespoon). Dried herbs should be kept in a cool, dark location and will keep for a year or more. Give it a try!
Any interested gardeners are invited to the Saskatchewan Horticultural Association Provincial Convention and AGM will be held in Yorkton on October 23 and 24 and hosted by our group. Just log on to www.yorktonhort.ca for all the details and plan to join us! There will be interesting speakers including a presentation by All About Flowers; a gardening presentation by Warren Crossman; a presentation by Don Stein from the Godfrey Dean Gallery teaching us how to do garden photography; and a presentation by Sonja Pawliw about her beautiful Healing Garden. You do not have to be a member of the group or any hort society to attend: if you are an interested gardener, you are more than welcome!
The days are shorter now, but still glorious! Get out a cozy sweater, make a cup of tea, and enjoy it outside for a few minutes each day! The fresh air is great! Have a lovely week!
