Herbs, fresh and dried

I’m growing some annual herbs in pots this year as they always get eaten when I try them in the ground. I’ve got dill, bush basil, sweet basil, coriander ,lemon coriander and summer savory. I’ve got them standing in the base of the cold frame in the hope that slugs and snails will slither by thinking, “Oh I just can’t be bothered to climb over that glass wall”.

As usual the basil is sitting there waiting for hot weather before it makes any growth. I’d put it in the greenhouse but I haven’t got room. I do wish it would hurry up. There are six pots of it, one of which still needs thinning out and the seedlings transplanted into more pots.

In the small allotment I’ve got a small herb garden of perennial herbs. I picked some sage ((salvia officinalis), winter savory (satureja montana) and a dwarf marjoram (origanum vulgara compacta) to dry. The growth on the sage was very lush so I took the leaves off the stems to reduce the bulk.

The herbs are dried in my airing cupboard on the slatted shelves above the hot water tank. I lay them out on a sheet of newspaper. When they’ve dried I rub the leaves off the stems. It’s a relaxing job and the smell of the herbs is very pungent and oddly relaxing. Here the savory is on the left and the marjoram on the right.

The final stage is putting the herbs in jars, or in this case bags and putting them away in a dark cupboard until needed. Now I just need the basil to get a move on so that I can make some basil pesto.