DAY 23 ALKALINE YEAR  Drying Herbs

My women’s group has an annual boutique to raise money for college scholarships and to support a small college.  Our members vie to bring new items to sell, usable or decorative household equipment and furnishings, and of course the baked goods.  Not wanting to do the latter, and having simplified  life to where we have a minimum of household stuff, I decided this year to focus on herbs.

All summer, I’ve been drying lavender, from the stalks which I grow, weave and sell.  (See orcaslavender.com.) I used to dry lavender by hanging it in the garage, which took several months.  Because this summer was warm and dry, I took to spreading the plants out on top of the hot tub and leaving them in full sun for a week.  I stripped the dried stalks by hand; it helps to wear clean cloth gloves.   An unexpected windfall of a friend’s lavender, free for the cutting, meant that I had enough to fill several dozen small bags  that I purchase on Papermart.com.

What other herbs might work?  Looking around my kitchen deck, the sage plant caught my eye.  We’ll never use even a small amount of the sage it produces.  Ditto with the oregano plant next to it.   Technically you’re supposed to gather sage when it’s just at the budding stage, but these leaves are fragrant, so into my dehydrator they went.  Tomorrow I’ll do the oregano. The sale will take place just before Thanksgiving, perfect for turkey stuffing.  I’ll package them in small plastic baggies.

One of the advantages of simplifying my diet has been that I’m becoming more conscious of flavors.   The soups and  vegetable stews I’ve been making seem tastier than they used to.  Hm.  I may not offer all my herbs at the boutique.