After the herbs are harvested, we take them inside where they are individually processed. First, they are rinsed with fresh cool water before we soak them in Thieves Fruit and Veggie Soak for 1 minute. We then remove the herbs from the soak and rinse all the herbs with fresh cool water again.
To remove the excess moisture from washing, we spin the herbs in a salad spinner. Each herb is spun with moisture subsequently removed from the bowl. We repeat this process with the same herb until a minimal amount of droplets present with spinning. The herbs are then laid out on a tea towel while we continue this process with each of the other herbs.
After the cleaning is completed for all herbs, it is time to preserve the herbs. There are many different ways to preserve herbs, and some of those have different methods. For instance, drying herbs.
I prefer to dry my herbs by hanging them upside down. To do this, you simply bundle your herbs into a bouquet of a single herb, or even a mixture of herbs if you prefer! After they are bundled, you simply tie some jute tightly around the stems and hang them upside down! Of note, it is important to hand them in a cool dark place, or at least out of the sun, so that as much flavor is preserved as possible.
Another drying method is to use a dehydrator. For dehydrator drying, it is best to remove the leaves from the stem and lay them out evenly on the dehydrator tray. This ensures good air circulation and allows your herbs to dry evenly. This method is quicker than hang drying and will be done in a few hours.
You can also dry your herbs in the oven! To do this you would set your oven on the lowest setting and leave the oven door cracked for air circulation. Oven drying is similar to drying in a dehydrator, in that the herbs should be removed from the stalks and the leaves evenly spaced to produce evenly dried herbs.
The last method of drying is almost a combination of the prior two with drying racks or shelves. With this method, the herbs are dried naturally on a mesh tray with the bottom open to air, as a in a shelf form or a hanging form. As in the dehydrator, the leaves will dry more evenly if they are removed from the stalk and evenly spaced along the racks.
