The drying of herbs predates civilisation as we know it. But this is a process that I have never done and I can’t give you a good reason for not having done so.  Which means I have wasted lots of goodness from the garden; often the trimmings and prunings have gone into the green waste recycling bin and only occasionally into my own composting systems. Not smart.

But now I am changing.

Now I am finally beginning to grasp the notion that I must not waste anything. Weeks ago I had cut the straggly ends from the golden marjoram and shorn a few plants down to a ground level then despatched these to the community recycling stations for vegetative waste. But it was a different story for the green marjoram. I cut off the long waving ends, many with tiny white flowers at their ends.

I collected the strands into a bunch and these now hang in my kitchen air drying.

It was a quick and aromatic process to cut, collect and hang.  Next year I will do the same for the golden marjoram.
Around the house flat leafed and curly leaf parsley, and parcel (read here and here self-seed continuously. There is no need to dry these herbs while the luscious freshness can be picked on demand.