Herbs that Last Forever

Over the last few years of gardening I have found that growing an herb garden is both easy, and difficult.  I stumbled upon growing herbs by purchasing an oregano plant years ago, that no only has produced more than enough herbs for my family, but it has also moved from one home to another with us.  Since then I have learned to grow others herbs, and continue to learn about their uses as well as ways to preserve them to use throughout the year.

Using Herbs
When I began growing herbs, I was thinking of how I could use them in cooking, but since then I have found that there are so many different purposes of using herbs.  As for using herbs in a culinary method, they not only enhance the flavor of food, but have brain enhancing properties as well. In the book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. explains that studies have shown that rosemary, thyme, and sage help to boost memory, and garlic and oregano boost blood flow to the brain (p. 381).  For more brain boosting foods, please see my blog article: Keeping an Active Brain.

Growing the Garden
There are two basic ways in which to grow herbs.  One is to buy an existing plant, and the other is to grow from seed.  Where my front yard used to reside, I now have oregano, rosemary, sage, roses, thyme, elderberry bushes, Oregon grape bushes, and anise.  All of these plants I bought from a nursery except one of my sage bushes, and both anise plants which I grew from seed. In my kitchen window, I have cilantro which I grew from seed, and lemon balm which I bought at a plant sale.  Where my backyard used to be, I have basil in with the rest of my garden which I grew with seed this year. Before you decide which method of growing that you will use, and what you want to plant, you should decide where you want to grow your delicious herbs.  If you want to grow herbs in the fall then you must choose herbs that come back every spring such as oregano, sage, rosemary, and thyme. For the rest of the herbs you must use what you can before the first frost, and even the ones that return will die back so you should preserve as much as you can.  The following ways of preserving and using herbs are those that I have used for my own herb garden. (See my article on gardening for more.)

Dried Herbs
Another way to keep herbs forever, is to dry them.  My method is to cut the branches off that I want to dry, and then hang them upside down.  After they are dried out, I put the leaves through an herb grinder that my mother got me from Amazon.  I then store the herbs in a clean glass jar with a lid in my pantry. I have mostly dried oregano, and have been able to give it as a gift as well as use it in my kitchen all year long.

Herb infused Honey
It was brought to my attention that I have an overabundance of sage this year.  I have cut off some to dry, but wasn’t sure what to do with the rest. A friend shared with me the medicinal purposes of infusing honey with this aromatic herb. Honey infused with sage can be used as a cough suppressant.  In order to make this I sterilized a glass container. I also harvested and cut up enough sage to fill have of that container. The other half I filed with raw local honey. I put a lid on the glass, and I am now storing it in my pantry for four to six weeks.  After such, I will strain the herbs from the honey, and voila, I have another natural herbal remedy in my house!

Frozen Herbs
In my garden, I have some basil. Basil plants will die when it gets too cold outside. To ensure that I have some for cooking later in the winter, I have decided to freeze some.  I cut up the basil leaves, and then placed them in the slots of an ice cube tray. Afterwards, I filled the rest of the tray up with coconut avocado oil. Once the leaves were frozen in the oil, I popped out the cubes, and put them in a ziplock bag to store them in the freezer until needed for cooking.

Herbal Oils
Another way in which herbs are beneficial is in infused oils.  Oregano oil aides in infections, reduces inflammation, helps with allergies, propels ticks, and helps with digestion. In order to learn how to make this beneficial liquid, please see the article that I previously wrote on the subject of making oregano oil.

Although these practices won’t really ensure that your home has herbs forever, it is a way to have herbs all year long.  I hope that you like the methods mentioned, and that you pin them, and share them with your friends.  Please comment below if you have any other suggestions to share, or want to ask a question.