Drying Herbs

Now that I've pinched and cut off stalks of basil, I'd like to dry it to use in the winter. Luckily, Denver's arid climate makes drying easy. Tie together stalks of herbs and hang to dry for a couple days (or set out individual leaves on some sort of screen that lets air flow around). I learned on a herb tour at the Denver Botanic Gardens that once they've dried, store herbs in a glass jar. If you store them with stalks and all, you preserve more of the essential oils, which means more flavor and healthful properties.

Trimming Basil

I realized recently that my haphazard method of picking leaves off my basil plants just when I happened to need them wasn't encouraging future basil production. I was told by my urban garden leader to cut the top third of each stem off when the basil starts to go to seed, as is happening to this Thai Basil (bottom picture). Another method, which I personally think is more fun, is from my California gardening guru, Jaime, who advises pinching off leaves at the crook of the stem in areas where tiny new leaves are growing (top left picture). Both methods, particularly the latter, encourage bushier growth, rather than straight up, bolting to seed growth.

Back

Back in town and the garden still looks great, thanks to watering by a diligent sister in law! The fertilizer from last week seems to be helping - the peppers have a lot of new growth and the basil looks great. Weeds, however, have taken over! I spent 1 1/2 hrs yesterday weeding and got through 1 1/2 of 4 blocks. Got my work cut out for me this weekend. . . Happy 4th!