Easy Growing: Organic Herbs and Edible Flowers from Small Spaces

½ cup fresh green coriander seeds

Zest and juice of ½ lemon

¼ teaspoon coarse salt

1 garlic clove

1 or 2 small hot or mild peppers

1 cup wine vinegar

1. Pack the coriander seeds, lemon zest and juice, salt, garlic, and peppers into a clean glass jar.

2. In a medium stainless steel saucepan, simmer the vinegar over medium-low heat so that it is warm but not boiling. Pour the vinegar into the jar over the coriander seed mixture and let it cool completely.

3. Once cool, place the jar in the fridge to steep and mellow out for 1–2 weeks. Of course, no one is stopping you from using the seeds within a day if you can’t wait.

VARIATION

To make a spicier pickle, cut the hot peppers open before adding them to the jar.

NOTE: Stick to using a stainless steel or glass pot because vinegar can react to some metals.

Chive Blossom Vinegar

Recipe

Chive Blossom Vinegar

Chive blossoms are a short-term crop that come and go in the spring before you can bat an eyelash. Capturing their mild chive flavor in a good-quality vinegar is the perfect way to enjoy them well past their season.

1 cup white wine or white vinegar

1 cup chive blossoms

1. Harvest the chive blossoms in the spring just after they open. To prepare the chive blossoms, snip off the stems and gently jostle them in a bowl of cool water to remove all dirt and debris. Pile the wet blossoms into the center of a clean, dry kitchen towel, pull up all of the corners to create a sack, and shake vigorously until the blossoms are dry.

2. Stuff a clean pint-sized Mason jar with the clean blossoms.

3. In a small saucepan, gently warm the vinegar over medium-low heat. Do not bring to a boil. Pour the vinegar over the blossoms, making sure to submerge them completely.

4. Once the liquid has cooled, cover the jar with a lid made of nonreactive material such as glass. Alternatively, protect a metal canning lid by first placing a square of waxed paper between the jar and the lid.

5. Store in a cool, dark cupboard for a week or two and strain into a second, clean or sterilized jar when the vinegar suits your taste buds.

VARIATIONS

Frankly, all herbal vinegars are delicious—experiment with several edible flowers, leaves, and seeds and keep a medley of flavors on hand.

TIP: Sterilize the jar if you intend to keep the vinegar for a month or more. Otherwise, store it in the fridge for short-term usage. To sterilize, heat the jar in the oven for 20 minutes at 250°F.

Basil-Infused Olive Oil

Recipe

Basil-Infused Olive Oil

Infusing extra-virgin olive oil with intense, freshly chopped basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, citrus peel, or lavender is a different way to introduce herb flavoring to a dish. Infused oils are a natural for cold salad dressings or when pan-frying, but you can also drizzle a little over a plate of cooked pasta, eggs, vegetables, fish dishes, and soups as a final, flavorful garnish, or serve them as the Italians do as a dip for chunks of good bread.

Serve this concoction on homegrown summer tomatoes with chunks of fresh mozzarella and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Use it as a marinade for grilled vegetables, as a “wash” before grilling bread in a panini maker, or as the base oil for basil-flavored aïoli. This oil’s potential is practically limitless.

2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves

1 cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil

1. Blanch the basil leaves in a pot of boiling water for just a few seconds, then scoop them out and quickly plunge into icy cold water. Soft-leaved herbs such as basil, chervil, mint, and chives require blanching to help retain their color and coax out their flavor.

2. Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the basil using your hands or a clean kitchen towel.

3. Purée the basil and oil in a blender and strain through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a clean glass Mason jar.

VARIATIONS

Oils flavored with sage, rosemary, oregano, lavender blossoms, and other resinous herbs are particularly easy to make, as the leaves are tough and stand up well to heating. Lightly heat 1 cup oil over low heat, then turn off the heat and add ½ cup chopped and smashed fresh herbs. Allow the infusion to steep for 30 minutes and pour through a sieve into a clean glass jar. Sage oil is particularly warming and delicious drizzled onto pumpkin or squash soup. Serve rosemary or lavender oil with baked potatoes.

NOTE: Unfortunately, infused oils have a very short shelf life. Using fresh herbs introduces moisture to the oil that can cause spoilage or even lead to botulism. Always keep infused oils refrigerated and use within a week. Never leave them out on the counter for long periods of time.

Herbed Butters

Recipe

Herbed Butters

Makes about ½ cup

Don’t be afraid to experiment with using different herbal combinations here—several follow, but you really can’t go wrong when the main ingredient is butter.

1. Set the butter aside to soften.

2. Wash, dry, chop, and assemble the herbs required for the chosen recipe.

3. Stir all of the ingredients together in a bowl until thoroughly mixed.

4. Shape into balls or logs, or press into a small bowl. Set the butter in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden. Wrap small chunks in parchment paper and store in freezer bags for a few months.

Tarragon Butter

If you can, make tarragon butter early in the season when the leaves are soft and delicate. It’s not quite as sweet later on once they’ve toughened up a bit.

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

½ teaspoon sea salt

Basil Butter

‘Genovese’ basil makes the most pesto-like version, but colorful varieties like ‘Dark Opal’ and ‘Siam Queen’ infuse a bright hue through the butter along with their flavor.

4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves

1 garlic clove

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Sage Butter

Sage always seems to be at its best when served with melt-inyour-mouth mashed sweet potatoes, roasted turkey, pumpkin ravioli, and other foods from the harvest season. It’s also really yummy slathered on baked potatoes and grilled corn on the cob, but then again, what isn’t? When they’re in season, substitute sage flowers for the leaves.

2 tablespoons finely chopped sage leaves

1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Honey-Lavender Butter

This combination of floral sweetness and fat is especially sumptuous on a slice of warm bread or melting between the top and bottom of a muffin.

1 tablespoon lavender flowers, finely chopped

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Variations to Try

Calendula petals

Chive or chive flower

Cilantro

Cress

Lemon thyme

Nasturtium

Parsley

Rosemary

Rose petals

Sage flowers

Violet flowers

Recipe

Mint Syrup

Makes about 2½ cups

This recipe is a saving grace come midsummer when I am saddled with a sack of fresh mint and the dilemma of how to capture its fresh flavor quickly before it rots on my kitchen counter.

Macerating and steeping the mint in the sugar is a step beyond the typical simple syrup recipe, but it’s worth the extra effort. The result is a much more intensely flavored, rich syrup that you can use to sweeten pancakes, as a dessert topping, or to flavor sparkling wine, prosecco, and a myriad of other alcoholic beverages. Use it as a sweetener for cold sweet tea or lemonade. Thin it out with water or sparkling water to make Italian sodas, herbal granitas , or ice pops.

Ingredients

2 cups (tightly packed) fresh mint leaves

1 cup granulated cane sugar

1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice

1. Tear or chop the mint leaves and add them to a bowl along with the sugar and lemon juice, and ¼ cup boiling water. Crush the leaves into the sugar by pounding for a minute or two with a wooden pestle, a muddler, or the end of a rolling pin. (The smells you’ll encounter during this process are incredible and will clear out your sinuses!)

2. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside for 2–8 hours so that the mint essence can infuse into the sugar. The longer you leave it, the more intense the infusion will be.

3. Pour 2 cups boiling water over the mixture and stir well, scraping down the sides to liquefy the grains of sugar that have settled around the bowl. Set aside to steep for a few minutes more.

4. While the mint is steeping, wash 5 half-pint Mason jars in warm soapy water and set aside to drip-dry. Set the dry jars on a baking pan and sterilize them in the oven for 20 minutes at 250°F.

5. Strain the liquefied sugar-mint mixture through a fine sieve into a medium saucepan. Push down on the mint with the back of a wooden spoon to extract all of the liquid.

6. Gently simmer over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar grains have completely dissolved. Raise the heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring continuously to prevent the syrup from burning on the bottom of the pan. Continue boiling vigorously for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat immediately.

7. Pour the warm liquid into sterilized jars and set them on a wooden surface or kitchen towel to cool. Once the jars have cooled to room temperature, store them in the fridge for several months. It is not unusual to find little bits of herb floating in the jar. Stir or shake before use.

NOTE: For long-term shelf storage, pour into sterilized Mason jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace, and heat-process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes. Keep in the fridge once opened.

Other Syrup Infusions

Anise hyssop

Basil (sweet, lemon, cinnamon, anise)

Bronze fennel

Citrus zest

Ginger

Hibiscus flowers

Lavender blossoms

Lemon balm

Lemongrass

‘Lemon’ thyme

Lemon verbena

Rosemary

Rose petals

Sage

Shiso

Violet flowers

Herbal Happy Hour

Herbal spritzers are a cheap and cheerful way to give a second life to a bottle of humdrum wine. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the herbal syrup of your choice to a tall glass of ice. Fill the glass to the halfway mark with white wine (Riesling and Pinot Grigio are good choices) and top with sparkling water.

Mint and White Wine Granita

Recipe

Mint and White Wine Granita

Serves 2

Don’t be intimidated by the word granita—it’s really just a fancy, adult take on the drink-mix slushies we made as kids. For a nonalcoholic version, substitute sparkling water for the wine.

¼ cup Mint Syrup

½ cup white wine

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Mix the syrup, white wine, lemon juice, and ½ cup cold water together in a wide plastic or freezer-safe container with a watertight lid. Shallow pans with a wide surface area freeze faster but become a spill hazard in an overfilled freezer.

2. Freeze the mixture for a few hours, stirring every hour or so with a fork to keep it from forming into a solid block. A timer set to the hour really helps here.

3. If the granita does freeze completely, set the container out to thaw slightly for about 20 minutes before serving.

4. Scrape with a fork to break the ice up into chips and serve immediately.

VARIATIONS

Syrup or honey infused with rose petals, lemon verbena, anise hyssop, lemon balm, or lemon basil is delicious in place of mint syrup.

rose petal-infused honey

Rose Petal–Infused Honey

Recipe

Rose Petal–Infused Honey

Like fine wine, honey flavors vary from region to region and year to year depending on growing conditions and the flowers the bees feed on. I didn’t come to appreciate this complexity until I started infusing my honey with homegrown herbs and flowers. Now I always have several different types on hand—I match different honeys to complementary herbs and use the final result to alter the taste of tea and lemonade and to sweeten desserts. I like the floral flavors on my morning yogurt or served with good cheese.

Honey takes on the medicinal properties of each herb as well as its flavor. Be patient and keep the temperature very low when heating; otherwise you risk destroying the honey’s natural enzymes.

3 cups (packed) fresh rose petals

1. In a double boiler, heat the honey and rose petals for 15 minutes over very low heat, stirring constantly. If you do not have a double boiler, set a heatproof bowl inside a small pot of water.

2. Pour the honey-flower mixture into a clean jar and store in a dark place to continue steeping. Infuse mild herbs like rose petals for up to several weeks, and very strong herbs such as rosemary, sage, or wild bergamot for just a few days. Taste the honey every few days to test the strength of the infusion. It’s really all a matter of personal taste.

3. When the desired strength is reached, strain the honey into a second, clean jar.

VARIATIONS

Rose Geranium Honey

½ cup rose geranium flowers

2 rose geranium leaves, roughly chopped

Lavender Blossom Honey

¼ cup lavender blossoms

Mint-Infused Honey

2–4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint (leaves and flowers)

Other Herbs to Try

Flowers

Anise hyssop

Chamomile

Hibiscus

Lavender

Lemon verbena

Marjoram

Mint

Rose geranium

Rose petals

Sage

Thyme

Wild bergamot

Leaves

Anise hyssop

Lemon balm

Lemon verbena

Mint (peppermint, applemint, ‘Chocolate’, ‘Ginger’)

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

Seeds and Roots

Coriander

Ginger

Lemongrass

No-Mess Version

Planning to flavor an entire jar of honey? Save the effort of wrangling a gooey mess and just stick the glass jar into a pot of warm water rather than emptying the contents into a double boiler. Add the herbs to the jar, push them down into the honey with a chopstick, and you’re done. Don’t do this when the jar is plastic.

Bush Booze

Recipe

Bush Booze

I was first introduced to the concept of herb-infused alcohol on a trip to Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean (my maternal family comes from there). Those with an iron gut drink “bush rum,” a very high-proof cane rum infused with herbs, fruit, spices, and other oddities—including meat! Bush is a colloquial term for herbs but also refers to the clandestine way this herbal hooch is prepared, sold, and consumed.

My experimental bush booze is decidedly less powerful than the original inspiration and a lot more drinkable by my standards. A remarkable range of herbs can be used to make delicious aperitifs—don’t be afraid to experiment! I’ve personally tried dozens of herbs, and some of the most unexpected flavors (coriander, lovage, and dill) have turned out to be favorites. Even when they don’t work on their own, the herb-infused spirits can always be saved for deglazing a cooking pan or flavoring a hearty stew.

Use the following recipes as a base ingredient for mixed drinks or serve ice-cold and straight up in shot-sized sipping glasses as an aperitif. No matter the season, these herbal infusions go down smooth and warm the belly like a tonic.

To make the booze:

1. Add all ingredients to a clean jar. Pour alcohol on top to cover.

2. Steep in a cool, dark place for 1 day to a week. Use your taste buds and intuition to adjust the steeping time and amount used. Don’t leave the herbs in indefinitely—they turn bitter over time.

3. Strain out the herbs and use the infused alcohol as required.

NOTE: The labels shown in the photo (opposite) are available for download online at easy-growing.com. Print them out and affix to recycled glass bottles.

Spicy Basil-Infused Vodka

Makes 3 cups

Drink this hot-or-not basil-infused vodka alone, or better yet, add it to homemade tomato juice for the best Bloody Mary ever. Steep for one day and keep tasting every day after that—it can go from balanced to overwhelming in no time.

750 milliliters vodka

1 cup roughly chopped fresh ‘Purple Ruffles’ basil

2 garlic cloves

4 garlic chive leaves

1 hot pepper (optional)

Hibiscus Bush Rum

Makes 3 cups

I prefer to use white rum instead of dark for this infusion because it is so easily dyed a nuclear red color by the hibiscus flowers. Serve it during the holiday season or at a red-themed party.

750 milliliters white rum

1 cup dried hibiscus calyces

Green Fennel Seed Rum

Makes 1½ cups

When making this drink, leave the seed head intact but lightly pound the seeds with a rolling pin to release their flavor before adding to the rum. This works really well with vodka, too. I can’t decide which is better.

375 milliliters white rum

1 large fennel seed head with immature, green seeds

Drying Herbs

There are lots of ways to dry herbs and a variety of methods that suit different lifestyles. I have air-dried heaps of herbs in a tiny apartment for well over a decade without the aid of an oven, microwave, or electric dehydrator—you’ll want to use one of those devices if you live in a humid climate or don’t have the space to commit to air-drying. The aim is to dry the herbs thoroughly and as quickly as possible, before they lose those delicious, aromatic oils.

Some herbs take better to quick drying than others. Rosemary, lemon verbena, lovage, and basil leaves are just a few examples of herbs that dry effortlessly. I’ve dried several of these by accident, simply by forgetting to add more water to a vase or leaving them on a chopping board overnight.

Plants such as chervil, cilantro, chives, salad burnet, dill, and fennel dry easily but tend to lose their flavor and color through the drying process. Lower your expectations and use larger quantities in recipes to make up for their blandness or skip this method in favor of freezing.

Humidity is another important factor to consider, because too much moisture in the air encourages mold and severely impedes the drying process, regardless of the method used. Time large batch drying to correspond with the dry season or a short period of drought. Take advantage of a weekend baking session when the oven will be heating up the kitchen and move drying plants to that room of the house.

Regardless of the herb, and whether you are drying the leaves, roots, seeds, stems, or fruit, all herb bits should be crackling dry before storing them away. Vintage glass canning jars are great for storage, especially the hinged kind, as long as they are airtight. To maintain their flavor, color, and integrity, leave the herbs as whole as possible and wait to crush or grind them up finely just before use.

Air-Drying

Air-drying is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to go but also the slowest if conditions aren’t right. Loosely tie up the stems of small bundles of herbs with twine and hang them to dry in warm (not hot), dark parts of the house where there is a bit of a breeze or decent airflow. The best spot in my former, cramped apartment was the least obvious. I hung the herbs on a spring-loaded bar set across an underused doorway where there was excellent circulation but no light. Coat hangers are another cheap and easy hanging option. Separate the bundles by a few inches of space so there is room for air to flow around the stems.

Lay small clusters or individual leaves, seeds, flowers, or roots on top of newsprint or mesh screening so that they aren’t touching or overlapping. Or you can get fancy and build a wooden drying cabinet with mesh screens at the bottom of each drawer to keep the light out but bring air in.

Oven and Microwave Drying

If you’ve got a regular-sized oven, save the drying for a big batch of herbs so you can make use of all of that space in one go. Countertop toaster ovens are perfect for small batches. The ideal drying temperature for most herbs is around 80–95°F, but since kitchen ovens don’t go that low, you’ll need to set yours at the lowest temperature and prop the door open slightly to prevent it from getting too hot. The key is removing water from the herb bits slowly to avoid cooking or baking the flavor right out. This can take 30 minutes or several hours, depending on the herb, so be sure to check on them regularly.

Microwaves dry herbs incredibly fast—a minute or two tops is all you need to zap leaves to a crisp.

Dehydrator Drying

Electric dehydrators are great when it is too humid to air dry effectively. They’re not as hot as ovens and are better for doing smaller batches as your herbs come into season. When purchasing a dehydrator, look for a model that has an adjustable thermostat that goes down as low as 90–95°F and is not too noisy (this is key in an apartment). A high wattage capacity is important (mine is 700 watts) or else it will take forever to dry a simple mint leaf, and you also want one that has a top- or side-mounted fan so that wet herbs don’t drip onto it.

Drying times vary depending on the machine and the herb; however, leaves usually take a couple of hours and fruit can take up to a few days. Chop roots into small chunks or thin slices to reduce drying times.

Tie up bundles of herbs right in the garden as you pick them and save yourself the hassle of sorting, bundling, and tying them later on.

Herbs That Dry Well

Leaves and Stems

Rosemary, sage, basil, lovage, savory, tarragon, thyme, parsley, lemon balm, lemon verbena, stevia, bay, lime.

Flowers

Chamomile, hibiscus, anise hyssop, lavender, fennel, marigold, borage, bee balm, calendula.

Remove stems and lay flat on a sheet of paper or mesh screen. Set in a dry place out of the sun for a few days to several weeks, until brittle.

HIBISCUS FLOWERS: Use the petals fresh and dry the calyx only. Strip off the calyces and lay flat to air-dry in the sun or in the oven.

Roots and Bulbs

Horseradish, onions, garlic, ginger.

Set the oven or dehydrator to a higher temperature than used for leaves or fruit (about 140°F).

Thin slices are easier to dry but lose their flavor faster. To preserve the best flavor and scent, dry in large pieces and grind fresh as you need it.

GARLIC: Tie up the stems and hang the bulbs to “cure” in a dry spot for several weeks. Trim the roots and cut the stems down to about an inch or so above the bulbs. Store in a cool, dark place—never in the fridge.

Seeds and Fruit

Fennel, coriander, caraway, anise, dill, lovage, rose hips.

Harvest long stems of dill, fennel, coriander, and so on with nearly ripened seeds and loosely tie them together into small bundles. Cover the seed heads with a paper bag and hang to dry. The seeds will fall into the bag as they mature, a process that can take a few days to a few weeks, depending on the plant and the drying conditions.

ROSE HIPS: Harvest ripe hips just after the first frost. Slice the stem and blossom ends off each hip and lay flat to air-dry, or use an oven or dehydrator set to the lowest temperature to avoid losing vitamin C. Alternately, slice each hip in half and scoop out the seeds and irritating fine hairs before drying. Large, fleshy hips can take a few weeks to air-dry and are wrinkly and hard when ready.

CHILI PEPPERS: To make your own chili flakes, hang whole, blemish-free peppers, or cut them in half and lay flat in a dehydrator set to 115°F. Drying time depends on the size of the pepper and the thickness of the flesh. Crush with a mortar and pestle when thoroughly dry.

SUNFLOWER SEEDS: Hang or lay whole heads out of the sun and separate the seeds as they come loose. Cover hanging heads with cheesecloth or loosely woven muslin to hold the drying seeds.

Recipe

Dried Herbal Tisane Blends

Making herbal infusions, or tisanes as they are known in hoity-toity circles, is one of the simplest ways to use up the bounty from an overgrown garden. Even a few pots of mint will yield enough fresh leaves to enjoy through the summer and a small harvest to dry and keep you warm through the chilly months.

Lemon Rose

Serves 4

The high vitamin C content of the rose hips in this mix makes it an excellent winter tonic.

1 tablespoon dried lemon verbena leaves

1 tablespoon fresh or dried rosehips, crushed

2 tablespoons fresh or dried rose petals

Lemon Lavender Mint

Serves 6

Soothing and sedating with a hint of freshness from the mint.

2 tablespoons lavender blossoms

2 tablespoons lemon balm

2 tablespoons mint leaves

Bedtime Tea

Serves 6

The herbs in this mix are known for their ability to gently guide you into sleep at the end of a long, harried day.

4 tablespoons chamomile flowers

2 tablespoons ‘Lemon’ catnip

Fruity Mint

Serves 8

A bright, refreshing, and soothing mix for an autumn day.

4 tablespoons anise hyssop flowers

2 tablespoons lemon balm

2 tablespoons bee balm

1 tablespoon spearmint

Quick and Easy Tea Bags

Project

Quick and Easy Tea Bags

Make It

Make these tea bags ahead of time and store in a glass jar for several months. Replicate expensive tea bags at a fraction of the cost by substituting the cheesecloth with clean sheer curtains or silk. Tie the bags with baker’s twine or colorful embroidery thread.

You Will Need

Cheesecloth or muslin

8 feet baker’s twine

1 to 2 cups Dried Herbal Tisane Blend

1. Cut the cheesecloth into a dozen 6-inch squares and the string into 8-inch lengths.

2. Place 1 tablespoon of the herbal tisane blend of your choice in the center of each square and spread it around equally.

3. Fold the left and right sides to create a tube, then fold in half lengthwise, gathering the ends together to create a little bundle. Tie closed with a piece of baker’s twine and trim off extra fabric from the top of the bundle with a pair of shears.

Making the Tea Tags

Download printable tea tag designs online at easy-growing.com. Alternatively, make your own tags using scrap paper cut into 2" × 1" pieces. Fold a tag in half over the loose end of a tea bag string and staple in place.

Tasty Tea Herbs

CITRUS/ACIDIC: Lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme, lemongrass, ‘Lemon’ basil, orange mint, coriander seed, rose hips, ‘Lemon’ catnip, hibiscus flowers, orange and lemon zest.

FRUITY: Apple mint, chamomile, rose hips, rose petals, pineapple sage.

MINT AND LICORICE: Peppermint, spearmint, anise hyssop, licorice root, bee balm, sweet cicely, fennel seed, aniseed.

AROMATIC: Garden sage, catnip, rosemary, lavender blossoms, oregano, dill seed.

HERBAL: Raspberry leaves, strawberry leaves, red clover (Trifolium pratense), yarrow, mullein.

SPICY: ‘Cinnamon’ basil, ginger, cinnamon bark, cloves, cardamom, star anise.

Sweetener in the Bag

Stevia is a South American herb that is 300 times sweeter than sugar, without the ill health effects. Add a tiny pinch to each tea bag before closing it up to make an all-in-one teabag that you can travel with.

Recipe

Dried-Herb Blends

The last big harvest of the season can leave you with an overwhelming abundance of herbs. The following blends are classic combinations that you are bound to use over and over again throughout the winter. Premixing saves the hassle of measuring each out repeatedly.

Scarborough Fair Mix

Serves 2–4

This combination, adapted from the famous ballad, makes an exceptional mix for Thanksgiving stuffing, whether vegan or bird. Depending on your climate and the occasion, you can also substitute fresh herbs, but if you do, double the quantity used.

Try to keep the leaves whole and intact if you can for storage purposes—they’ll hold their flavor longer this way. Crush them with your fingers directly before use.

4 tablespoons dried parsley

2 tablespoons dried rosemary

2 tablespoons dried sage

2 tablespoons dried lemon thyme

3 dried bay leaves, crushed

Salad Dressing Mix

Serves 8

Add this mix to olive oil and vinegar for an easy winter herb dressing, or toss it onto salad greens straight up with your own choice of oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Meyer lemon is even better!

To use this mix in a dressing, combine 1 tablespoon dried herb mix with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon Chive Blossom Vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey, and a pinch of sea salt to taste. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so before serving to allow the herbs time to marinate in the liquid.

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons dried ‘Lemon’ basil

2 tablespoons dried chervil

1 tablespoon dried marjoram

1 tablespoon dried mint

Pizza Topping

Serves 4–5

Homemade pizza is a weekly event around here. This dried mix is a great way to add flavor in the last legs of winter when plain tomato sauce is all we’ve got left from the summer’s preserves.

Sprinkle to taste into the sauce, onto the cheese, or better yet, right into the dough if you’ve got the ambition to make it from scratch. I am coming over.

4 tablespoons dried oregano

4 tablespoons dried ‘Dark Opal’ basil

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes (optional)

1. Mix the dried herbs together in a bowl. Leave all seeds whole and try to avoid crushing the herbs until moments before use. This maintains the integrity of the flavor for a longer period of time.

2. Store loose in an airtight, glass container in a dark, dry place for up to a year. The kitchen cupboard farthest from the stove is a good option because there is less chance of subjecting the herbs to steam and heat.

Hearty Soup Mix

This mix has a deep, intense flavor that is suited to winter broths and thick, stick-to-your-ribs bean soups. Stay warm.

4 tablespoons dried parsley

4 tablespoons dried basil

3 tablespoons dried chives

2 tablespoons dried savory

1 tablespoon dried marjoram

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

3 dried bay leaves, crushed

SOUP AND STEW SACHETS: For the sake of convenience, prepackage mixes into homemade cloth tea bags and store them in a glass jar. When you’re making a soup, sauce, or stew, simply reach for a bag in the cupboard and pop it open. A jar of organically grown herb sachets makes a very nice gift, too. I recently saw jars going for several dollars a piece at an upscale culinary boutique. Follow the directions for Dried Herbal Tisane Blends.

Recipe

Lavender Blossom Sugar

Makes about 2 cups

Years ago my maternal aunt, Noreen, showed me how she flavored granulated sugar by adding fresh vanilla beans brought back from a yearly trip home to the Caribbean. I have since experimented with a wide range of spices, herbs, and edible flowers and couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted jars of this simple treat for sale at a premium … after all, it’s just sugar with a few herbs thrown in. Super easy to make. It makes a vibrant and exciting addition to baked goods, tea, coffee, sweet beverages, or anywhere else you use sugar.