Drying Herbs Is Fun!
Follow our guide for an easy method to dry and store herbs that can easily be turned into a cool classroom activity
We love herbs! Having an herb garden at the centre brings so many benefits, from naturally enhancing flavours of meals and snacks cooked, to learning opportunities for the children through sensory, cooking and gardening activities, as well as keeping pests away – as they don’t like the strong scent herbs release.
Herbs grow easily and as everyone who has an herb garden knows, they’re a little bit like hair – happier and prettier when pruned regularly. This means that sometimes we end up with way more fresh herbs than we can possibly use in the kitchen and drying them is the ideal solution. Plus, this can turn into a nice and easy activity pre-schoolers can take part in, which only requires already at hand and inexpensive resources such as scissors, string, card paper and markers for labels, and glass jars or tins to store the herbs.
How to dry your herbs:
1. Gather each type of herb in small bunches and make a label for each one, punching a hole in each label. The bay leaves can simply be scattered on a flat tray to dry.
2. Cut lengths of string to tie each herb bunch individually.
3. Tie each herb bunch, threading a label on each one.
4. Hang the herb bunches upside down - you can use a clothes hanger like we did or any other rack/ pole you’ve got handy. Hang herbs in a dry/ dark cupboard and leave it there until they’re completely dry and easily crumble between your fingers. (Depending on the weather outside, the type of herbs and how dry is your cupboard, this process can take anything from a few days to a few weeks).
Storing your herbs once they’re dry:
Find some clean, dry jars (or tins) to store the herbs.
2. Label the jars so you know which herb is inside. We reused the same string and label to name each jar.
3. Pick the leaves off their thick stalks. Discard stalks (they can go into the compost bin or as mulching in the garden).
4. Use scissors to roughly chop herbs.
5. Store chopped herbs in the jars (using a funnel can be easier for children to manage this step). Herbs will keep for several months.
And there you go! Once your herbs are dried you can use them in many ways, like adding to yummy homemade baking, pizza toppings or savoury dishes such as pastas, casseroles and stews. They can also be used in non-edible activities as in our gorgeous Garden Scented Bath Bombs.
If you still don’t have fresh herbs growing at your centre, our ‘Starting Your Own Herb Garden’ blog tells you all you need to know, step-by-step, on how to set up one. Also, check our other blogs, as many include cool activity ideas and recipes to add herbs in your setting :)