Interactive lesson

Culinary herbs, step by step

Interactive lesson: from the bed to the pot — which herbs to dry and which to freeze, how to propagate and pick them, and how to keep them safely in oil, vinegar and salt.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Culinary herbs: growing and harvesting module. Already bought? Unlock

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The whole lesson as text

1. Fresh, dried or frozen

Not every herb is for drying: first decide which ones you dry and which ones you freeze.

Two kinds of herbs — Mediterranean herbs want sun, dry, free-draining soil and little feeding. Soft herbs like moister, richer soil.
Tough leaves for drying — Oregano, thyme, savory, sage and rosemary smell stronger dried than fresh. Sweet marjoram and bay dry excellently.
Soft leaves into the freezer — Chives, parsley, dill and basil keep better frozen than dried. Dried, only the colour is left, without the scent.
Lovage for soups — Lovage grows up to 2 m tall and smells of stock cubes. It dries excellently, as a homemade stock powder.

Why: Herbs with small, tough leaves full of essential oil keep their scent when dried, often even more strongly. Herbs with soft, juicy leaves lose most of their scent when dried and turn into hay.

Tarragon dries poorly and loses its scent; it is better frozen or made into tarragon vinegar.
Dill and coriander leaves dry poorly, but their seed dries excellently.

2. Mediterranean herbs

Sage, thyme, oregano, savory, rosemary and bay are perennial and want the sunniest spot.

Sage — Pick the leaves from May to September; the scent is strongest just before flowering. Stop after mid-September so the bush can harden off for winter.
Thyme and oregano — Cut thyme above the woody part. Cut oregano 10 cm above the ground at the start of flowering; it regrows within a week or two.
Savory and rosemary — Grow savory in the garden; do not pick it wild, as some related species are protected. In cold or very wet areas grow rosemary in a pot.
Bay, not cherry laurel — True bay has leathery, dark green leaves. Cherry laurel from an ornamental hedge has a bigger, glossier leaf that smells of bitter almonds when crushed, and it is poisonous.

Why: These plants live for years as long as you do not strip them to the ground. Sage and thyme never recover if you cut them back into the woody part.

Sweet marjoram is the only one in this group that does not survive a northern winter outdoors, so it is sown every year.
Oregano is stronger dried than fresh: for pizza, tomato sauce, roasted pepper relish and beans.