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Backyardnotes

~ All things botanical in photos and words—in my West Seattle garden and elsewhere; seeing and creating art and assorted musings.

Backyardnotes

Tag Archives: lavender

IT’S DRYING TIME FOR HERBS

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Food, Harvest, Herbs

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drying herbs, harvesting herbs, herbal honey, herbs, lavender, oregano, sage, thyme

cutherbsIN THE COOL OF THE DAY, just as the sun was peeking over the tree tops and the morning’s dew had dried, I cut bunches of sage (berggarten & golden), oregano, thyme, and some of the first lavender to bloom, for drying. As far as timing goes most of the herbs have not yet bloomed and I was right on the money in picking on Wednesday–yesterday we had rain!

For large quantities I prefer to hang in small bunches until dry. I have tried the microwave method but think that there is a loss of potency and the leaves seem a little more crispy.

hangingherbsAfter cleaning and removing dead stems, leaves, etc. I made small bunches, tied them with string and hung them to dry in my laundry room. It’s the buffer between the main part of the house and the garage; it remains cool, dark and has good air circulation with some occasional warmth from the dryer. Bunches of lemon balm were well dried in about five days.

lavender bundles

After drying I gently strip leaves from stems and lightly crush/crumble them and store in jars. Since I cannot possibly grow every herb and spice I like to use, some have to be purchased; I save the emptied jars, remove the labels and use again for my own storage.

I made sure to leave some stalks to flower for the honeybees. Someone around here is bound to have some nice herbal honey. And a little later in the summer will have a second crop to use.

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WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH 20 POUNDS OF APRICOTS?

23 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Cooking & Eating, Jellies & Preserves

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apricot chutney, Apricot Jam, Apricot Lavender Jam, Apricots, BBQ sauce, Blueberry Balsamic Jam, Cherry Plum Preserves, cherry plums, lavender

AS WE LEFT WINTHROP ON THE LAST DAY OF THE BIG TRIP, I HAD TO STOP AT THE FRUIT STAND. I bought a twenty pound box of apricots and eight pounds of Rainier cherries. Hmmmmm…twenty pounds, really? What was I thinking?. Seven weeks of missed canning opportunities, perhaps? Thinking was definitely in order now.

Making up for lost time, I went into overdrive. Two days later I had put up 9 half-pints of Apricot Amaretto Jam (Well Preserved, Eugenia Bone);7 half-pints of Apricot Jam w/Lavender & Vanilla; 10, 11 oz. bags of halved apricots into the freezer;

5 pints of Apricot-Mango BBQ sauce. I started to make chutney but the apricots did not hold their shape well enough, so out came the immersion blender and the addition of bourbon and voila–BBQ sauce! 5 half-pints of Rainier Cherry preserves; 4, 8 oz. bags of pitted cherries into the freezer;

Big, beautiful, local blueberries were a good deal the day after we returned so I couldn’t resist them either. 6 half-pints blueberry jam; 4 half-pints of Blueberry-Balsamic w/star anise jam.

On Monday last week I went up to my daughter’s place in Snohomish and picked 17 pounds of Cherry Plums.

7 pounds went to Cherry Plum Preserves ( 11 half-pints). The remaining 9 pounds produced about 10 cups of juice which became two types of jelly: Gingered Cherry Plum Jelly (8 half-pints) and the same base with the addition of red Fresno chiles (9 half-pints). Think I’m done with canning for a week or so — the garden is calling!

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