Solar Drying Herbs for Preservation

Stocking your pantry with essential items, like herbs, from the garden?  Solar drying herbs is an easy and inexpensive way to preserve your herb harvest.

Not to mention herbs make for cozy teas and can be used in your arsenal to fight off bad bugs.

*This post is not intended to treat, diagnose or cure any health issue.  Seek a qualified health practitioner for medical advice.*

Steps to Preserving Herbs Through Solar Drying

It’s that time of year to dry herbs again!  My basil was beginning to go to flower.  I cut the basil and piled it in my handy basket.

Steps to Drying Herbs

1. Cut desired herbs.
2. Fill sink with soapy water or vinegar water.
3. Place herbs in water to wash.
4. Remove herbs from the wash water.
5. Fill sink with clean water.
6. Place herbs in water, giving them a good rinse.
7. Remove herbs from rinse water.  Repeat step 6 as many times as needed for herbs to be clean.
8. Using a salad spinner, remove excess water.  Patting herbs dry with a towel works too.
9. Place herbs in the sun.  We use this solar dehydrator.

Solar Dehydrators

The sun is an excellent source for dehydrating your herbs.  It usually takes about three days to completely dry herbs, but check on them periodically.

This may be the only area we’re embracing off grid, nonetheless, I call that a cause for celebration!

We bought a nice mesh solar dehydrator for less than $30!  Before taking the leap and buying one, we were rednecking (is that a word?) one.  Let me explain.

Shaun used trays from an electric dehydrator.  And to keep bugs away, he wrapped garden row mesh around the trays.

That being said, the point is…if you have fresh herbs and the sun, you can make dehydrating happen!

Let us know in the comments how you have or will be solar dehydrating your herbs!

Watch Harvest and Dehydrating Video

We recently posted our video when I harvested basil.  You can watch “Simple Living:  Basil Harvest” here.  Make sure to SUBSCRIBE, LIKE and SHARE!