Drying your garden herbs is so easy! I have perfected the method and I dry my herbs to enjoy for the entire year. 

Fresh herbs in your garden are wonderful for fresh flavors all growing season. When you have an abundance, need to trim back, or it’s the end of the growing season then drying your herbs is the perfect way to continue to enjoy them.  I have a huge bush of oregano in my front garden beds. When the oregano starts to flower on the tips and needed to be trimmed back then I harvest for drying. 

The ideal time to harvest most herbs is before the plant starts to flower. I often seem to catch it just as it starts to flower. I take that as the cue to trim back all the flowers and harvest some (or all, depending on the time of year) of the herb plant. Don’t worry if you have some flowers in your batch, almost all flowers are edible too.

I chopped my oregano WAY back as it flowered and harvested it into a large bowl. I filled the bowl with water and soaked the herbs for a little bit to get any dirt or bugs off. 

Next I lay the herbs out onto towels to dry – usually overnight but you don’t have to wait that long. The herbs will just take a little longer in the oven depending on how wet they are.

Spread out the herbs on baking sheets. Oregano is the easiest, basil really needs to spread out in an even layer and be dried in the oven much longer than oregano. When I’m doing multiple herbs I always use separate baking sheets so I can adjust time for each one. Basil may take twice as long as thyme or oregano.

Set your oven to the lowest temperature – mine is 200°. Then bake for 20-40 min or until crispy and dry

I have found that I prefer to dry my herbs with the stem intact and strip the leaves after they have dried. I find it to be quicker and easier. Try it both ways to see what is best for you! Here is a video demonstrating how easily the oregano leaves strip off when dry.

Next and last step is to add your dried herbs to jars and label!