Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Adventures in drying Basil!

I have two decent sized plants of Basil.  There's no way I will be able to use it all in my cooking before it goes bad.  So, I decided to dry a portion of it, to save for this winter! I picked the plant that isn't flowering yet, as it is supposed to have the best taste when dried.
First I cut a majority of the stalks off.
I then made sure to rinse all of the dirt and bugs and grossness off of the leaves by soaking them in the sink for a few minutes.
Then I got them out, checked each leaf for any brown spots, or bad leaves, and then laid the stalks in a bundle.
Using some pink yarn, I got from my lovely student teaching mentor, I tied the bundles together very tightly, because the basil tends to shrink, and you don't want them to fall.
Then I attached them to paperclips, and hung them in the storage closet in our office.
And voila!
In about 4 weeks I should have dried basil to use for the entire winter!

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