My First Attempt At Drying Herbs

Okay, just to get this out of the way up front . . . the kids had no role in this venture whatsoever. I fully intend for them to in the future, but to be completely honest, I took advantage of a quiet moment to try this for the first time.

A friend had given me some tips for drying herbs since they were growing way faster than I was using them. And just by chance, that same friend delivered tadpoles to my door today, keeping the kids occupied long enough for me to snip parsley, oregano and sage.

Her advice was this simple - cut them, tie them and hang them up to dry. And since things are never as simple as they should be, I ran into my first little hitch trying to find twine. For some reason, that's the one thing I can never find when I need it. So I did what any homeschooling mom would do - raided the craft supplies. The yarn was also mysteriously missing, so I ended up tying them with pipe cleaners and hanging them off some tacks in the kitchen I keep up for the kids' art projects.

The look cute in the kitchen, but I've learned by experience that herbs will dry with even less effort. The parsley I'd left in a little bowl in the fridge a few weeks ago (because I didn't yet know what to do with it) is now nicely dried and made a nice addition to the kids' favorite (chickpea salad) today at lunch.