Zojirushi Bread Machine

You have planted the herbs in your home herb garden and watched them grow and flourish. They are extremely useful in so many ways. But, using herbs from a home herb garden requires a little bit of work first.

In order to use the herbs from a home herb garden you will need to harvest them first. Timing is a huge factor. The wind and the heat can disperse the essential oils of the herbs. You should choose a calm and dry morning during midsummer to enter your home herb garden and harvest your herbs. It is a fact that fewer oils are produced by the herb on extremely wet days. Harvest the herbs from your home herb garden just after the dew has dried form the leaves right before the flowers open. Harvesting the herb does not mean removing the entire plant. At this point, you are just taking a certain amount of growth for use. You do not need to use the herbs from the home herb garden that you are harvesting at the time that you pick them. You can preserve them to use later. Be careful not to take more then one third of the plants foliage at one time. The plant will need a good amount of foliage to re-grow well. Owner of a home herb garden also should inspect the plant for insects and damaged leaves before you harvest it.

As I have said earlier, harvested herbs do not need to used immediately but you can preserve them for future use. There are three ways in preserving a certain herb. One is by drying. To dry herbs you only need six to twelve stems to bundle together and without any foliage near the base of the stems. You can also dry leaves by using a screen or a rack to placed the leaves. Obligate yourself to turn the herbs you are drying every now and then for a proper drying. Some growers use dehydrators, ovens but these are less effective in drying. Another way of preserving is freezing. This is a simple way because you just have to cut the herbs into pieces, placed on a baking paper, put it in the refrigerator and once they are frozen, you can place them together in a bag and let it store for future use. Last way of preserving is by using a medium may it be a salt or vinegar. How is this done? Chop herbs and placed it in a container covered with vinegar and keep it for few months. On the other hand, you can also use flavored vinegar by alternating herbs onto it and if they are already dry, separate the brown herb from the salt and keep it in an airtight container.

If you are using the fresh herbs right away after it has been harvested, you should see to it that you wash it with a cool water and two tablespoons of salt because there is a possibility that insects are present in the herb and the salt will drive them away without damaging the plant. To dry the herb, remove it from the water and place them in a salad spinner.

As a golden rule from using herbs from the home herb garden; different types of herbs for many different uses have to be examined. Each different type of herb in the home herb garden has its own list of instructions on how to use, harvest, and chop them. Make sure to research the specific type of herb you are dealing with in your home herb garden to use it correctly.

Jack Grant is an herb garden lover and perfected his skills in Italy. Get the secrets on how to cultivate your own Home Herb Garden and get FREE tips. Click here.

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