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Dehydrating Your Home Garden Produce

It is a surprisingly common myth that once you ‘preserve’ a food, it has an indefinite shelf life. Absolutely FALSE. Pay attention to shelf life and plan to USE the food you store as it will not be good forever. 1

All storage methods have limits that are shorter than we are tempted to assume. Be reasonable. Nothing STOPS food spoilage, but certain methods of preserving slow it down considerably. It’s food! Its not indestructible. Nutrition is optimum the fresher it is of course, and at the beginning of storing, best used within a certain time frame.

Generally this is what you can expect:

Canned food – commercially canned or home bottled food has a recommended shelf life of 18 months to 2 years. Two years is the time frame I try to work within. Nutritional value is approximately 40% of whatever that food was the hour it went into the bottle. That nutritional value decreases as it ages, so yes, we may all know someone who has bottled peaches from 2018 on their shelf, but the nutritional value is so poor . . . . Just EAT the doggone thing or give it to the chickens! Get it over with! What are you waiting for?

Frozen fruits and vegetables if prepared properly have a recommended shelf life of 4 months to a year. For me, I use a year as my benchmark. Nutritional value is approximately 60% of whatever the food was the hour it went into the freezer. The key is to have it in the freezer as close to harvest time as possible. Don’t forget about it in there.

Dehydrated foods have a Potential Shelf Life of – 1 year for fruits, 6 months for vegetables, 1-2 months for meat (6 months if vacuum sealed. I say potential because there are so many factors to consider when dehydrating at home. Like for instance:
Did you use a dehydrator? an oven? or did you air dry?
How long between picking time and the dehydrator?
Did you remove all the moisture? Are you certain?
What temperature did you dry it at?
How are you storing it?
Best practise is to store in coolish room temperatures (no less than 40 F / 5 C and no higher than 70 F / 20 C), out of direct light. Nutritional value can be up to 80% with a key factor being prompt processing (from field to dehydrator).

Freeze dried food has an extraordinary shelf life of up to 25 years if done properly. Freeze drying is a gentler process preserving and protecting the food value. Nutritional value could be over 90%.

I strongly emphasize HOME GROWN when selecting what food to preserve for a few very good reasons.

* When I say ‘home grown’, of course I mean locally grown by either me or someone I know, or perhaps a farmer’s market vendor – so that we can know HOW it was grown and WHEN it was picked. Produce begins to deteriorate in-the-hour it is harvested. Most produce: all stone fruit like peaches, plums, apricots, mangoes, and all seed fruits like apples and pears, we buy from the grocery store are picked before it is fully ripe, and at least a week before we buy it. This is done to assist in the transportation of the produce to distant locations, but it inhibits full nutritional content right outta the gate. Some of the phytonutrients in those plants will never fully develop if they are harvested too early.

Since nutritional value begins to deteriorate immediately, keeping produce for a week or more before we eat it, ensures significant loss of nutrients. So for example, when we buy a case of “fresh” peaches from the grocery store to bottle or freeze or even freeze dry (don’t dehydrate them), and we wait a few more days after we get them home to ripen, we are guaranteed to loose much in the way of nutrition. In many cases – more than HALF before you even cut into your first ripe peach.

DEHYDRATORS:

There are many different types of Food Dehydrators. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but to make it worthwhile – pay attention to a few details.

Purchased or homemade? New or used?
When we started dehydrating in the late 1970’s there really weren’t a whole lotta options available for purchase. It was pretty much ‘homemade’ or nothing.

Oven
My first experience dehydrating was in our kitchen oven. I set it to as low a temperature as I could, and used a serving utensil to keep it slightly ajar, allowing the air to circulate. I made fruit leather, using a recipe from an old book I borrowed from the library. This was a good introduction, but awkward and impossible to know exactly what temperature I was dealing with. It took a long time and was easy to lose track of time and over do it.

Homemade Conversion
My next experience was to borrow a home made dehydrator from our good friends Daryl and Carol Currie from church. They had converted a small fridge, adding multiple shelves. It was heated with an in-car heater and fan. and worked very well. We loved it.

When I was in my first year of marriage, I came across this adage that spoke to me and shaped my thinking. The saying which gained popularity during the depression and wartime years, encourages resourcefulness.
To me it is the motto of a self reliant lifestyle.

Screen to sun dry
We experimented with an open screen system to dry in the sun. Dan built me a bottom screen and a top screen to protect the fruit from insects. Epic fail. First of all, the screens didn’t prevent the flies from landing close enough to the fruit to contaminate it, and second of all, the weather was not always helpful. We do not have the hot dry summers up here to make that idea practical. Back to borrowing Currie’s fridge dehydrator again.

Homemade from scratch
Dan built me a very big dehydrator out of plywood – the size of a small freezer. I was dehydrating for a family of growing kids, and to be able to do a fairly large amount of fruit at a time was important, so I needed something that would suit our purposes. Dan and our friend Kevin Lamont worked together and made one for us and one for Lamonts. Following the example of our friends the Curries, Dan and Kevin used in-car heaters as a heat source. They worked Great and we used ours for years! I could dry about 40 pounds of apples at a time, and as I recall – it would take approximately 24 hours (rotating shelves during that time).

At length, when my need for quantity reduced, we passed it on to someone else and looked for a counter top one to replace it.

I was given an older “Nesco GARDEN MASTER” by a friend who was moving away and downsizing. I loved it, and used it for years, but eventually it started to wear out. It sounded like it was having motor problems, and I couldn’t risk having it quit mid season, so we purchased a new model. Interestingly, the newer one was exactly the same – I guess when it already checks all the boxes, there’s not much to improve on. A nice perk was that all the older racks still fit so we gained quite a big capacity.

* Our son adopted our older one and refurbished it to run smoothly again, so now we both have one. The added bonus of that is that we can each borrow extra trays if we are dehydrating a bigger batch.

Purchased
There are many types of dehydrators for sale these days: big and small, reasonably priced for the most part – so do a little research and read the reviews.

It is easy to find used (I call them ‘experienced’) dehydrators for good prices – from people who just didn’t end up using them as much as they thought they would. You can pick one up for a real good price on the secondhand market.

Unless you’re a single person and expect to use your dehydrator mostly for fun – avoid a real small size. Some dehydrators are so small they’re almost a waste of time in my opinion.

The shape of your dehydrator (round, square or rectangle) is completely a matter of personal choice, but there are a few features I recommend looking for:
* being easy to clean is critical
* a fairly large capacity, and the ability to do a little or a lot at a time
* a thermostat to allow temperature control – a very important feature in my opinion
* being able to add more shelves (racks) to increase your capacity from time to time
* being able to purchase replacement pieces if needed
* easy to clean plastic removable screens for fruit pieces, and easy clean plastic sheets suitable for fruit leather.
tip: If your dehydrator doesn’t have screens or sheets, parchment paper is a good alternative.

Can you use your air fryer to dehydrate?
Apparently you can, but your capacity is very small. You’ll be drying one sliced apple at a time, so what’s the point? And you’re still looking at several hours.
When I dehydrate, I’m not doing it for fun – I’m looking for practicality and a quality product.
Be cautious about keeping your heat down. I’ve had people tell me they dehydrate at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s cooking, not dehydrating – and heat sensitive vitamins will be destroyed.

In the end – my recommendation is to buy a good dehydrator. Whether it is new or experienced doesn’t matter, but investing in one will give you a lot of continual flexibility to be able to take advantage of freshly harvested produce that comes your way.

DEHYDRATING: Why and How

Dehydrated foods can be a nutritious option, but the extent of the nutrient retention varies. While some nutrients are well-preserved, others like water-soluble vitamins like Vitamin C and some B vitamins, will be lost during the drying process.  The extent of loss will depend on a few factors – see below.

If you’re going to be serious about dehydrating, get yourself a dehydrator. It doesn’t have to be expensive, in fact I recommend buying an ‘experienced’ one from market place or a thrift store. You can get some pretty nice dehydrators for decent prices when you buy them second hand. I highly recommend getting one that has temperature control and that fits on your counter.

Nutrient Retention in Dehydrated Foods:

Vitamins:  Vitamins C and some of the B complex (B1 & B9) are heat-sensitive and can be degraded with heat. To preserve these nutrients, use as little heat as you reasonably can. If you have a food dehydrator with a thermometer on it (my high recommendation), you can deliberately keep your temperature lower: 115 F to 125 F (46-52 C).

Temperature: For delicate citrus fruits and strawberries, keep the temperature range on the lower end / 115F – 125 F.
For more hardy fruits like apples, some recommend doing the first hour at about 140 F to remove initial surface moisture, then reducing it to the lower range for the remainder of the drying time.

Minerals:  Minerals are generally well-preserved during dehydration. 

Fiber: Dietary fiber content remains largely unaffected by the drying process. 

Calories:  The calorie content of dehydrated food is going to stay the same, but on a weight-for-weight basis may seem higher because the water is removed. 

Macronutrients:  Macronutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are largely retained during dehydration. 

Factors Affecting Nutrient Loss:

Drying Method: Dehydrating in a dehydrator at a low-temperature, retains more nutrients than air drying or oven drying.
Temperature: Lower drying temperatures help preserve nutrients. 
Storage: Proper storage (like cool temperature and in the dark) helps maintain the quality and nutritional value of dehydrated foods. 

Benefits of Dehydrated Foods:

Longer Shelf Life:  Dehydration extends the shelf life of foods, reducing spoilage and waste. 

Concentrated Nutrition:  Dehydrated foods are more nutrient-dense by weight, making them a good option for backpacking or situations where weight is a concern. 

Variety:  Dehydration allows for year-round access to a wider variety of fruits and vegetables. 

Mixing batches?
Sometimes you may have two or more types of food that need the dehydrator at the same time. Can you mix them? ie: a few shelves of kale and a few shelves of fruit leather?
Be careful. Consider the flavour and aroma of the foods your thinking of putting together.

Apples for instance have a pretty delicate flavour profile, tarragon is pretty strong. Keep those things in mind as you make the decision to combine in the dehydrator – albeit on different shelves. I have mixed in the past but usually with similar things: apples and fruit leather, cherries and fruit leather, cherries and apples, tomatoes and basil or oregano, kale and most herbs.
Garlic or onion with anything else? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Don’t even do those in the house. And make sure you wash your shelves afterward. With garlic you might even want to use parchment paper which you can discard afterward.

What types of herbs, fruits and vegetables grown in the prairie provinces of Alberta are best candidates for dehydrating?

HERBS

All garden culinary herbs except dill weed (the green ferny parts), chives and cilantro are suitable for drying. With these herbs, the flavour is lost and the texture is not very good. I opt to freeze them as the flavour, colour and texture remain beautiful. I use them FROZEN, scraping out of a container with a fork and returning the container to the freezer immediately.

Basil – Oregano – Rosemary – Sage – Savory – Tarragon – Thyme (and any other leafy herb):
wash, shake off water and drain well. Bigger leaves like basil I’ll remover from stem, smaller leaves like thyme and rosemary I’ll leave on the stem. Arrange in single layer on dehydrator rack. Once they’re dry, its a lot easier to strip off the stems.
Do NOT leave any herbs unattended, as some will dry surprisingly quick.
Oregano, tarragon and thyme for instance could be dry in a couple of hours, while basil may take double that time or even more.
You know they’re dry enough when they’re crispy. Some leaves like basil will change colour – get a lot darker. Other leaves like oregano will stay the same colour. Be prepared for variety, they’re all gonna do what they do, and its all okay in the end.

Garlic: is different entirely, as it is not leafy, but succulent. Slice and arrange on rack in single layer, being prepared to redistribute by hand from time to time during the drying process. Best to find a protected outdoor area to set up your dehydrator as the smell will be very strong.
When dry, store in slices, or grind into powder / granules.

FRUITS

* Experiment with length of time, always selecting a low temperature if you have a thermometer on your dehydrator.
* Most of these ones listed you can expect to take over night at least – probably a good 12-18 hours. You’ll know they’re ready when they’re CRISP. Not a minute sooner.
* Not all pieces will dry at the same rate. Rotate your racks throughout the process, and remove pieces that are dry sooner than the others. Place them in their storage jar, and continue to add others as they dry. If you stop too soon and pack them away while there’s still some moisture in them, they’ll mould and you’ll lose them all.

Should you peel your fruit?
Depends on the fruit – and your preference, but I generally choose to peel apples. I find that the skin dries a little tough and the kids were eating around it.

Apples: my kids were raised on dried apples, dehydrated in a large dehydrator that Dan built. I could fit 40+ pounds of apples into it at one time.
– Peel them, core them and slice into rounds 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick. If you prefer wedged slices to rounds, go ahead, you be you.
– Add to a water-lemon juice solution to prevent them from browning.
– When you’re ready, spread evenly in a single layer on your dehydrator racks and stack them. Cover with the lid and turn it on.
Suggestion: set your dehydrator to 145°F (63°C) for about an hour to dry surface moisture, then reduce it to 135°F (57°C) for the remaining drying time.  This two-step process helps prevent “case hardening,” where the outside dries too quickly and traps moisture inside.  Expect 6 to 12 hours for the apples to dry completely.  Don’t be surprised if it takes longer as there are other factors like humidity in the air that will affect the timing.

Testing: its a good practice to test every few hours, occasionally turning slices over as you see the need. Rotate racks.

Checking for dryness:
Apples are dry when they are dry to touch, no moisture when pressed between your fingers. They can be crisp or pliable but ‘leathery’. Your choice.

Cooling and Storage:
Always allow to cool completely before storing; a few minutes will suffice. Don’t let it sit for too long though, as it will absorb moisture from the air and lose it’s crispness. Store in an airtight container, preferably in a cool, dark place. I prefer glass jars.

Shelf life:
You can be comfortable with storage of several months up to a year. After that, the quality will start to deteriorate.

Blueberries: I rarely have enough blueberries to dehydrate, but if you live in the north and you’ve got a favourite wild blueberry patch, then go for it! Poke a hole in each berry to break the skin – other wise they’ll take forever. Personally I wouldn’t leave these overnight. I’d want to keep a closer eye on them to prevent over drying.
Use the steps for apples as a general guideline.

cherry raisins – I save the pits too to use in other projects.

Sour cherries: One of my favourite ways to preserve cherries is to dehydrate them, and then use them like raisins. Pit them, cut in half and place on the dehydrator rack open side up in a single layer.

Pitting cherries is a messy job, so its the perfect one to take outside. Having the dehydrator plugged in outside as well, keeps the whole mess outside where its easier to clean up.
fruit leather

Pears: Personally, I do not enjoy the texture of dried pears, so I don’t do them.

Plums: I slice into quarters – Prunes! Beautiful.
Refer to the instructions for apples as general guidelines. No need to soak in lemon water, and if the plums are especially big and plump, cut them into smaller pieces.

I only use plums that are easy to pit. If I cannot remove the pit by simply slicing the fruit, then its not suitable to dry.
Best to eat those plums fresh, or use for plum jam or plum sauce.

Rhubarb: only in fruit leather, as by itself the texture leaves much to be desired. See footnote for more information on fruit leathers. 2 Rhubarb freezes well – I love to use it frozen in smoothies, and I even can it sometimes cold packed in pint jars to use later as a sauce or in oatmeal. 3

Strawberries: slice and dry. No need to treat with lemon water, they’re beautiful.
Like the blueberries, I wouldn’t leave these unattended over night. I’d want to keep an eye on them to prevent over drying. Strawberries will also make beautiful fruit leather alone or added to rhubarb. 4

All of these fruits are perfect for eating right out of the jar, or rehydrating.
Use in porridge, or to bake with: muffins, cakes, crumbles etc. Stewed prunes over top of oatmeal. Refreshed dried cherries in muffins. Stewed apples and blueberries. Rehydrated apples and cherries in a nice ‘crisp’ or cobbler. Strawberry sauce to go over top ice cream.

Remember a dried plum is now a prune. It will never be a plum again – even if you rehydrate it. It is a PRUNE, just like a dried grape will always be a RAISIN. Rehydrating will never make them what they once were.

VEGETABLES

– carrots – corn – green beans – peas – onions – peppers – kale – spinach – tomatoes – zucchini –
I store all these vegetables in labelled glass jars in a dark pantry cupboard.
Most of them will only be useful in soups later.

* Most of these ones listed you can expect to take over night at least – probably a good 12 hours. But as with fruits, experiment with length of time, always selecting a low temperature if you have a thermometer on your dehydrator.
* Not all pieces will dry at the same rate. Rotate your racks throughout the process, and remove pieces that are dry sooner than the others. Place them in their storage jar, and continue to add others as they dry.

Carrots: chop into small pieces and dehydrate to use in soups over the winter. Use in small amounts as they’ll be pretty strong flavoured, and expect them to take at least 20 minutes to rehydrate in brothy soup.
I like to make carrot juice in the fall when I have lots of carrots, and when I do I often use the leftover pulp in carrot muffins or carrot cake. Sometimes however, I have an excess of carrot pulp that I cannot use right away. In that case, I’ll dehydrate it and store in a jar to use for carrot muffins over the winter.

carrot juice and whole wheat carrot muffins – the perfect late summer breakfast

Corn: shuck cooked corn as if you were going to freeze it. Break the pieces up quite small and dehydrate. Rehydrate in soups.

Green peas and beans, sweet peppers: blanch as if you were going to freeze them. Dehydrate on racks and rehydrate in soups.

Hot peppers: If they’re small I dehydrate them whole, and use them whole later without rehydrating them. I will throw them into the food processor whole, like for spinach dip, or to add to a sauce or soup.
*tip: Peppers have a protective skin that should be punctured or split before dehydrating. You can still leave the peppers whole, but splitting the outer layer with a sharp knife before putting in the dehydrator will drastically reduce the time it takes.
Sometimes if the peppers are small, I string them with thread and hang them in my kitchen to dry. It seems that simple puncturing of the needle helps.

Kale:
Remove the tough stem, wash and chop coarsely. Lay on racks – no need to worry about single layers, I stack it quite deep. It dehydrates surprisingly (don’t ask how many hours – I never pay attention to that enough to write it down) quickly.
I never blanch (or steam) it first.

Onions: chop into small pieces, or slice into 2-3 inch pieces and rinse in cold water. Rinsing removes some of the strong pungent sulfur flavour that is released when the onion is cut – I highly recommend it.
Arrange on rack in single layer, being prepared to redistribute by hand from time to time during the drying process.
Best to find a protected outdoor area to set up your dehydrator as the smell will be very strong.

Spinach and other leafy greens that are more delicate than kale: I suggest lightly steaming first (then plunging into COLD water to stop the cooking process). Drain well then coarsely chop and lay loosely on the dehydrator rack. Personally, I prefer freezing delicate leafy greens.

Tomatoes: choose meaty tomatoes like Roma. Tomatoes that are too juicy will take forever and stick like crazy to the rack. I slice them and lay in single layer on rack. As they dry and get leathery in texture, I’ll turn them over by hand and put them back on the rack to finish. Make sure you rotate your racks from time to time to help with even dehydrating.
To use: add to soups or sauces as is, or powder them in a blender to use in the same way one would use tomato paste. 5

Zucchini: choose zucchini before it gets huge – the perfect eating size. I never peel the the small ones (just as if you were serving them for dinner), slice in nice thick pieces, then quarter them.
Sometimes if I have a bigger zucchini, I’ll grate it and dry that way to refresh later and use for zucchini cake. These ones I DO peel because the peel is tough.

Other vegetables like: beets, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumbers – personally I don’t recommend dehydrating them, mostly because its a texture issue. Having said that, there are always exceptions: I have dehydrated beet slices for the purpose of powdering them (like tomato powder) for adding to smoothies. Beets are a nutrient-dense, low-calorie vegetable packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are particularly rich in folate, manganese and potassium, also rich in fiber and iron and dietary nitrates which are beneficial for heart health. This makes them worth going the extra mile to find a way to benefit from them. Just because a fruit or vegetable is not suitable to use in the ‘traditional’ way, doesn’t mean its not useable in a non traditional way.

It is always worth experimenting with how you can benefit from the good that your garden is gifting you. The very nature of experimenting means it might not work – but it might! Be creative, and open minded to try things you haven’t tried before. Be THAT person. Discover new things simply because you gave them a try.

* I recently saw a post for dehydrated dill pickles. The individual who posted, had too many on hand and their family didn’t care for the brand, so they got ‘creative’ and discovered something wonderful. THAT is what we’re talking about. Not only did they have a good experience, but by sharing they helped others have a good experience too.

a few rules to live by:

Being self reliant is about not wasting goodness.

“Store what you EAT. And then eat what you store.” It doesn’t do any good to dehydrate foods that you are never going to eat. But on the other hand, it IS good to experiment in small quantities at first, and then give it every chance. Not all fruits and vegetables are suited for all forms of preserving, 6 so its good to be flexible.

I hope you’ll give some of these foods a try in the dehydrator, and I’d love to hear your experiences. You likely have some great ideas that I’ve not implemented yet. Or some ways of using the dehydrated foods you’ve dried. I’d love to hear those too.

Enjoy the journey.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

  1. to read more about what you can expect from different home storage methods click this link https://backyardcityhomestead.com/2024/09/16/preserving-and-storing-food-that-we-grow/#c7953b70-6d0e-4435-8d9f-7b67ffc1287f-link PRESERVING AND STORING FOOD THAT WE GROW ↩︎
  2. to read more about how to make Fruit Leather click this link https://backyardcityhomestead.com/2021/09/20/fruit-leather/ FRUIT LEATHER ↩︎
  3. to read more about ways to use and preserve RHUBARB, click this link https://backyardcityhomestead.com/2022/09/03/common-herbs-in-your-house-and-yard-part-6-rhubarb/
    ↩︎
  4. same Fruit Leather link as above ↩︎
  5. to read more about how to dehydrate and use tomato powder click this link: TOMATO POWDER https://backyardcityhomestead.com/2022/04/20/tomato-powder/ ↩︎
  6. read about other ways to preserve fruits and vegetables here: https://backyardcityhomestead.com/2024/09/16/preserving-and-storing-food-that-we-grow/#c7953b70-6d0e-4435-8d9f-7b67ffc1287f-link PRESERVING AND STORING FOOD THAT WE GROW ↩︎
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Common Herbs in your House and Yard: part 7 – Rosemary to St John’s Wort

Part 7 – R,S includes Rosemary, Sage, Savoury, Sorrel, Stevia and St. John’s Wort

ROSEMARY – culinary, aromatic herb

Rosemary is a native of the Mediterranean region where it grows as an evergreen shrub. In Canada it is considered a tender perennial, which is a joke in the Edmonton region because it will NEVER make it through the winter. It is an aromatic herb with fragrant, green, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers.

a young Rosemary in the garden surrounded by her garden friends Marigold on the right, parsley bottom right, borage bottom left, red orach on the top and a poppy top left

growing and harvesting

Rosemary grows best in well-drained, loamy soil in full sun. Water plants evenly throughout the growing season, but be careful it doesn’t sit in soggy soil. Other than that, its a pretty easy plant to have a good experience with.

In the Edmonton region, consider Rosemary as an annual, but it can be brought indoors at the end of the season with a fairly high success rate if you have a nice sunny window. Even indirect sunlight will keep it reasonably healthy. Nothing will ever be quite the same as being outside in the heat and sunlight of summer, so don’t expect that, but it will still be okay. During its sojourn in the house during the winter months, make sure it gets enough to drink; if you’re going to lose it, that will be why. They drink a LOT. To bring it into the house and not bring any potential freeloading bugs with it, dig the plant when it is still very healthy, before the cold has caused it distress. Gently shake all the dirt from the roots, and gently trim if necessary. Prune the plant by 1/3 and then pot it into a clean pot with clean potting soil. Set in a nice sunny window for its temporary winter home.

I buy two or three rosemary plants every spring to plant in my herb garden. You can get a trailing rosemary or a plant that grows upright. I like to get different kinds if I can find them – just for variety. Prune regularly so that plants won’t get lanky. I keep one in a pot on the patio that I bring inside in the winter. It’s just easier that way for me to transport in and out, but you can also just dig a plant up at the end of August as described above, and then replant it outside in the spring after ALL danger of cold nights is it the past.

To use throughout the summer, simply snip a branch as needed and bring it in for dinner. If you’re pruning regularly anyway, you’ll always have fresh rosemary on hand. At the end of the season, cut your rosemary right off at the ground. Swish in water to clean and shake off excess or strain in a salad spinner. You can dry them in the dehydrator but I’ve found that the leaves go too dark and I don’t like that. I usually just lay the cleaned branches out on a clean tea towel and leave in the open air for about a week till they’re completely dry. Fluff up once or twice throughout each day to ensure they’re drying evenly. When completely dry, pick up a branch by the stem in one hand, and gently strip all the needles/leaves with your thumb and forefinger of the other. Store in an airtight jar in a nice dark cupboard. Label with date.

using Rosemary in the kitchen

Rosemary can be used fresh or dry, with the needles removed and minced or as whole sprigs, to infuse flavor into a larger dish like a stew or roast. To strip fresh leaves from the stem, pull the needles in the opposite direction from which they grow and they should easily slide off the stalk. Fresh rosemary is easiest to use because the leaves are soft and pliable, but if you don’t have a plant in the winter, then it’s easy to use the leaves dried.

Use rosemary with chicken and other poultry, pork, steaks, and fish. It also goes well with grains, mushrooms, onions, peas, potatoes and spinach. These are my favourite ways to use it:
*Roasted potatoes: cubed potatoes in baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with chopped rosemary, coarse salt and cracked pepper. Bake in open dish at 400 degrees till nicely browned and tender to the fork. Timing depends on how big your potato pieces are – I use bite size pieces and it generally takes 45-60 minutes. Toss every 10-15 minutes to ensure they’re evenly coated with oil as they roast.
*Rosemary bread: add chopped rosemary to bread dough, especially sourdough.
*Rosemary in olive oil and balsamic vinegar to use as a dip for freshly baked bread. Serve along side a fresh green salad.

SAGE – a culinary herb

Sage has a long European history as a medicinal plant, but is most commonly used nowadays in the kitchen. It has greyish green elongated leaves, with a soft, downy surface, and its pretty flowers are shy little spikes of purple, blue, white or pink.

growing and harvesting:

Sage is an easy to grow, hardy ‘semi perennial‘ with uniquely shaped and coloured leaves, that looks good in every garden, and is as much at home in your flower bed, and your vegetable garden, as your herb garden. When I say ‘semi perennial’, I mean in the Edmonton area – zone 3A/B – sometimes it comes back in the spring, but sadly – you cannot count on it from one year to the next. I generally plan to buy one or two greenhouse sage plants in the spring, and if what I had growing last season come back, then lucky me, I’ll have more. If they don’t then I’m still covered. Welcome to Alberta. Frankly, for the average household, a single sage plant is probably sufficient for all your needs anyway. A few years ago, my son introduced me to sage ‘tea’ (really an infusion), and I really like it, so since then, I grow more, to have enough for tea throughout the winter.

Plant in full sun, well draining soil. Sage likes to be near rosemary and carrots, but they do not like cucumbers so keep them separate. Be sure to water young plants regularly till they get established.

To use continually throughout the summer, simply pinch off leaves or snip off small sprigs from the plant. Don’t harvest too aggressively too early. Once your plants are established, especially if they’re in their second year, you can harvest two or three times during the season. The flavour is best when fresh, but it is easily dried or frozen to store. s

sage at the beginning of July in herb garden 2020

drying:
You can hang sprigs of the leaves in a shady, well ventilated area. I do not. I’ve never really had a convenient spot to do that in the quantity of herbs I dry all summer long. I wash, shake off excess moisture and pat dry. I pinch off individual leaves and scatter loosely onto a clean tea towel – leave for up to a week, maybe more if the weather is humid. Every day when I think about it, I’ll fluff the leaves up with my hand to ensure they get enough air and are drying evenly.
If you have a dehydrator, you can do in a couple of hours what might take a week to do in the open air. Make sure they are COMPLETELY dry before storing in an airtight container.

freezing:
Apparently sage keeps its flavour well when frozen. I have never done this, but I can see the value for some people. Freeze loosely on a tray, then transfer into a labelled and dated freezer bag. Keep your bags handy in the fridge freezer in the kitchen so they don’t get lost in the bigger freezer.

Personally, I choose to dehydrate, mostly for convenience. I suppose how you choose to preserve it, depends on what you plan to use your sage for.

using in the kitchen:

sage tea steeping

*The most common use of sage in the North American kitchen is in traditional stuffing for roast meats like pork or turkey. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner just wouldn’t be the same without that comforting smell of roasting turkey with sage in air. But! Don’t limit sage to only twice a year. Be experimental.
*Add the crumbled dried leaves to tomato sauce.
*During the summer, a sprig of fresh sage is a lovely, edible garnish on any dish.
*Fresh sage in a jug of chilled water, makes for a nice light, refreshing drink.
*Fresh or dried sage steeped in boiled water makes a nice infusion tea that is said to have have a calming effect.
*Fresh or dried sage (chopped or crumbled) creamed into butter and left to sit for a few hours, makes a nice lightly flavoured butter. Use the butter for fresh biscuits, to top mashed potatoes, or to fry eggs or omelette.

non culinary use

Sage is known as an “aromatic” herb which means simply that it has a noticeable fragrant smell. This aromatic quality makes it a good addition to potpourris.
Sage has astringent properties which tighten the skin. Dab a cold, strong sage infusion tea onto your face with a cotton swab. Keep it in the fridge.
Sage has expectorant properties, which can be helpful for throat and chest disorders, promoting a productive cough to clear phlegm from the airways. Drink as a strong infusion tea.

SAVORY – culinary

Summer Savory is an aromatic plant related to rosemary and thyme, native to North Africa, southeastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. As with so many foods, it was introduced to North America with European settlers. Although a perennial in some parts of the world, it rarely makes it through the winter, so be prepared to rebuy next spring if you love it. It can grow up to 20 inches high and has a white to pale pinkish flower. The flavour is intense, but milder than the almost bitter, stronger taste of winter savory.

growing and harvesting:

Savory is easy to grow, but since I only want one plant, it’s not worth my time to plant indoors by seed, so I buy it from a local nursery – which is sufficient for our needs. Best place is a well drained, sunny spot. If you want several, you might want to plant by seed in the house by the beginning of March, but definitely its gotta go into the garden as a plant, not a seed. Once it gets established, you can pretty much leave it alone. Don’t worry, it knows what to do.

By mid summer, your Savory is ready to pick. I pick all the bigger stalks, leaving some smaller ones to mature for a later picking. Wash by swishing around in clean water, flick off the excise and place the herb onto a clean white kitchen towel to dry. Plan to leave it at least a week. When thoroughly dry, pull the leaves from the stock (the tines of a fork are handy for this) and after removing any small stick-branches, place into a clean dry canning jar, storing out of the light.

using in the kitchen:

Savory resembles the flavour profile of sage and thyme, and smells like good down-home cooking to me. I think of roast turkey or chicken and stuffing, and gravy, so of course its means Thanksgiving Dinner to me. But good ol’ down-home cooking means a lot of other things too, like hearty bean soup.

who doesn’t like a nice hot thick bowl of ‘hearty’, on a cold fall or winter day?
Savory White Bean Soup
1 lb white beans, sorted and rinsed
12 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1/4 oil (I prefer olive oil)
2 cloves garlic minced
2 lg onions chopped
3-4 lg carrots peeled and chopped
6+ stalks celery chopped
1 can tomatoes – whole (sliced), diced, stewed, your choice
1 teaspoon – 1 Tablespoon (how strong do you like it?) SAVORY, crushed leaves but not powdered please
2 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon pepper (if you’re using prepared bouillon for stock, its likely already salted. Taste test and adjust accordingly later.)
Rinse beans, then cover them with stock water. No salt at this point. Add bay leaves and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a slow rolling boil and simmer steadily covered for about 2 hours (till beans are beginning to tender). At this point, in separate pot saute in oil – garlic, onions over medium high flame, for one or two minutes till aromatic. Add remaining vegetables and saute 3-4 minutes max, then pour the vegetable mixture into the pot of beans.
Add the can of tomatoes , savory and salt and pepper (tasting to adjust seasoning)
Simmer slowly for another 30 minutes or so till all are tender and starting to thicken. Remove from heat and allow to sit for another 5 or 10 minutes before serving.
*optional: corn is wonderful in this end of summer meal. I use freeze dried. Add 2-3 cups.
Serve with nice crusty piece of whole wheat sour dough bread.

* the age of your beans will influence the length of time they need to be cook. Older beans need longer time. Keep this in mind earlier in the day so you don’t rush the soup if your beans are older.

non culinary use

With its intensity, Savory has long been used to treat a variety of ailments such as a gargle for a sore throat. It is also used to enhance appetite, as a remedy for stomach and digestive disorders, and to help alleviate symptoms of asthma and colic. Personally, I am only interested in this wonderfully flavourful herb for its culinary benefits, although I am intrigued about that gargle idea for a sore throat.

SORREL

A hardy perennial, reliable to come back every year, will thrive on little attention, and is among the first plants to provide fresh green leaves in the spring; by early to mid May you can be picking some nice tender leaves as one of the first garden offerings. I don’t know about you, but that is a winning combination in my books. Lemony taste with a strong flavour, can be lightly steamed, sautéed or added to salads, it’s a versatile leafy green that can be enjoyed both raw and cooked.  Because of it’s strong flavour, I personally wouldn’t choose to have it AS a salad, but I sure like it IN a salad to add some nice flavourful bites with it’s lemony tang.

growing and harvesting

Sorrel grows best in full sun, but will tolerate a little shade, and will even last longer into the summer before seeding. It has a very deep and persistent tap root which helps it do well with little attention, but don’t ignore it completely. Sorrel should have a minimum of one inch of water a week, so if it doesn’t rain regularly, give it a drink now and again. I’ve read that sorrel can be invasive, but I’ve had a single sorrel plant for years and have never had it make any attempt to take over. It can be divided into two plants, which I intend to do this spring, as I am ready for more of it.

It is a substantial plant, growing up to 18 inches high, so the leaves are nice and big too. To harvest, simply pinch off young leaves from the base. More tender when its young during the spring, so don’t waste those early weeks by forgetting about it. Careful, rabbits love sorrel too.

using in the kitchen

Lemons and limes aren’t the only foods that have a tart, acidic flavour, sorrel has got a lotta PUNCH. Surprising for a green leafy vegetable, as other leafy greens like spinach, lambs quarters, orach and swiss chard have a comparatively mild flavour. I’ve heard it described as lemonade in a leaf and I think that’s a perfect description. Long before citrus fruits ever reached Europe, people used it to add a sour flavour to the dishes. It is very popular in many parts of the world, but quite under used in North America, probably because we haven’t figured out what to do with it. Be adventurous. Be part of the movement that is helping bring this forgotten herb back to the table.

Sorrel leaves are tender in spring, but as the season wears on, they get a tougher. Don’t let that dissuade you though, they can still be used in soups and stew, and even pureed to add their wonderfully distinctive flavour. In Nigeria, it is steamed and added to onion and tomatoes with salt and pepper. In India, it is used in soups and curries with yellow lentils and peanuts. In eastern Europe, it is used to make sour soups, and stewed with vegetables. In Greece it is used with other greens in spanakopita. In the middle east, it is simmered lightly and served cold, marinated in olive oil, or stewed with onions, potatoes, garlic and bulgur wheat or lentils. It is even dried and then used as a dried herb in the winter, to flavour dishes. You really can’t expect it to be more versatile than that!

Great in a mixed green salad or as a garnish. All sorrel is incredibly sour with a lemony flavour, and you probably won’t want to eat straight in large quantities. Just as well, because just like spinach, beets and their greens, swiss chard, rhubarb, and other vitamin rich foods, it contains high amounts of oxalic acid. This doesn’t mean don’t eat it, it means that moderation is the key. Studies show that lemon juice has a neutralizing effect on oxalic acid, so sprinkle some more on your salad.

Use sauteed sorrel in omelette, fritatta, or as a pizza topping with pizzaz!
Whether you decide to use it fresh and finely chopped, sprinkling over top, or lightly steamed, strained and then chopped and sprinkled over top – it up to you. Both would be excellent.

If you’ve never tried sorrel, TRY IT! It’s potent astringency and a lemony, citrus-like flavour will take you by surprise.

My Recommended Tips for Incorporating Sorrel in ways that your kids will love it!

Use it sparingly, especially at first while you’re getting used to it. It has a strong flavour and over doing it in the beginning may be too much.  

freshly picked from the community garden herb plot, the sorrel is already going to seed, and its only the first week of June! No worries, I cut a couple of handfuls off at the ground, removed the leaves, (cutting up the stocks to add to the compost), and then washed and drained them to use tomorrow.

Remove leaves from stems and wash thoroughly to remove any garden dirt or grit. Drain well and remove surface moisture, wrap in a clean tea towel. Pack into a plastic bag until you are ready to use it.

Discard the stems into the compost as they’re not flavourful.

Cook gently! As with all tender greens, Sorrel cooks down quickly, so there is no need for excessive heat or time. Don’t cook the guts out of it. be careful not to overcook it, especially in soups.  I always add my greens to the soup as the very last step. Just before serving, throw in the clean and lightly chopped sorrel leave.

* Adding cream, sour cream or yogurt, tempers the acidity to smooth out the flavour.  

Using it Raw:

Salads: Add raw sorrel leaves to mixed green salads for a bright, citrusy bite.  Coarsely chop or tear into pieces to toss into your salad greens, bumping up the acidic quality of your salad and lifting the intensity of flavour to new heights. Emphasis on “intensity of flavour”. Gone are the boring, tasteless greens that need a dressing to give them taste. When making a dressing just use less vinegar or lemon juice.

Pesto:  I love all kinds of pesto, and usually add lemon juice when making it. Not necessary with Sorrel. Just proceed as for any other pesto recipe, and prepare to be wowed. Pesto Recipes to check out and adjust for sorrel – links included:
basil pesto
oregano pesto
nasturtium pesto
radish green pesto
I hope you’ll go check them out, and make up a batch or two in the summer when all is fresh and green.

Dip:  Finely chop sorrel and add it to mixture of yogurt (or sour cream) and mayonnaise for a refreshing dip or sandwich spread. 

Sandwiches: Use young sorrel leaves as a leafy green on sandwiches. 

Using it Cooked:

Soups: Sorrel is a classic ingredient in soups, often paired with leeks, potatoes, carrots and other mild vegetables.  Use it in a mild chicken and rice soup with carrots and peppers; use it instead of kale in ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP; as a green in a traditional potato chowder.
You be YOU!

Other dishes: Sorrel can be used in casseroles, stir-fries, and other dishes where its flavor and texture can be a good addition. 

Sauces: Sorrel can be cooked down to make a sauce, often paired with butter, cream, or yogurt. 

Palek Paneer: This traditional Indian dish generally uses mild flavoured spinach with several Indian spices. It’s a favourite of mine, but I haven’t used sorrel in instead. I am very intrigued and will incorporate it as soon as possible in the next time I make this dish.

Fish dishes: Sorrel sauce is a popular accompaniment to baked or poached fish, particularly – salmon.  Lemon flavour without the lemon.

Omelets: Sorrel can be incorporated into omelets for a lemony twist. 

recipe for Sorrel Sauce
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
about a dozen sorrel leaves, stems removed
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock – maybe
salt and pepper to taste
Slice the sorrel leaves very thin. That is easier to do when you roll them up tightly. Bring the cream to a simmer in small pot – this will prevent it from curdling when you add the sorrel later. Not kidding. In another pot, melt the butter and add sorrel to saute and cook down. The colour will loose its brilliance. Stir in the hot cream, stirring while you bring it back to a slow simmer. If the sauce is thicker than you prefer, thin it out with the stock, adding slowly and stirring till you get it to the consistency you prefer.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour over fish, chicken breast or even roasted potatoes.

STEVIA

A super sweet, natural substitute for sugar that is calorie free. Almost too good to be true, but it really is. Once you’ve grown stevia and are used to having it around, you’ll grow it every year.
Native to the tropics of Central America, the stevia plant produces leaves packed with super-sweet compounds that remain stable even after the leaves have been dried. So that means you’ve got your FRESH natural sweetener available in your garden for snipping all summer long, and dried natural sweetener available in your kitchen for the rest of the year. Its been a common sweetener among the indigenous of Meso America for centuries, and is gaining in popularity in North America recently too. Popular and important to diabetics, dieters, those who want to reduce their sugar intake, and those who simply want to eat healthier. It is especially well-suited for sweetening drinks, salad dressings and yogurt.

There are many derivatives of stevia that are commonly used in in our food industry, but I am only talking about the plant that we grow in our gardens. That is the only way I use it.

growing and harvesting:

Stevia in the herb garden

Growing stevia is easy in well-drained garden beds or large containers, and the leaves can be dried for winter use like any other herb. It grows best in warm conditions similar to that of its native Central America, and in the ideal climate with grow up to 2 feet high. In the Edmonton area where I live, you can expect full gown plants to grow nearly that high. I grow 1-3 stevia plants in my herb garden. They need full sun.

Stevia can be started from seed indoors around February to March, but germination is spotty at best and they’re pretty picky in their infancy. As I only ever intend to buy 2 or 3 plants, it’s simply easier pick them up at a local greenhouse. And frankly a couple of plants will give me more stevia than I will use all year long. Choose a well-drained site in full sun for your plants, and set them out after all risk of frost. Don’t worry, once they’re big enough for the garden, they become very low maintenance.

when?
You can pick leaves anytime during the year as you need to use it, but for a bigger picking, watch for when it looks like your stevia is starting to bloom. You want to harvest before the buds flower. If you’re away and miss it by a few days, remove the flower heads and go ahead and harvest. If you let it go to seed, the leaves will grow smaller and energy will go to the production of seed.

With my garden clippers, I cut the stalk off, leaving 3-4 inches at the bottom, MAKING SURE THERE ARE AT LEAST A FEW LEAVES at the bottom. This is so that the plant has a chance to regrow if the season and weather allows, hoping of course that I’ll have a chance for one more smaller picking at the end of August. Make sure you pick it before the first frost. If it freezes, you’ll lose it.

Rinse leaves, lay out onto a clean kitchen towel to air dry for a few days. Might take up to a week depending on quantity and humidity in the air. Every day fluff it up to ensure good air flow.

using in the kitchen

Throughout the summer, I will use stevia for the odd sweetening job straight from the garden. The amount required to sufficiently sweeten a cup of tea for example, is surprisingly small. Like 1/4 of a leaf (if its not too big). Seriously. Taste test stevia to become familiar with it. It is shockingly sweet. If I am making a morning smoothie with sour cherries or tart raspberries, I might want to sweeten it up a little. Instead of sugar, honey is of course a lovely sweetener. But try something new. A single leaf of stevia from the garden is probably enough to take the sour edge out of your smoothie. Taste test using one leaf at a time. Too many will make it sickeningly sweet, and you’ll be surprised at how few it takes.

Remember to use dried stevia sugar in small proportions, as it is nearly 30 times sweeter than cane sugar. Roughly, one teaspoonful of dried leaves powder is equivalent to one cup of sugar; therefore, use it in small quantities adjusting the amount to achieve your desired levels of sweetness. Stevia ‘sugar’ is processed into a white crystalline powder, approximately 300 times sweeter than regular cane sugar.

recipe for Stevia Syrup:
add a cup of hot water to 1/4 cup of fresh, finely crushed leaves. Allow to settle down for 24 hours, strain, then refrigerate.

Use stevia to sweeten tea or lemonade. Can be added in jam, yogurt, ice creams & sherbets, smoothies, desserts etc.

ST JOHNS WORT – insomnia and depression

St. John’s wort – know as a mood elevator – is most commonly used for conditions that sometimes go along with depression such as anxiety, tiredness, loss of appetite and trouble sleeping. There is strong evidence that it is effective for mild to moderate depression. Also used for symptoms of PMS and menopause, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD, and seasonal affective disorder SAD.  

SHOULD NEVER BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH DRUGS FOR THE SAME PURPOSE, as there is a high possibility of poor interaction. Can be purchased from a health food store in capsule or tincture. From the home garden, most often used as an infusion tea.

Odd name I know. The word “wort” is an Old English suffix for “plant” and is frequently found in other common plant names. In this case it means – St. John’s Plant, and refers to the fact that the flowers were traditionally harvested on the Catholic Saint’s Day honoring the nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24. After harvesting the flowers, the believer would hang them over a painting or statue of St. John in the home, which was thought to protect the believer from evil spirits.

growing and harvesting

Native to Europe, St John’s Wort was so valued for for its medicinal qualities, that it was introduced to North America when Europeans first began colonizing here. It escaped cultivation in the United States and spread throughout and into Canada, and is now listed as a noxious weed in many states and provinces.

It is a short woody, perineal shrub that grows about 2-3 feet tall, and has fragrant yellow flowers from mid to late summer. It grows well in all kinds of soil: sand, clay, rocky or loam, and tolerates acidic to slightly alkaline pH conditions. It adapts to both moist and dry soil, and even tolerates occasional flooding or drought. It spreads easily through roots and seeds, and is considered invasive.

St John’s wort in glass jar for storage. Keep sealed in dark cupboard.

It is loved by bees and other pollinators, and is still valued as a medicinal plant. To harvest, pick the fresh flowers and buds, or a quicker method is to simply cut the top 2 – 3 inches of the plant when it is full bloom in late June/early July. I swish in water to rinse any dust off, spin in my salad spinner to remove excess moisture, and then lay loosely on a clean tea towel on my table. Fluff up with my fingers a few times a day to ensure even drying, and let it sit for at least a week. More time if weather is humid. When completely dry, put into an airtight container, label and keep in a dark cupboard.

using

The leaves and flowers of this plant are all edible and can be used in garnishes and in salads. It is most commonly brewed to make an infusion tea. When consumed in large doses it can cause skin reactions to sun exposure.

St John’s Wort is credited with so many of curative properties, some of them based heavily on superstition, that it is hard to know what is accurate. I lean toward believing the mood elevation properties, simply because they seem to have a little more science behind them. I grow it for this reason, and harvest the flowers for this reason. There are some toxic attributes too however, when taken to excess, so as in all things, moderation is the key. If I was going to use it medicinally, I’d want to do considerably more research than what you have available here.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these valuable garden herbs.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle