I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside
in a semi shaded area. Many of the plants have gone to seed, at
least have flowers etc on them. Any reason I shouldn't crush up the
flower stems (tops) as well as the leaves? I'll pass on the regular
stems/stalks as they are pretty hardy and look like they'll be hard
to crush and to eat later. TIA

John DeBoo wrote:

I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside in a
semi shaded area. Many of the plants have gone to seed, at least have
flowers etc on them. Any reason I shouldn't crush up the flower stems
(tops) as well as the leaves? I'll pass on the regular stems/stalks as
they are pretty hardy and look like they'll be hard to crush and to eat
later. TIA


Keep anything that isn't 'woody'. Just leave it to dry, I wouldn't crush
up anything until you were ready to cook with it this winter. After it
dries, put it into a sealed zip bag into the freezer, it will last
longer than hanging in the air.


Dawn

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:26:00 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:

I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside
in a semi shaded area. Many of the plants have gone to seed, at
least have flowers etc on them. Any reason I shouldn't crush up the
flower stems (tops) as well as the leaves? I'll pass on the regular
stems/stalks as they are pretty hardy and look like they'll be hard
to crush and to eat later. TIA

Do you eat many foods with basil flower stems in them? No, I wouldn't
save stems of any sort. Fresh stems of cilantro and parsley are
reasonably flavorful for use in stews or stocks, but it's the leaves
of most herbs that are used for cooking.

I don't see many recipes calling for stems, but I do use them when I'm
creating a stock. I take all the stems from things like oregano, thyme,
etc. and put them in a plastic bag in my freezer. When I boil up stock I
then take all those stems and toss them in, it makes a richer stock.

Philip
"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:26:00 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:

I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside
in a semi shaded area. Many of the plants have gone to seed, at
least have flowers etc on them. Any reason I shouldn't crush up the
flower stems (tops) as well as the leaves? I'll pass on the regular
stems/stalks as they are pretty hardy and look like they'll be hard
to crush and to eat later. TIA

Do you eat many foods with basil flower stems in them? No, I wouldn't
save stems of any sort. Fresh stems of cilantro and parsley are
reasonably flavorful for use in stews or stocks, but it's the leaves
of most herbs that are used for cooking.

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:26:00 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:

I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside
in a semi shaded area. Many of the plants have gone to seed, at
least have flowers etc on them. Any reason I shouldn't crush up the
flower stems (tops) as well as the leaves? I'll pass on the regular
stems/stalks as they are pretty hardy and look like they'll be hard
to crush and to eat later. TIA


Yuck, seeds and stems!!!! *VBG*

Tom Jaszewski wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:26:00 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:


I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside
in a semi shaded area. Many of the plants have gone to seed, at
least have flowers etc on them. Any reason I shouldn't crush up the
flower stems (tops) as well as the leaves? I'll pass on the regular
stems/stalks as they are pretty hardy and look like they'll be hard
to crush and to eat later. TIA



Yuck, seeds and stems!!!! *VBG*

What I was trying to figure out is if anything other than the leaf
was worth saving. So far its 1-all, 3-leaves. I think I'm getting
the messageG.

John DeBoo wrote:

Tom Jaszewski wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 12:26:00 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:


I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside
in a semi shaded area. Many of the plants have gone to seed, at
least have flowers etc on them. Any reason I shouldn't crush up the
flower stems (tops) as well as the leaves? I'll pass on the regular
stems/stalks as they are pretty hardy and look like they'll be hard
to crush and to eat later. TIA



Yuck, seeds and stems!!!! *VBG*

What I was trying to figure out is if anything other than the leaf
was worth saving. So far its 1-all, 3-leaves. I think I'm getting
the messageG.

Put me down for an "all". I strip the leaves and flowers from the stems,
pass the stems back through the compost pile. I then dry the flowers &
leaves and save in an airtight jar.

If I had a culinary need for the stems, I would save them too. As things
are, I have a surplus just from the leaves / flowerets.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:59:57 -0400, Noydb
wrote:

John DeBoo wrote:

What I was trying to figure out is if anything other than the leaf
was worth saving. So far its 1-all, 3-leaves. I think I'm getting
the messageG.

Put me down for an "all". I strip the leaves and flowers from the stems,
pass the stems back through the compost pile. I then dry the flowers &
leaves and save in an airtight jar.

If I had a culinary need for the stems, I would save them too. As things
are, I have a surplus just from the leaves / flowerets.

Well, of *course* the seeds are worth saving, if you let the plants go
to seed. As for stems -- as I posted, *fresh* parsley and cilantro
stems can be useful flavorings. They'll pretty much dissolve in a
long-cooked dish and not present the hazard of picking them out of
your teeth. One generally strips the leaves off woody stems like thyme
to use in cooking, which I took to be the OP's query. Basil stems are
fine in compost, or perhaps as a grill fire 'smoke' component, but
they're also fairly woody and I wouldn't want to toss them in a vat of
spaghetti sauce.

John DeBoo wrote:

I'm starting to dry my plants by hanging them upside down, outside
in a semi shaded area.

You'll get better results if you dry your herbs indoors, because nighttime
moisture will slow down drying quite a lot.
If you don't have room to spread them out on the floor (or you have
fourleggeds, and I count toddlers as fourlegs too), hang'em on a line
you've put up across a shady airy room.
Usually I put two bundles at either end of a piece of twine; that way,
I can just throw one bundle over the line and pull the two bundles to
different heights (faster drying), and don't have to stand with my arms up
high tying bundles.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress, AHG Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed