Your Herb Garden. Barbara Segall

screwdriver

       set square

       electric or hand drill

       hammer

       sandpaper

       pencil and ruler or tape measure

      From spring until autumn one of the main tasks of a herb gardener is managing the harvest of leaves, flowers and seeds. They can all be preserved to keep their flavour, colour and fragrance, ready for you to use in cooking or to make scented presents.

      In midwinter most of the basic culinary and cosmetic herbs are dormant or still in, their seed packets. Evergreen herbs, such as thyme and bay, and those that you have potted up to overwinter on your kitchen windowsill, are best used fresh. Don’t bother to cut and dry them now. Leave the main harvest and drying time until late spring and summer.

      Many herbs dry well when tied into bunches and hung from shelves or hangers in a dry, dark and well-ventilated shed or loft. However, if you plan to dry large quantities for your own use, to sell or to give as presents, you will need a suitable drying frame to hold the herbs while they dry.

      The free-standing frame shown here provides six shelves, but can be adapted to suit individual needs. Give it added height by standing it on a table, for easier access to the lower shelves.

       MATERIALS

       NOTE

       Before you begin, sand down any rough edges

       CONSTRUCTING THE STANDING FRAME

       With a pencil, mark each upright at the top and bottom, 2.5cm (1in) from the edge and centred. Turn the point of a bradawl in the wood where marked. This will ease the wood and prevent the drill bit slipping. Use a hand or electric drill to make eight holes right through each pencil mark on the four uprights.

       Lay the uprights down on your work surface so that each has the drill holes facing upwards. With the pencil and tape measure, mark the position of the shelf runners. Measure from the top of the upright and make marks at 15cm (6in) intervals along it. These marks indicate the position of the lower side of each shelf runner.

       Pair the uprights and lay them down 35cm (14in) apart. Align the lower edge of the first shelf runner with a pencil mark. Use a set square to check that the wood edges align to make right angles. Fix the runner in place with two nails at each end. Next put the lowest shelf runner in place. This ensures that the two uprights are parallel. Continue until all the shelf runners are fixed in place.

       Use the four remaining battens to join together the four uprights, front and back, top and bottom. You will need someone to hold the frame steady as you do this. Fix the uprights together using 7.5cm (3in) screws turned into the pre-drilled holes.

       TO MAKE THE SHELVES

       To make a shelf, use four pieces of wood. Nail the side pieces so that they fit snugly just inside the front and back pieces. Together the four pieces of wood form a rectangle. Repeat this to make the rest of the shelves. Give the frame and shelves a protective coat of varnish, if you wish.

       Cover each shelf with a piece of muslin. Fold the muslin over at each edge to neaten it off and tack it in place along the top edge of each shelf, spacing the drawing pins evenly.

       Now you can slide the shelves into position and wait for the burst of harvest activity that begins soon after spring. In the meantime, keep the herb drying frame dust-free with a sheet of clean plastic or a dust sheet. Each time you use it check the shelves for stains and tears, and replace them when worn.

       THE SIMPLEST METHOD

      Stretch a piece of garden wire across the shed or loft, fixing it at each end onto cuphooks or brackets in the walls. Peg wire coat-hangers onto the wire and tie herb bunches to the hangers.

       ALTERNATIVE FRAMES

      To dry herbs and flowers in bunches you need suitable hanging space. Use garden canes to construct a tent-like frame. Use two pairs of canes to make the end supports.

      Rest a cane along the top and then wire as many canes as you need across the framework. The end result looks rather like an old-fashioned clothes dryer.

      Later on, in spring, summer and autumn, you can dry herb leaves and flowers in various ways.

      HERBS TO DRY IN BUNCHES:

       Anise hyssop flowers

       Lady’s mantle flowers

       Lavender flowers

       Lemon balm

       Mint

       Rosemary

       Sage

       Sage flowers

       Thyme

      HERBS TO DRY FLAT:

       Bay leaves

       Bergamot flowers

       Chamomile flowers

       Hop flowers (individually)

       Lady’s mantle leaves

       Lemon verbena leaves

       Marigold flowers

       Mint leaves

       Rose blooms

       Sage leaves