Once frozen, you can pack the thyme into bags and keep in your freezer until needed. Whenever you need thyme for a soup, stew, or sauce, just pull out one of your ice cubes and throw it into your recipe.Īnother option is to simply freeze whole leaves or stems on a tray. Once frozen, the ice cubes can be taken out of the trays and stored in freezer bags or containers. Then, fill up the trays the rest of the way with water. Put as much thyme into each cube as you would use for a recipe. One way to do this is to fill ice cube trays with washed thyme leaves. If you don’t want to dry your harvest, thyme can also be frozen for long-term storage. When you’re ready to use it, take out as many leaves as you need and crush them before adding to your recipe. Just lay out the stems in a single layer on the dehydrator trays and use a low setting suitable for herbs. You can also use a food dehydrator, if you have one, to dry thyme more quickly. When the leaves are crispy and crumbly, you can take your bundles down. Thyme leaves are small and dry quickly, so start checking on them after a week. Most herbs take 2-3 weeks to dry fully, but the exact timing depends on humidity levels and other conditions.This helps protect your herbs as they dry and catches any leaves that fall off. (Optional) Place brown paper bags with slits cut in them around each bundle of herbs.Set this rack on a cookie tray and stash it somewhere well ventilated but out of direct sunlight. If it’s really humid, spread thyme out on a paper towel placed on top of a wire rack. Use more string or twine to tie them up in a warm, dark, and well-ventilated area. Gather the stems into small bundles and tie them together at their cut ends.
Pat them dry with a kitchen towel and lay them out to dry for an hour or two on another towel.Gently rinse off the stems in cool water or swish them around in a bowl or sink filled with water.It’s one of the very few herbs that actually air dries for me in a humid 8a climate.
#Harvest thyme menu how to#
How to dry and preserve thymeįresh thyme leaves (still attached to the stem) can be refrigerated for a week or two, but drying thyme is the best way to store it long-term.įortunately, thyme is one of the easiest herbs to dry. You’ll soon see new growth coming out of where you harvested. Trimming is actually good for the plants, so don’t be afraid to give your thyme a good haircut. As long as you do this, you’ll be able to get 2-3 harvests off of the same plants before winter. You can cut stems any length as long as you leave at least 4-5” of growth behind so that your plants can bounce back. Cut off the top 5-8” of growth, leaving tough and woody parts behind. To harvest thyme for drying, go through your plants with a pair of sharp scissors or garden clippers. Rinse off the whole stem once you get inside then run your fingers (or an herb stripper) down the stem to pull the leaves off.
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