I’ve got no exciting knitting or stitching projects to share today. (I’m still just puttering away with that bright pink second sleeve). So let’s talk about making . . . things to eat instead.
How about . . . some last minute harvesting from the garden?
Over the weekend we had some freeze warnings here in my corner of the world, which is always my big, motivating push to get things OUT of my garden . . . and into my freezer!
My harvest always looks so . . . measly . . . once it’s all compacted and ready for freezer-action! But these herbs – parsley, chives, thyme, and rosemary – actually resulted from quite a big harvest (PILES of fresh herbs). And it will be great to have them on hand in the freezer once I can’t pick them fresh from my garden anymore. I generally find my frozen herbs last through February or so — and it really beats having to pick up those wasteful (expensive) little containers of fresh herbs from the grocery store.
If you’ve still got some herbs hanging on out there in your garden . . . and you’re not in the mood to dry them (I’m never in the mood to dry them) . . . here’s a great how-to article from garden expert Margaret Roach on how to freeze parsley, chives, and other herbs.
Simple.
Effective.
And great to have on hand come winter.
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How about you? What are you making this week?
I have done the basil in olive oil “cubes” and they are really wonderful. But I am going to head out and snip the rest of my rosemary and chives and get them in the freezer!
Thank you for sharing this!
Thanks for that link Kym! My parsley was gangbusters this year and I will have to freeze some for later use. My Rosemary plant I just keep in the pot on the patio – despite winter storms of snow and sleet, I’ve managed to have fresh Rosemary into January some years! (I love a spring of it in a glass of seltzer) My cilantro did not do well at all…it died early on. It is so wasteful to buy the herbs packaged at the store…but I might get a BIG bunch of cilantro and try freezing some of that!
Sounds like a good way to not let things go to waste. You’ll love that fresh herb flavor when soup season comes along.
I bet your kitchen smelled great and think how many times you can pat yourself on the back when you use your frozen herbs all winter! (I always feel like Ma Ingalls when I get produce into the freezer, but today I’m trying something new with a slightly frosted cabbage – kimchi!)
I’ve been bemoaning the job of drying my abundance of herbs and didn’t realize I could JUST FREEZE them! I’ll be reading this article carefully and tackling my herb bed this week! Thank you for this tip, Kym!
I should probably give that article a read… We had so much basil this summer, between ourselves and our CSA, that I couldn’t keep up. In the spirit of not letting perfect be the enemy of good, I simply tossed small bags of basil into the freezer as I had them. We’ll see how they fare in a month or two. I figure, worst case, they might look awful but will likely still taste like basil–and when I’m desperate come January, I probably won’t even care! (Cross fingers.)
Thanks for this — almost everything is dead, but we still have some parsley, and it’ll be so nice to get it out of the freezer and get a little taste of summer in the middle of the winter!
My herbs were a bit of a bust this year since it was so dry. The chives are still going strong, though, and I can usually just pick them all winter. I’m knitting pumpkins and they are FUN!
I didn’t know you could FREEZE herbs! All those expensive grocery store bundles gone to waste after just one use. My neighbor just invited me to snip some of her basil so maybe there is a midwinter caprese salad in our future after all. Thanks for this info!
I didn’t know about freezing herbs, thanks for the info! I don’t have enough parsley left to freeze, but I do have rosemary and I will be freezing it in the next day or two.
Great advice and thank you for the link, so useful!