One of my favorite things about summer gardening . . . is having a little herb garden right off my patio (which means right off my kitchen). I love just popping out to grab a handful of basil or a few sprigs of thyme or to snip a bunch of chives. I always wish I could keep my herb garden going for months longer.
But, sigh. It doesn’t work that way.
So I’m in the middle of harvesting and freezing this week. I used to dry everything, but I just freeze it all now. So much quicker. So much easier. And so much tastier in the middle of winter. (If you want to read more about freezing herbs, you can check out this post from last year.)
(Maybe you can see that the bunnies did eventually allow me a little bit of parsley after all!) (But not much.)
I’m trying something new this year with my basil. Usually I process it pesto-style and freeze it in ice cube trays to make “basil bombs” (which works great). But I heard from another gardener . . . that you can just freeze individual basil leaves in ZipLok bags. It’s much easier and quicker (especially when you have a bumper crop of basil). Then, in the winter, you can just grab a hunk of frozen basil leaves, chop it up (before it thaws), and you’re good to go. I’m keeping my fingers crossed — but I’ll probably make some basil bombs, too. Just in case!
How about you? Do you have any harvesting going on? (Herbs or otherwise.)
Rusty found yet another overgrown zucchini yesterday. haha! Time to clean that all up.
The only thing I do is try to save the rosemary. It’s small enough and in a pot I can easily bring indoors and I love the scent!
Those Ziploc baggies worked well for me (I still have some in my freezer, believe it or not–I had a TON of basil from our CSA last year.) It doesn’t look pretty, but that’s about the only hit. I’m playing with the idea of digging up my basil plant this year, just to milk an extra month or two out of it. We’ll see. I’ve had luck with that in the past, but this house doesn’t have as many good plant windows. And it’s going to be a BIG pot.
Speaking of big! Boston fern question. (They’re real eye-catchers in that photo! All those photos are glorious.) Do you bring them in when the weather turns? Or treat them as annuals? I only have one Boston fern, and I’ve always [only] kept her inside.
As usual, you’re a source of inspiration. Thank you!
I can usually keep my parsley and rosemary growing all winter. The basil, though, is another story and I miss it so much out of season. I tried freezing just the leaves one year and I wasn’t impressed with the results. Hopefully it will work better for you!
I can almost smell the delicious aromas from these photos!
Perfect timing! We’ll be harvesting our basil soon and I was all set for “basil bombs” (that wasn’t what I called them, but I like that term better) and now I’m going to try the method you shared. Thanks!
The only thing I really had left to save last year was parsley, which I did freeze at your suggestion! Our basil made a pretty sad showing this year, so we made a batch of pesto using what we had plus a bag of baby spinach. I was supposed to have rosemary this year, but I ended up with a lavender plant instead. I think next year I need to move the herbs to the front, where they’ll get more sun. The only thing that is doing well is the oregano, which I just don’t use as much, but it’s one that keeps coming back so I don’t stress about it too much.
I like to freeze thyme, but this year my thyme was an epic failure. But I have plans for my sage leaves and, yes, basil bombs!
Preserving herbs for winter can be tedious but oh so worth it come winter. I make a version of basil bombs and freeze parsley cigars. I dry the thyme. This year I put rosemary in a pot and it still looks good. I never thought of freezing rosemary but I might give it a try.
I have made basil bombs in the past — so handy to hae in the freezer! And I am amused/intrigued by your wine bottle border on the herb garden.