Drying Fresh Cut Herbs for future use....

Life in my tiny house is winding down...maybe only another year until we move into the house we're building. One of the things I will continue to use my cabin for is drying herbs. I've even written on the joists where each herb is to hang to dry. :)

Drying Herbs is really a very simple process. You can use all kinds of methods to get the desired "dry" result, but I have found the easiest method, and most sure way to get a quality product is to hang them to dry for several weeks from the ceiling. The ceiling is a relatively warm, dry space, and where I hang mine it's fairly dark and has good air-flow. I have found other methods take near constant monitoring, because they use heat...and heat can burn the end product if left too long. If you want quality dried herbs to use all winter long, please take a few extra minutes at the beginning, and the rest of the drying method will be hands-free. :)

First cut your fresh herbs using sharp scissors. This is the best way, as you won't end up with ragged ends that won't dry uniformly, and won't harm your herb plants, either. Bundle your herbs together with a rubber band, insert a large paper clip through the rubber band, hook the other end of the paper clip over a thumb tack and push the thumbtack into where you plan to hang your herbs to dry. As the ceiling in my cabin is unfinished, I can use the joists. You may have an unfinished attic with rafters where you can hang them, or even a basement, just be sure that your area is warm but not hot; dry, not humid; and has some air flow...natural or man-made...like a fan. Let dry for many weeks, until the leaves are brittle. If the area where you're drying them is dusty, drape cheesecloth over your drying herbs. The cheesecloth will catch the dust, not the leaves of your herbs.

When your herbs are nicely dried place on a paper plate, strip the leaves off the stems, crush or rub between your hands if you need a smaller (finer) end product, and hen store in a gasketed glass jar. I have discovered that small jelly jars or baby food jars work wonderful for storage. You may also save your old spice jars and reuse them. Place in a cupboard or on a shelf that doesn't get direct sunlight. Flavors tend to stay "fresh" for about 6 months to a year. I have found that drying my own herbs takes the guesswork out of how long my dried herbs are good for. God only knows how long they may have been sitting on a shelf in the grocery store before you brought them home. :(

Here is a picture of my fresh-cut herbs just being hung and the following picture is of my herbs two weeks later. Notice how much more dried out they are in just a couple of weeks. Another week or two and they'll be ready to place in jars. I can't wait! It's a very therapeutic task for me...and the smells are WONDERFUL!

Spring's Reward...Kale Chips! Weather rant plus Recipe

After working my tail off in the greenhouse and garden this morning, I picked a couple of handfuls of kale and decided to make Kale Chips. It stormed yesterday, pretty badly. Work was crazy trying to get all the plants out of harm's way. I came home last night to my greenhouse half collapsed. It really was too late to do anything with it, and i just hoped the storms were over for the night. They weren't, one more came through about midnight. I checked on the greenhouse first thing this morning and cried. The top was holding water and the south side had caved in badly enough that the wind knocked everything on that side over. All the little starts I had are now unlabeled, as they were scattered on the ground. Most of my very large Roma tomato plants were knocked over, bent or broken. I had to throw out several and am hoping the rest will perk back up. It's terribly windy today, so I don't know, but we'll see. I did plant 4 of them that seemed too wobbly to leave in their pots. I now have 3 very large buckets with Roma plants in them alongside my small raised bed.

I also took most of my herbs out of the greenhouse, at least the ones that are in large pots. I put them alongside my larger raised bed. I also moved Shannon's sunflowers out into the garden, too. She really doesn't do anything with them, and they're taking up a ton of space in the greenhouse. Several broke in the storm last night, and many no longer have labels because they were knocked around so much. I hope this weekend she decides to plant them.

Jason has decided it's time to reinvent the greenhouse. Basically we'll keep the cover and rebuild the base & walls much sturdier. I wish he'd done that right away, as this is about the 3rd time the stupid thing has collapsed. It wasn't worth the $99 I spent for it. It's been so disappointing. :( Hopefully the rebuild will last several years. Our goal is to eventually build a very, very large hoop house to grow our veggies & herbs in.

All this takes me back to the Kale Chips. While there was really not enough kale to make a whole recipe, I did want to have a few. Kale is about the only thing my son, Michael will eat that's green, other than lettuce. LOL! I found the recipe a year or two ago on www.grassfedgirl.com. It's a Paleo diet website. I did a little modifying of the recipe to make it my own, plus the fact that I don't want to buy the expensive seasoning that's called for. Here is my modified version, complete with pics. :)

2 bunches organic kale, large stems removed
2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp kale seasoning blend (or if you want to spend the money, Seasonello Herbal and Aromatic Salt...found on Amazon.com)

Preheat oven to 350F, Wash kale and dry thoroughly, tear into bite-sized pieces. Put kale in a bowl, drizzle oil over all, toss thoroughly with hands until all the kale is coated. Sprinkle seasoning over kale, toss again. Spread kale on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 10 min. Toss again and bake an additional 10 minutes (or less, depending on how dry it already is), until you can no longer see "shiny" oil on the kale pieces. Remove from oven and cool. Enjoy! Can also be put in a Ziploc baggie for storage when thoroughly cooled.

Note: Sometimes we leave the stems intact for a "handle". This is a very piddly amount of kale chips compared to what I normally make, but it's early spring yet, and the kale is just getting going.

Kale Seasoning: Equal parts of Sea salt (fine), dried Rosemary, dried garlic, dried sage & black pepper. Crush thoroughly with a mortar & pestle and put in a seasoning jar. I like to make a big jar of it at one time.

I have two kinds of kale big enough to pick right now, a total of three planted. The one on the right is Dwarf Siberian Kale, the one on the left is what I grew last year, has a great flavor...Russian Red or Ragged Jack Kale, and then the 3rd still in the garden is Lacinato (Italian) Kale. Can't wait til it's up!!!
I don't think the kale chips are going to survive til my kids get off the bus. I've already munched half of them down. :)

April 2014...I hope yesterday was winter's last hurrah!

Yep, it snowed, not a lot, but it was coming down in little pebbles first and then big, fluffy flakes. Didn't stick, but it sure was cold! We had a major frost warning last night, glad most of my plants are still in the greenhouse. The few in the raised beds I got covered up before I left for work, they seemed to do okay overnight. I also remembered to cover my mint & strawberries when I got home from work about 8:30 last night. I uncovered everything this morning after the sun was shining nicely. It was still a bit nippy, but I think everything is okay. Everything in the greenhouse was fine, but a little dried out. Some of my tomatoes really need to go into bigger pots.

We've put ourselves on a very strict budget this month and next, no extras and just the basics for groceries. It's hard to plan meals for someone else to make when I'm at work, especially when they don't MAKE what you've planned. We're also eating mostly out of our food storage to be able to really stick to that budget. We are trying to save a LOT of money for the closing costs on the loan we were finally approved for! THAT was super exciting news! The downside is the vast amount of money that is required for closing costs. UGH! Hence the strict budget. The kids were told NO extras...I don't know if they really understand that, but we shall see.

So no money being spent on the house, everything is going into savings right now, so we can cover those closing costs. I really hate to take out a loan to finish building it, but we have pretty much run into "no choice". We've all about had it with living in the cabin...close, confined space, climbing ladders, trying to coordinate using the oven with keeping it cool. We don't want to put in the window A/C units yet...it's only been in the 70s for highs, but it feels warmer than that when you're running the oven. We're trying to use the grill a lot more, but the downside of that is the wind. Spring winds really aren't helpful when grilling. I look forward to when we have our house finished and we can begin working on the pavilion (nothing fancy, just a covered area when we can put the grill, do some summer canning, and put our patio furniture out of the sun.

Farmers Market starts next Friday. I plan to be there every other Friday with my starts and my herbs. I sure hope my products sell really well, as that will add into our budget...plus I hope it looks good on paper. Maybe someday it will be a legit business and not just a side hobby. :)

Speaking of hobbies...the chickens are laying like crazy right now! The ducks, too, but one of them has a nest and I'm trying not to mess with it. If she doesn't start setting on those eggs soon, though, I may let a chicken hatch them out. Shannon will groan at the thought of ducklings...they're messy little creatures, but soooo adorable!

Here's a sampling of about how many eggs we're getting in a week. I need to list them on my area deal-sharing site...there's no way we can eat all of these. LOL!

I'm going to have to get them washed & packaged. Hopefully they will sell quickly. My fridge doesn't have a whole lot of room in it, either. That is another item I am really looking forward to when the house is finished...a bigger fridge. We found one that is like an upright freezer, full shelves top to bottom. The temp can be set for either a freezer or a refrigerator. We plan to use it as a fridge. No more wasted space for a small, inefficient freezer on top of the fridge (or the bottom, if you have that kind). We have a small chest freezer that will work for those items we need close at hand, like the kids' frozen burritos, pancakes & waffles. I wish I were energetic enough to make those all myself ahead of time and freeze them, but I haven't hit that point yet. I do know it can save a lot of money, and of course from scratch recipes have much better quality ingredients! Maybe when my temp job is over I will have the pleasure of filling my freezer with homemade items again. We plan on a second freezer to stay out here in the cabin to stock with more "bulk" type purchases, like beef & chicken. Someday we hope to buy a calf of our own. Here's a pic or two of the fridge we're planning for the new house:

Another item on my wish list is a wall oven. As much as I'd like dual wall ovens, I think we can only afford one. Of course the hunting for that is at a stand-still until the loan is finalized, but we have found LOTS of items for our house on craigslist locally. One was a gas cooktop that inserts into the counter. We have always wanted a gas cooktop and an electric oven. Best of both worlds if you can find them separately...an all-in-one is THOUSANDS. UGH!

Well, I'd best be going. Lots to do today. My one day off until this coming Saturday. UGH! Two days off next week. Yay!

Anyone need a rooster or two? Because roosters only crow at dawn is a MYTH!

Yes, I already knew that. We've had a rooster for about 3 years now. Our first batch of chicks were cheaper if we didn't have them sexed before buying them...we ended up with MORE than half of them roosters (and drake ducks, too). Usually it's about 50/50. We butchered some, gave some away, and we were down to one. Last summer a broody hen (or three) hatched two chicks. One drowned and the other was a rooster...we're now up to two roosters. The batch of chicks we raised last fall/winter had ONE rooster in it (much better odds in our favor this time) but he's higher pitched, so rather more annoying. We tried to board a rooster for a friend of ours, that just started a crowing war between all four of them...and we haven't had peace & quiet since, although it has toned down a bit, once our friend's rooster went back home. She is hoping no one in the city reports her for her noisy boy.

I kind of like the higher pitched rooster's looks, he's an Americana and I think he's pretty. Jason hates him. The chick that is now a rooster from last summer NEEDS to go, he's just big and noisy, and not pretty, either...his tail is crooked. Probably from three hens trying to sit on him as a baby. The rooster we always have around is big, dumb, mellow, gentle, all the words to describe a perfect rooster, if you have to have a rooster! Since we free-range, it's pretty much a necessity.

All joking aside, not getting enough rest is a detriment to health, especially now that I'm working outside the home. To say we are busy is a BIG understatement.

I've put in two more raised beds (thanks to my good friend who gave them to me when she found out she was moving), one for lettuces, endive, arugula, fennel, and the other will host celery, celeriac, and probably leeks. When I get two more in, they will all have to be devoted to carrots & onions. I need to get my spring peas going, too. So much to do, so little time!!!

Work is crazy busy, too, as spring has sprung here in the Ozarks (although there are a few more frosts to contend with before we can rest easy), and the Garden center is crowded with plants and people. Seeing folks come in buying tomato & pepper seeds worries me, though...for one reason. When they realize that they're not getting any production out of those seeds that they tended and labored over (because they started them far too late) they will be disappointed, and possibly even never start seeds for a garden, or try to garden again. Knowledge is Power...and gardening takes both! You never stop learning, no matter how old you are.

Here is a pic of my new raised bed with a duck very unhappy to not be able to get in there and nibble away at my greens! (Thank God!) She's probably the one who destroyed three of my tomato plants that I tried to set out to harden off this morning. :( THAT was disappointing, and a lesson learned...ducks like tomato plants, not just tomatoes. Sigh...

Not much more time for posting today. Have laundry to do, and hoping for a nap & shower before work this afternoon. I have tomorrow off! Yay! Here's a quick pic of my tomatoes & pepper plants (and everything else) I've been growing in the greenhouse!