🌿 Drying Herbs - What Are Your Favorite Methods?

[BryWisteria]

The lavender is looking great and I’ve started the harvest! I was able to get one batch in before it started to bloom (the lavender buds seem to hold their scent longer when dried, as opposed to drying the open flowers).

Methods I’ve tried:

(Edited with updates)

• Collecting bundles of 10-15 stalks and hanging them upside down in the air

Takes the longest amount of time to dry
Takes up less space
Much easier and neater to collect when dry
Eco-friendly

• Chopping the stalks short and laying them out on a drying screen

Takes less time than hanging to dry
Takes up a large amount of space
Messy and hard to collect- a lot of buds fall through the screen
Eco-friendly

• Oven drying

Fastest of all methods
Least eco-friendly- uses a huge amount of energy
Requires constant monitoring

(Hanging herbs and screen-drying herbs should be stored in a shady, dry, well-ventilated location)

How do you like to dry your herbs? Do you have a method that works best for you?

Always love to hear what works for fellow coven members!

Blessed be and happy harvesting!

[MeganB]

I’ve always just hung my herbs to dry because it frees up my already very limited space. That lavender looks gorgeous, though! How exciting!

[Susurrus]

I usually hang my herbs or lay them out on a screen too! I have been looking into using the oven, but something seems not right about that to me, I don’t know what it is though… probably because it’s a new concept to me

[Kasandra]

I usually leave mine on the windowsill in the sun.

[Sarafeena_Sage]

I hang them dry with string or lay them out as well. I am designing a herb drying board to hang on the wall to maybe make it easier to hang them. I’m not completely set on my idea yet but I will post a picture when I have something completed that works!
I didn’t get much of my lavender cut before it bloomed so I was hoping it would bloom again before fall. I’m still using last year’s crop so I might have enough but it’s like you can never really have enough lavender in my opinion lol

@BryWisteria your lavender looks awesome!

[Mia.1]

This picture was from fall 2021.

I had planted several different herb plants including sage in this baby pool on my deck in Spring 2019 at the same time I became 24/7 caregiver to my grandmother. Caregiving took every moment of my time and my garden including my herb pool were neglected for almost 2 years.

Fast forward to fall 2021 and BAM…sage. Sage for days! Everything else in the pool died off but the sage. I only planted a few sage plants and they multiplied…a lot! I’ve not tended to this herb pool since I planted everything in Spring 2019.

My very first time making smudge sticks. A witchy friend pointed out my uhh “wrapping technique” which wasn’t bad for a first timer she said, but suggested I wrap them a little less vigorously. I later understood why when I went to light one to cleanse a space and it was like trying to blow out an olympic torch!

This is how I dry mine. Got this rack from Aldi last year for the door of my crafting room and it was a perfect place to pop stuff to hang out and dry.

By the way… aside of harvesting all but a few plants last fall I haven’t touched the herb pool at all. This is what the sage is like now

@BryWisteria

The lavender is looking great and I’ve started the harvest!

Your lavender is beautiful! I tried growing my own and it just wasn’t happening.

[Artemisia]

I hand dry leaves and flowers but scatter dry rose petals.

Beautiful lavender!

[mary25]

I dry strawberry leaves and rose petals for spell work on a paper towel and cover them with salt. It’s an accidental method but seems to work. They go in a plastic bag with more salt and so far have lasted for months! Maybe this is more “curing” than “drying” perhaps. I’ve heard a very cool oven works but I haven’t tried it

[TheMuslimWitch]

I too had just been given a bunch of lavender and roses as a gift from my husband and instead of letting the lavender rot in water i decided to hang them upside down yesterday on a line of rope o made with pegs for this specific purpose. I am thinking about doing the same for the roses but not sure how to go about drying them out. Do you think i should chop the stem and air dry them outside in the sun or do the same process as i have done to the lavender? The second option maybe better seeming its winter and nothing dries outside much…

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

It depends on the herb. Many i hang to dry. But like my apple leaves i clean them and just lay them out to dry. Same as my Hawthorne berries and leaves. Also it depends on my mood. And if im told to do something else. There are times my guides will just scream at me to do other things. And if i dont listen things start to get moved around my house. Its not a good thing. Lol

[BryWisteria]

@MeganB Thanks, Megan! That’s a good point- laying them out does, unfortunately, take up a ton of space. Hanging seems more efficient space-wise, and I’d even say the neatly hanging bundles look more organized too!

@Susurrus I’ve oven-dried herbs in the past and I can attest that your intuition is spot on- oven drying works, but it requires a lot of focus and resources. You have to keep checking on them over the hour or two they dry and it also uses up a ton of energy. The natural drying methods seem to work better all-around!

@Kasandra A nice sun bath helps to dry them quickly! If I was sure I was using the lavender in pouches, I probably would- but I think I want some for decoration, so I decided to stick to the shade to help preserve the purple color

@Sarafeena_Sage Thank you, Sarall! And agreed- you can never have enough lavender! I would love to see the wall drying board you are designing- please do share the pics when it’s ready! That is so exciting!

@Mia.1 So much beautiful sage, hooray! It must be very happy there with you, Mia- and lol at your wrapping technique, none of that sage is escaping anytime soon! May your sage continue to thrive, and no worries about the lavender. It can be picky, and it sounds like you already have a plant that has claimed you for its own!

@Artemisia Thank you, Kat! I’ve dried roses whole before, and trying to separate the petals after is a crumbly nightmare Seems like a better plan to scatter the petals and dry them as-is!

@mary25 Very interesting! I imagine the salt helps to dry out the moisture quickly- that’s a really clever way to dry. Thanks so much for sharing!

@TheMuslimWitch Sounds lovely! You could do either, although I think removing the stems is a good idea- they hold a lot of water and are liable to rot. Chop the stems, and then either dry the flowers whole to preserve them as-is, or separate into petals and let them dry that way to use as whole petals. Enjoy them!

@Mistress_Of_Herbs You have so many wonderful herbs and plants that you process, Christeena! And that’s a blessing to have the wisdom of guide as well- although moving things around the house is pretty naughty of them!

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@BryWisteria oh yes they are all little aholes. I have a Hawthorne tree, devils tongue, honeysuckle, crabapple (the tree of Avalon), white ash, hickory, sweet gum(produces witch’s balls), birch,3 blue weeping willows, 3 different hostas, cornflowers, sage, rosemary, purple hearts, gardinA, gladiolus, 7 rose bushes, yarrow, spearmint, peppermint, grapevine, marigolds everywhere, 2 hydrangeas, 2 forsythias, holly bush, several different species of lilly. Thats all i can think of right now. It finally rained. And i got out there and weeded. The ground was finally loose enough i could get in there.

Ill also pull up the dandelion out of my yard. I have a special tool that allows me to get the root and all, bc dandelion roots go deep. And ill clean and dry it too.

[MeganB]

@TheMuslimWitch

Do you think i should chop the stem and air dry them outside in the sun or do the same process as i have done to the lavender?

I think doing it like the lavender would work just fine. If you’re just looking to save the petals of the roses rather than the entire rose, I would pull the petals off and lay them out to dry so the inside of the flower itself doesn’t grow mold.

@BryWisteria

I’d even say the neatly hanging bundles look more organized too!

The hanging bundles definitely match the witch aesthetic and it’s so perfect, too!

[BryWisteria]

@Mistress_Of_Herbs Your garden is a witch’s paradise and a living apothecary- what a beautiful place! And hooray for dandelions too! So many people try to get rid of them (poor things are classified as a weed), yet they are loaded with medicinal benefits. I’m glad you put them to good use and give them some love!

@MeganB Hooray for witch aesthetic!

[BryWisteria]

Little Herb Drying Update :

The bundles of hanging herbs dried much slower than the herbs on the drying screen, but were easier to collect and, just like was mentioned here, take up significantly less room- I’m able to hang way more bundles than spreading the flowers on the screen.

I’ll add a little note to the original post above with the pluses/minuses for each method

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Collected some more lavender yesterday- these will all be hung up to dry!

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

My yard is very calming. And quiet. We have an 8 foot tall privacy around the whole back yard. And an iron one around the front. So its super nice and still.

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@BryWisteria that is lovely lavender. I wish i wasnt allergic. I would actually grow it. Now i just buy it and immediately have my hubby put it in a jar. And when i use it i have to wear gloves.

[BryWisteria]

Thank you, @Mistress_Of_Herbs!

I think allergies to lavender are becoming more common- I hear about it more and more often. I think you’re amazing for finding a way to handle it safely despite your allergy!

And look at that beautiful yard! You’ve really designed your own piece of paradise, Christeena- that looks like a beautiful place for a green witch to be at home

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@BryWisteria oh its amazing. Whether sitting in the wooden swing or laying in the rope hammock. Its just peace. And i have to admit i designed none of it. I have a black thumb. I would kill a plastic plant. Lol. All of that is my husband, gary

[BryWisteria]

@Mistress_Of_Herbs It sounds like your husband does the designing, and then you make wonderful and magickal things from what he grows. You’re a great team!