Sage

How to dry sage with these easy tips

How to dry Sage

Do you grow sage in your garden? Sage is a fantastic herb to grow and is extreamly easy to dry. In fact sage is one of the best herbs to dry as it does not hold much moisture like many other herbs – it is less tender than other herbs. There are many ways you can dry sage. In this article we will tell you how to dry sage and the different methods you can use.

The methods you can use for drying Sage is:-

  • Air drying
  • Food Dehydrator
  • Oven cook

Before you decide which method you would like to use, you need to prepare your Sage leaves first.


Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book

Are you starting an allotment or planning on growing your own fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a kitchen garden? If so we highly recommend the book Allotment Month By Month. This does exactly what it does on the cover to help you with what you should be doing in the allotment and kitchen garden each month. Below you can see the link for Amazon where you can purchase the book directly. This book is extremely popular with all allotment holders as you will read in the reviews:-

You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.



Preparing your Sage Leaves for drying

  1. The first step to drying sage leaves is to prepare your leaves. This is done by pulling the sage leaves off the stem. Do this gently and lay them on a towel – make sure it is clean. Pulling them off is quicker than cutting them off with scissors.
  2. Once you have got enough sage leaves you next need to inspect everyone of these – looking to see if any leaf is damaged, it has been eaten and looks diseased. You only want the nice healthy leaves to use.
  3. While you are inspecting for damaged leaves you need to check them for insects they could be extremely small. Look for any tell tale signs like eggs or webs. Any sign of insects chuck them away.
  4. Now you need to wash your sage – the easiest way is to get a colander like what you use for washing salad leaves. Wash the leaves for a few seconds. make sure you shake the colander to get the water off. You can now lay your sage leaves on a clean towel for them to dry – you can speed it up by blotting them with the towel to get off any water.

Now you have prepared your sage you are ready to choose a drying technique for the sage. Below are 3 different ways of drying sage. Choose the method you would like to try


Drying Sage Techniques

How to dry Sage by air drying.

  1. First you need to gather 10 leaves on top of one another into a little bundle of leaves. Then you can tie them together at the stalk end – leave some extra string for when you want to hang them up. The best item to tie them together is a rubber band as when the sage dries out the rubber band will get tighter around the stalks keeping them held together.
  2. Next you need to place you sage bundles in small paper bags which have holes in them for ventilation – do not use plastic bags as this can cause mold on the leaf.
  3. You can now hang your sage upside down from the stalk end. Make sure the paper bag stays on as this stops dust getting on them. Leave them to hang in a dry area of the house.
  4. Take the bundle of sage down every day and turn them around in the paper bag. This is because one side could be drying faster than the other. When turning them around watch out for any mold forming – this is usually obvious from the black spots appearing. If this is the case take them down and choose a different method. This happens if your house is humid.
  5. You will need to leave them to dry for around 10 days to get them to full crispness. You will know they are ready when they just crumble in your fingers from how dry they are.
  6. The last step is to do a final check for insects. Either put them in the over for 30 mins on 160 degrees Fahrenheit or put them in the freezer for 48 hours.

How to dry sage using a Food Dehydrator

One way of drying your sage leaves is to use a food dehydrator – this is a faster process than hanging the sage. Here are the simple steps for using the food dehydrator.

  1. Set your dehydrator at a temperature of around 110 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Lay the leaves spread out on the tray so that they are not touching each other. This can affect the drying.
  3. Keep checking the sage leaves every 30 minutes to see how they are drying. They could take between 2- 4 hours depending on your dehydrator.
  4. You will know when the leaves are dry as they will crumble in your hands.

How to use an oven for drying sage

  1. Pre heat your oven on the lowest temperature on the oven. Drying them in the oven needs to take a long time as you don’t want to risk cooking them.
  2. Lay your sage leaves on baking paper. Do not let the leaves over lap this can affect the drying process.
  3. If you use an electric oven use something to wedge the oven door partially open as the air needs to circulate plus the oven won’t get too hot. You cannot risk cooking them. If you are using a gas oven keep opening the door every 5 minutes as gas is harmful if the door is left open.
  4. Every 30 minutes you need to flip the leaves over. This can be done with oven tongs.
  5. You need to check the sage every 15 minutes you cannot let the herb dry too much. It should take up to an hour for the sage to dry in an oven.
  6. You will know your sage has dried when it crumbles in your fingers.

You now know the 3 ways of drying sage. The quickest way is in the oven but you just have to make sure you do not cook the sage instead of dry it.


You can find out lots more hints and tips for gardening here.

July Planting tips

How to take mint cuttings

Mint Cuttings

Mint can be fantastic to grow, you can use it for so many things. You can use it for mint sauce, cocktails or for cooking with. The only thing with mint is that you have to make sure that you grow it in pots as it has a tendency to spread and can take over the whole of your garden. If you grow mint in pots you can keep it under control. You could have a couple of plant pots with some mint plants in – this will keep you with enough supply to last you, your friends and your family. Here we will explain the best methods for taking mint cuttings.

The best time to take mint cuttings is in spring. You will then have a plant bursting with leaves for you to use. Whether you are growing mint indoors on a windowsill or outside it’s the same method for taking mint cuttings.


Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book

Are you starting an allotment or planning on growing your own fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a kitchen garden? If so we highly recommend the book Allotment Month By Month. This does exactly what it does on the cover to help you with what you should be doing in the allotment and kitchen garden each month. Below you can see the link for Amazon where you can purchase the book directly. This book is extremely popular with all allotment holders as you will read in the reviews:-

You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.


Step by step guide to Mint cuttings

  1. First you will need to get some secateurs (click here to purchase secateurs) and cut off some mint from the top of the plant. It needs to be around 8-10cm long in length. Do a few pieces just in case it does not all root. Maybe you want to start lots of cuttings for the whole family and friends.
  2. Remove all the lower leaves off the mint stem – this is where you are going to put it in water. Make sure you leave some leaves at the top.
  3. Place all the mint stems in a glass of water. You can put them all in one glass. Leave the glass with the mint in on a light sunny windowsill.
  4. Once you see lots of roots on the mint stems you can now pot these up into small plant pots – put one stem in each plant pot. Use peat free multipurpose compost when planting up.
  5. Make sure that the compost is firmed down round the mint stems. Cut off the top growth off the mint stems. This will help encourage the plants to take root well.
  6. Keep the plants indoors for a couple of weeks and keep well watered.
  7. Once the mint cuttings have taken hold you can now plant out in there final growing place.

You can find more hints and tips here

runner beans

How to freeze runner beans to store for when needed

How to freeze runner beans

When you are growing runner beans you will know that you get an abundance. You will either have a lot of friends who you share all your produce to or you will be eating runner beans every single day. You will probably waste a great amount as you may not be able to keep up with how fast they are producing once they start. One way of saving runner beans until you need them is freezing them. Here we will explain the best way on how to freeze runner beans to keep there optimum taste and texture so they taste fresh when you eat them.

Like most other vegetables before you freeze runner beans you will need to blanch them first. This method will help them keep the delicious taste that the runner beans have and the lovely green colour.

To blanche runner beans you will need to chop the runner beans into chunks or slice them. Cut off the hard ends of the runner beans and the stalks. If they are stringy you will need to cut the ends off them. Blanche them in boiling water, then leave them to cool down. Once they have cooled down you can then put them in a freezer bag and freeze until you need them.

One way of making it easier cutting the runner beans you can purchase a runner bean slicer which will save lots of time. You can find one here


Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book

Are you starting an allotment or planning on growing your own fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a kitchen garden? If so we highly recommend the book Allotment Month By Month. This does exactly what it does on the cover to help you with what you should be doing in the allotment and kitchen garden each month. Below you can see the link for Amazon where you can purchase the book directly. This book is extremely popular with all allotment holders as you will read in the reviews:-

You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.




Guide on how to freeze runner beans

Here is a step by step guide on how to freeze runner beans.

  1. Weigh 200g Runner Beans
  2. Cut the top and bottom off the runner beans. This is called top and tail.
  3. Slice off the stringy bits on the sides.
  4. Chop the beans into 3cm pieces – you don’t have to measure just guess – scissors are best for this.
  5. Boil a pan of water up. Add the beans you have prepared and boil for 3 minutes.
  6. Transfer the beans to ice cold water. Leave in the water until they have cooled completely
  7. Once they have cooled you need to open freeze the runner beans. To do this get some baking paper on a baking tray and lay your runner beans out on them – make sure they are not touching. You can then freeze them. Make sure the freezer is on the coldest setting. This is so the beans do not freeze in one big clump.
  8. Once they have frozen solid you can put them in a freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Defrost the runner beans when you require them.

To find out more tips and advice on growing runner beans you can check out this page here

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