I dry my herbs in a paper bag because during the height of my garden harvest, I need the dehydrator space for the garden produce. That's what I've found works best for me. My goal this year is to make my own Italian seasoning mix from my dehydrated herbs.
Thank you so much for your wonderful, educational videos! It's so refreshing to be able to learn about herbalism without all the new age religion added in!
I had to stop recommending a book I used to like once I dug deeper and found that the author clearly used witchcraft. It went into the fire after that!
I hang most of my herbs, often on my clothes drying stand. Yes, the dehumidifier is running, needs to or my basement gets musty, but it's cool dry and fairly dark environment and it works well!
I've been saving my banana peels all winter; like I did last year. My mint is starting to come in pretty good, but we're still having some cool spells in Western Kentucky, so I have some big trays of that dehydrating. When it's consistently warm, I'll start a couple of 5 gallon buckets of the banana mint vinegar you introduced us too. I still have a little left from last year, but don't want to run out. Love it in place of commercial fabric softener and I use it in place of lemon juice in most of my cooking. Thanks again 😊
I wear gloves, no matter what, when collecting stinging nettle! I have an extremely high pain tolerance, but I ran into this plant as a teenager with a bathing suit on, and I will never forget that day!!!!😂 my entire body was on fire!! Great video packed with great information !😊🌱
I have gloves for those meanies that have a rather tight knit on top, rubber on the bottom. Once in a while I get one on the knit part, I feel it for 3 days, especially when my hands get wet! I do not think I will handle them gloveless!!!! Even my vinyl thin gloves those suckers poke through!!!
@@kleineroteHex ha! I take down trees for a living & have thick leather gloves for it. That’s what I use for the nettle. I make sure there are no needles in my gloves before handling them also!😹
I've always dried my herbs and flowers on a bag. Recently I made a hanging rack from old jerky dehydrator trays and covered it with tulle and hang it outside during the day. Honestly, the bag works the best. Throw everything in. Roll up the top, throw it in a corner of the pantry room and eventually I remember it and they're all bone dry. The problem with that though is the size of all these large paper bags gumming up the room. I'm doing a lot of violet leaf and dandelion leaf right now. I've got to get the mugwort in next.
I just subscribed! I have so much to learn! I just got a dehydrated with wire racks. I got it for Christmas . I am excited to get going on it. Lots of great ideas. I love the idea of Cotten liners. Thank you. I liked my plastic stack dehydrator I hope to like this even more.
Heidi, I just think you are a BLESSING to all small family homesteads! I use you as a reference and love your connection to God. You speak of materials but what kind of organic cloth do you recommend for the Cosori dehydrator? I am ready to clip and dehydrate but it has been very humid here in New England. Thank you and God Bless you! 🙏
Hi Heidi, you r a walking library so much awesome knowledge & information, I really appreciate it, I'm in south Australia & I try my best to grow what I can here, I love nature & natural things, iv learnt so much from you. I'm in my own house with a small yard, I have a worm farm to help in my garden, , many blessing to you & your family, kindest regards pat ❤️
Hi, Heidi! Another fantastic video. Thanks! Some of your readers might know this, but I will share my party trick with you all. When picking stingy nettle simply hold your breath while touching any part of the plant and it will not sting you. Don’t ask me the scientific reason for this. I simply do it and it always works for me. I even instinctively hold my breath while foraging. Make sure you hold your breath, keep holding it all the time, then touch a nettle, release the nettle, and after you have released the nettle then breathe again. If you breathe before releasing the plant, then you will be stung. I’m not kidding, but don’t hold me responsible if you proceed to touching the nettle plant and you get stung! However, I do encourage you to try it. The worst that could happen is that at the end you get stung. But, who hasn’t at least once in our lives? Make sure you leave a comment here when you try it and let us know how you did. 😉
Stinging nettle is a great option for arthritis in conjunction with other natural treatment-swishing the aching joint threw or swish with picked nettle before use.
Thank you for this info!!! I have a Corsori and was so frustrated with it because my herbs wouldn’t dry at the recommended 95 degrees. I was not sure if I could go as high as 110…but it is so humid here that I will try it.
Hi just started watching, live in a very humid house in mountains...hang above your wood stove. suspend a screen (i use cup hooks and hang baskets) Heat rises better than moving sideways. thanks for helpful video
Yes, I know all about that and have used my woodstove for years to dehydrate as covered here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-plL87VMp3MM.html
I dry herbs and heartier vegetables at the same time in mine. I keep the herbs on the top shelves and when they are dry, I turn the heat up to finish the lower trays. I feel like it gives them a head start. I only do this though when I don’t have a full dehydrator of herbs. I prefer to do all of one thing at a time, but it’s not always possible. We have the high humidity also so I have had to restart a batch of something that I didn’t catch in time because they have absorbed moisture. I made feverfew tincture and it is pretty bitter, but that taste dissipates quickly and it works so well that I don’t mind the few seconds of bad taste. I have a friend who’s back was fused and she told me that the tincture I gave her works better than the prescription that the doctor gave her. She bought me a bottle of vodka for the next batch. Many Blessings!
Great knowledge; thanks for sharing! I’ve just dehydrated a bunch of dandelion leaves & roots to add to smoothies but haven’t tried the flowers. How do you use the dehydrated dandelion flowers? I’ll check out your playlists; I’m sure you will have that answered in a video😉 Blessings to all 🤗💜🇨🇦
Dandelion Uses and Benefits: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Yq4WnsBTfZ0.html InfusedOiil for Healing Salve: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BUVlOUewYJE.html
I’ve been watching you for several months now and finally with nettles and dandelion I’m off my thyroid meds fora week now 😅I was on them for 15 yrs. I started the tea a month ago and starting weening myself off. I’ve lost a few lbs thank God. Ever since Covid it’s been hard to lose weight. Thank you for your inspiration to us all🥰🙏❤️
I’m binge watching all your dehydrated videos… A lot to remember… I’m following in your steps to save for long time storage… I’m sure I’ll have plenty of questions along the way in my new adventures with your videos… I’ve also made 4 different fermentation starters…their on their 4th day… Pear & apple Peach & grapes Blackberry & Raspberry Plum & strawberry I can’t wait to make the healthy Fizzy Soda… Thank you 🙏 again… Blessings
Great video Heidi. I use bags a LOT mainly cause I’m too stingy with the power company. Lol. I do use my dehydrater but I’d rather the old way ( it’s cheap and smells wonderful ).
You can dehydrate herbs in microwave much faster and they taste better than other methods. Get a microwave plastic plate and dry for 2 min. Check make sure crunchy, if not dry 1 min. more, or until crunch. Usually, I cover the entire plate about 1/2 thick with oregano, thyme, peppermint, basil etc, I dry them on the stalk. Squeeze them when crunchy to get off stalk, and put in canning jar. Then when I'm ready to make a shaker full I put them in a coffee grinder works well to make powder.
I prefer to not use a microwave for such things as it is far too easy to destroy the beneficial nutrients that give the herbs their healing properties. I especially do not recommend plastic, If you must use a microwave, then at least use glass or silicone, not plastic.
No, I do not, sorry. Though I have at least 90 or more videos where I profile specific herbs and more al in one playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLzVtTPDzFPKHPRMHwH8XG5QKLh-MBvTzv
I also have a cosori and in WA state.. what kind of cloth are you referring to by using in the machine? How long do you let your strawberries dry until they are ready. ? Thank you
Cotton is best, especially old sheets. I did link to the video on cloth covers for the trays in the description box just below the video screen. I am not one to dry strawberries so cannot tell you for sure the time on that, you will just need to watch them and take note
Many organic dried herbs can be found online. Here is a video in which I talk about where I buy the herbs I do not already grow: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KqmUYFI0cdc.html
I live in a rainy climate too. Do you harvest herbs in the rain? I've heard you should harvest in the mornings when they're dry sometimes that's just not possible I'm wondering what you do...
The only herbs I have successfully air dried in my house are lavender, bay leaves and rosemary, the rest just rot. Am I doing something wrong or is it just the humidity in the air?
That would be your humidity, it is the same reason I cannot dry that way unless I have a fire going in the house and dry next tot he woodstove that puts out a dry heat
Curious would freeze drying as it seems to keep much more of the properties in food and medicines in tact be a better option for preserving herbs, or does it matter?
If you have freezer space..... I have stinging nettle in the freezer because I want to try fermenting them before drying and we went on vacation , so I'm holding them over😊
Freeze drying does not preserve that much more nutrients as dehydrating on a low heat does and the very few nutrients one may have saved via freeze drying are lost as soon as they are used in making teas or if store in jars and exposed to light for too long. Dehydrating is the oldest and far less expensive way to preserve foods and herbs.
Well, I sell them myself and have for years now. If you are interested in seeing my full list of seeds and other products, please email me at raincountryhomestead@gmail.com
Thank you Heidi! I was gathering dandelions earlier in the week. Seeing the little Mason bees out there working so hard was just such a joy! Because of the rain we've been getting, I was also able to get quite a few roots. Definately not enough for even a cup of coffee.☺️ I've yet to try that. Thank you for the minder to dehydrate before they flower! ♡ Blessings! 💜
I have a Nesco dehydrator, but we moved to a fixer upper and we haven't up dated the elec. yet. Two questions, do you know how much elec it takes? And I have a gas oven with a dehydrator button on it, have you ever tried an oven one and if so, how did it work?
Sorry, I do not know exactly how much electricity it takes and know nothing about a gas oven with a dehydrator option, did not even know that they existed. My concern would be how hot it gets as herbs are more delicate
Cori: You can do a google search for “electricity bill calculator”. You will need to know the wattage of your dehydrator, the price of your electricity per kwh and estimate how many hours you will use it. The wattage of your dehydrator will be on the label on the machine, and the cost of your electricity will be on your bill. However, money isn’t everything and if you enjoy the process of dehydrating and the end product, the cost is just one of the factors to consider.
@@MiLittleCorner It won't be real accurate, however, because the dehydrator heaters cut on and off to maintain temperature and only the blower/fan stays on.
While oven drying is a great option for foods, my concern for using it for more delicate things like herbs is that the lowest setting may not be low enough
@@RainCountryHomestead my UK oven is in celsius and its lowest is 50c which is 122f.......thats pretty close to your 110f.....i have seen some resources online saying anything up to 170f which seems a lot and makes me think 122f would be fine
They have the most nutrition etc before they send all their power into making blooms, but you can dig them anytime, depends how much power you want. I dig a lot in the spring to make room for my plants😁 I let them grow everywhere in my garden, until I need the space.
