The stone ruins of the summer kitchen are the perfect place for my herb garden.  This year, I started them in large pots in the greenhouse and moved them onto the brick floor of the summer kitchen once the weather was warm.  It’s close enough to the kitchen door to run outside for a snip of this, or a bunch of that.  But now the weather is turning cooler and I know my fresh herbs won’t last much longer outside.

I harvested bundles of leaves, washed them, sorted through them.  But drying things takes TIME!  I don’t always have a lot of time – so I bought a dehydrator.  Chris isn’t the only one that always needs new toys (tools) for the farm.  The dehydrator was a new addition for me this year – and I’ve used the heck out of the thing.  I’ve dried buckets of cherry tomatoes, some San Marzano tomatoes, a few onions, and all our garlic bulbs.  I’ve dried most of my crop of scallions.  And now I’ve dried the herbs.  I have jars and jars of dried ingredients to use all winter long.  Cherry tomatoes and chives to throw into some strained yogurt for a great dip, onions to add to salad dressings, parsley to sprinkle on top of a pot of mussels, rosemary for a Sunday roast chicken, and even thyme.  Now I just need TIME because I’m gonna be busy cooking!