Storing Herbs

Words by Angela Jones

Let’s start at the very basic level and assume you have no garden, that you buy herbs from the supermarket as and when you need them, and you have a windowsill.

Firstly, don’t store your dried herbs on your windowsill, especially if they are in glass jars. The sun will bleach them, and condensation will turn them mouldy.

Store your dried herbs in a dark, dry cupboard.

Secondly, check the use by date, as Herbs loose their vivacity over time ( I know how they feel!).

• If you have jars with dates that are long gone, throw the contents in the compost bin and the jars into recycling.
• If the herbs look like faded versions of themselves, throw them away.
• If they smell like old library books, throw them away.
• If they have a year date that’s older than your first boyfriend, donate them to a museum. Be ruthless.

Herbs that can sit happily on a windowsill are the pots of Basil, Mint, Coriander, Parsley, and Chives that are to be found in the vegetable isles of supermarkets. 

Please take them out of their plastic wrappers once you get them home. Keep the soil around them damp but do not over water. If they look like they are about to go to seed, go over, or you have taken what you need and don’t think you will use them for a while these too can be stored.

Harvest the best bits and prepare as you would if you were going to cook with them but place them in ice cube trays add a little water and freeze. The next time you need that herb, pop an ice cube out and stir it into the recipe. I find this method works particularly well when making parsley sauce from scratch.