How To Dry Herbs For Crafts

There are many ways to properly dry your herbs for crafting. When you are preserving the integrity of the plant for consumption, you need to be concerned with safe, healthy stock and pollution plays a factor. You may know where there is a stunning array of wild herbs but their proximity to a busy road make them too toxic to use medicinally. These same herb finds are perfect if you are going to be making herbal crafts.
Preserving herbs for dried arrangements means trying to keep the freshest color and look possible to the plant while removing the moisture content which would promote decay.


There are many different methods of preservation suitable for herbs. Here are many techniques for you to choose from.

• Upside-Down drying: This is by far the most popular way of drying. The secret is finding a dark and comfortably warm location. To use this method, pick your herbs on a dry day just before any blooms have opened. Remove the lower leaves and dry stems thoroughly. Tie the plant in bundles of 5-10 stems, staggering the blooms so they do not touch. The best kept secret is to actually use elastics to wrap these bundles. This ensures that the stems do not fall out as they shrink in the drying process. Choose a place that is dry, dark, airy and warm. If you cannot find a dark enough place, place each bundle in a brown bag before hanging so that the most light possible is blocked out. This prevents fading. Check for dryness every week. Every herb is different and depending on the moisture content, this step could take up to eight weeks. The material is properly dried when it is crisp all over.
  
  

• Upright Drying: This method is good for any seed-pod type plants. You may not have any herbs that fit this description but there are many flowers and wild weeds that are wonderful additions to your herbal doings that do best using this method. Amaranthus is one that comes to mind. First harvest the plant material on a dry day before it becomes too brittle in the ground. Choose a container that will hold the stems upright during the drying process. Add about an inch of water to the container and then insert the plants. Place in a dark, airy, warm place. Check every week. If the water has gone and the plants are crisp and dry then they should be removed. If they are still damp then add a little more water and wait longer.
  
  
• Flat Drying: Leaves, feathery grasses and heavy seed heads are best dried flat. You may find that this method is the second most common method you use. Remember that evergreens will also work well using this technique. After cutting your plants(midsummer for leafy material), place on absorbent paper without overlapping to ensure proper air circulation. As with any drying methods, be sure to choose a dark, airy and warm place. Check weekly until the crisp stage is reached. Change the paper if it becomes damp during this process to deter decay.
  
  
• Desiccants:A desiccant is a fine grained material which readily absorbs moisture. This is far quicker than simply air drying. The biggest drawback is that the plants become very brittle as a result of this method so you need to take that into consideration. You can used washed fine sand, cornmeal and borax, mixed half and half, or silica gel as your drying medium. Each has good and bad points. If you have to choose only one, silica gel actually works in just a few days and if you choose the horticultural one, it contains a moisture indicator which is blue when dry and turns pink when moisture has been absorbed.
  
  
• Glycerin: This final method is not actually a drying method, it is actually a preserving method. The technique replaces the water content with glycerin. If you are using evergreens, eucalyptus, roses, tree stems, holly with or without berries, ferns or any other fleshy or woody specimen, then this may be the technique for you. Here is how to preserve your herbs with glycerin.

I hope some of these methods have peaked your interest in preserving the herbs and plants around you. It is a nice way to bring the beauty of nature indoors.