Drying Herbs in my First Dehyrdator!

Well… O.k.  technically it’s my second dehydrator.  My first, I purchased for $5 at a yard sale, brought it home, plugged it in to test it out, and it overheated in minutes, and melted the bottom tray.  I was rather disappointed.

This time, I purchased one from the farm supply store in town.  There were a few choices.  One sold strictly as a jerky maker.  One was plastic meant to look like metal (at least that’s what I think they were going for) and had digital controls which I was quite attracted to, and a third similar in price to the second called “Garden Master”.

I chose the Garden Master.

It doesn’t look as neat, has a simple dial and off and on switch, but it’s made in the U.S.A.  … or mostly at least.  Close is better than not at all I suppose!

We’re big on that, by the way.  We always try to  either buy used from yard sales, antique stores, flea markets etc so that items get a second chance and our money goes to other regular people, or we check tags and purchase U.S.A. made products.

So this morning, the first thing I did was set the dehydrator up on the counter, then grabbed my basket to go harvest some of my herbs!

What’s growing out there, you ask?

Lemon Balm, Wild Mint, Horehound, Peppermint, Catnip, (yeah, heavy on the mint family I know!) Dill, Calendula, Yarrow, and some plant that I know I seeded, sprouted, and planted but have long since lost track of what in the world it is!  NO one that I have asked has been able to identify it either.

I’ve given up my wild mint and part of the horehound to the butterflies and bumblebees.

On a side note, I have only seen two or three honey bees….hm….

Once everything has dried (I harvested WAY more than would fit)  I am storing them in old bread making yeast jars for later use.  They are glass, moisture tight, and dark brown in color so the herbs will not be degraded by sunlight. Perfect!  I knew there was a reason I’ve been keeping them!