Drying your herbs while they are growing plentifully assures you that you will have plenty for the winter months. A few tips to be sure that you are successful are:

*Be sure that your herbs are healthy-no diseased or wilted leaves.

*Pick your herbs in the morning after the dew has dried off of them.

*Be careful with them, not bruising the leaves which will release the oils.

There are different ways to accomplish drying the herbs:

*You can bundle them in small bundles and hang in a well ventilated, shady, dry area.  *You can lay them on a cookie sheet and place in a warm oven, not hot and let dry that way. You will need to be sure that you turn them some to be sure that they are completely dry.

*The easiest way to accomplish drying them is to use a dehydrator.  I have an Excalibur Dehydrator that has shelves and the fan blows from the back across all of the shelves. This makes for very even drying but it can be accomplished with some of the smaller, less expensive dehydrators.  You just need to be sure that you check to be sure that they are drying completely which sometimes means that you need to rotate the shelves.

*Once they are completely dry be sure to put them into an airtight container and label them.  You may find that you want to make some blends that you use often. You will be happy to have them to use and share this winter!