As part of my Stoptober Challenge I want to try and do as many money saving things as I can, so today I started with the task of drying some sage from the garden. I have a huge bush of this in my garden and every year it provides us with enough for making stuffings through the winter months. I misjudged this last year and didn't dry enough and had to resort to buying some ... tut tut!!
Its a nice dry day today so I picked this large bunch and striped off the leaves checking for tiny insects, luckily I only found one. Using 2 bits of Kitchen paper spread the leaves out, dont over crowd or it will take longer to dry.
Pop them into the microwave and ding for 4mins on full power
The come out a bit shrivelled and crispy but still keeping the colour
You can see the difference in colour between the shop bought and the home dried, the colour is more vibrant and the smell much more pungent. A better product by far.
Scrunch it all up in a bowl and store in an airtight jar until needed, it will easy keep until the next years is ready to pick. I popped mine into a pint glass just so you get an accurate picture of the yield. Not much!
I added it to my jar with the bit of shop bought and will keep adding more over the next few days until the jar is full to the top. I know then I will have enough to last till next year.
No money spent today and another money saving job to tick off the list.
Have you done anything money saving today?
Thank you for reading
Karen xxx
I am drying home-grown sage, rosemary and thyme, to make some 'bouquets garni' to give as Xmas gifts.
ReplyDeleteI dry parsley and dill (along with mints) and as your photo illustrates perfectly, what a difference!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, will have to give that a go. I use quite a lot of French tarragon and just bought some dried stuff off the market. Don't know how old it was but has absolutely no smell!
ReplyDeleteOoh off to a flying start well done you I'll be following you and cheering you on xx
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