I freeze my favorite herbs in batches all summer and at season’s end, I have enough to last the entire winter. Two of my favorite herbs are basil and dill. Yesterday was Freeze a Batch day for these herbs. There are a slew of methods out there for preserving herbs… air drying, oven drying, blanching, freezing in oil or water, freezing whole, but I simply do it my way, always the same way. I find that herbs done this way stay flavorful and tasty until I can harvest from the garden next year.

Basil:

I pinch down my basil plants before they can form blooms and that makes them nice and bushy for a while. When we have more basil that we can use, I take a few stems early in the day and remove the leaves. I rinse them, drain, then rough chop in a food processor.

Into a zip lock freezer bag they go with a bit of water. I spread the basil thin and squeeze out as much air possible and zip it shut. Freeze. To use, just squeeze out and break off as much as you need. That’s all, folks!

Dill:

Some can’t tolerate the pungent taste of dill but it’s one of my favorite herbs. I love dill dip, dill with salmon, dill and cucumber salad and more. mister gardener has a hundred ways to use this herb in recipes.

Harvest early in the day, picking leaves from stems. Rinse, drain, and place between paper towels for about a half hour until completely dry.

Mince the dry dill and drop it into a zip lock bag and freeze.

When a recipe calls for dill, just sprinkle out the amount of frozen dill needed.

Easy peasy, yes?  Now we have chives, oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and sage to freeze..