Happy Urban Dirt

Below is an excerpt Preserving food without freezing and canning by Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante. It has been adapted for operate on the Internet.

A few tips:

• Harvest plants in the morning when it is dehydrated and radiant and when flowering is at its peak, depending on the plant and part you are using.
• Wash plants only when necessary (for example, roots).
• Always dehydrated plants in the shade (outdoors) or in a gloomy place (indoors).
• Drying is complete when the plants are dehydrated and brittle.
• Store dried plants in glass jars, paper or cardboard boxes, away from lightweight. Plants can also be hung in a dehydrated, well-ventilated place.
• Label the containers in which you store your plants.
• With each fresh harvest, remove any remaining plants from the previous year.

Farigoulade (thyme mixture)

• 1 heaping teaspoon of thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon peppery
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 heaping teaspoon of thyme
• Coffee grinder

Harvest these plants when they begin to bloom and allow them to dehydrated in the gloomy. Remove the very woody parts and grind the herbs into a fine powder using a coffee grinder.

Serve this mixture with grilled lamb. Place a spoon in one corner of the plate and dip the pieces of meat in it. It’s a gourmet delight!

Anne-Marie Arrouye, Aix-en-Provence

Herbs in bags

• Long-stemmed herbs (rosemary, basil, tarragon, sage, mint, etc.)
• Paper bags

This method works well with long-stemmed herbs such as rosemary, basil, tarragon, sage, and mint. Place the herb heads (sorted by type) completely in the paper bag; Gather the stems and tie them together to the open end of the bag. Make holes in the bag for ventilation and hang it in a place that is not too icy, not too heated, well ventilated and preferably gloomy. (Herbs lose their flavor when exposed to lightweight.)

Ghislaine Fayolle, Larajasse

Herbs in outdoor bouquets

• Herbs (parsley, sage, thyme, bay leaf, tarragon, mint, marjoram)
• Glass jars

This is an especially effective technique with parsley, sage, thyme, bay leaves, tarragon, mint and marjoram. Make compact bouquets of herbs (divided by type) and hang them in a dehydrated, well-ventilated place, preferably in the gloomy. Once the herbs are dehydrated, the leaves can be separated from the stems and stored in airtight glass jars.

M. Buisson, Riorges

Herbs on trays

• Herbs
• Tiny fabric-lined boxes or trays made of mesh or muslin

A shallow layer of plants is placed in compact boxes with fabric underneath or on trays made of mesh or muslin. Tiny boxes or trays with “feet” can be stacked on top of each other. Place the crates or trays in a gloomy, dehydrated and well-ventilated place (e.g. in the attic).

Jeannette Roy, Vergigny

Linden flowers

• Linden flowers
• 2 tidy cloths
• Cans or glass jars

Follow the same procedure as for the rose petals (below). Thanks to this, each room will smell different.

You can also prepare a gentle, soothing tea from dried linden flowers, which are highly valued in France for this purpose. Widely distributed throughout the eastern United States, the American linden tree is a member of the linden family and produces corresponding flowers.

Rose petals

• Rose petals
• 2 tidy cloths
• Cans or glass jars

To properly dehydrated rose petals, they should be spread out in skinny layers and protected from lightweight and dust. So, I spread freshly collected rose petals on a tidy cloth that I placed on the cabinet and cover them with another cloth. While drying, they give the room a unique scent! After a few weeks, I store them in cans or glass jars labeled with the name of the plant and the year of harvest.

Lise Marie Ratier, La Ferrière

Summer scents

• Mixture of herbs (thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, wild thyme, savory, etc.)
• 3 cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• A compact piece of dried chili (optional)
• Salad bowl
• Glass jar

Collect a bouquet of mixed herbs. Set them aside to dehydrated immediately in a gloomy, dehydrated place. Remove leaves from hard-stemmed herbs (for example, thyme and rosemary). Combine two tablespoons of each herb with three cloves, half a teaspoon of grated nutmeg and a compact piece of dried chili (if you like), all together in a salad bowl. Mix compact amounts of this mixture by hand to obtain a sturdy powder that should be stored in a glass jar.

These herbs perfectly season winter vegetables, omelets, cheeses and the like.

M.-T. Little, Pont-de-Cé

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