Some low growing herbs have very small leaves and flowers, thus picking them separately would be an extremely laborious task. These herbs therefore are dried whole, including the stem. After cutting the herbs, and washing if necessary, tie them in small bunches and hung them upside down in the airing cupboard (heated closet). Herbs suitable for this treatment are chicken weed, centaury, heartsease, and lesser celandine, separated from the roots, summer savoury and woodruff. Chickweed should be dried slowly in the coolest part of the airing cupboard, while heartsease needs to be dried as quickly as possible in the warmest part. The flowering tops of blessed thistle, hyssop, lady’s bedstraw, mint, mugwort and rosemary can also be dried in the same way.
Drying the Leaves
Leaves of large herbs such as lovage and sweet cicely should be stripped from stems before drying. Thick fleshly leaves, such as those of comfrey, coltsfoot and sage, should be also dried singly. For ease of handling the leaves of other herbs can be left on the stems. Spread the leaves out evenly on the drying trays and put into a cool oven preheated to 32-38C (90-100F), leaving the doors slightly open. Most leaves take up to an hour to dry. but check them from time to time and when the leaves feel crisp, immediately remove them from the oven. Rub the leaves off the stems and, if you like, put them through a coarse sieve before storing.
Drying Flowers and Petals
The best method of drying small flowers and petals is to place them between sheets of paper in an airy room where they can be left undisturbed for several weeks. Rose petals will take much longer, but they can be crisped up quickly in a cool oven with the door left ajar. Lime flowers and chamomile flowers are best dried in the airing cupboard (heated closet) as should be cut with long stems and tied in small bunches to hang upside down in a warm dark place. Dandelion flowers are dried whole and should be placed on a drying tray in the airing cupboards.
Drying Seeds
Seed heads which have been cut left to hang upside down in paper bags can, when all the seeds have fallen, be thrown away. The seeds should then be dried for a further period of time. Spread them out on tissue over a wire cake tray in the airing cupboard ,or heated closet. They are fully dry when they are hard and easy to snap.
Sunflower seeds must be properly dried before they can be stored. The flower heads shrivel and droop as the seeds begin to ripen and the heads should not be cut until this stage is reached. Cut them on a dry day and place the flower heads in a very cool oven until the seeds can be easily removed. When all the seeds have come away, spread them on paper and finish drying in the airing cupboard.
Drying Berries
Barberries can be successfully dried for winter use. Only perfect fruit should be picked and carefully taken off the stalks. Spread the berries between two pieces of muslin or cheesecloth and dry in a warm dark place. The berries will shrivel when dried, but should remain a good colour and feel hard and crisp.
Rosehips can be dried in a very cool oven or the airing cupboard (heated closet). Slice the ripe hips with a sharp stainless steel knife and spread out on grease-proof paper or on trays. When completely dry, they should feel crisp and be a good red colour. Be careful, as too great a heat will turn the hips brown and they will lose all value. After drying, rosehips should be well crunched with a rolling pin between two pieces of paper and then put through a coarse sieve to remove all the hairs. This must be done either outside or inside wearing gloves and a muslin or gauze mask over the nose and mouth, as the hairs can cause irritation.
Drying Roots
As soon as the roots have been lifted they should be scrubbed and cut or sliced into small pieces. Spread the pieces on the drying trays and leave them in the airing cupboard or other warm, dark place until they are hard and brittle. Valerian root, which has a strong unpleasant smell when drying, should be dried well away from the other herbs.