Drying Lavender
Drying Lavender
Once you have picked fresh lavender, you can enjoy it as a fresh arrangement for a few days and then preserve it for use in dried arrangements or for culinary purposes
Remove Foliage
Start by removing all of the bottom green foliage. Removing the foliage prevents mold from growing on the stems and makes for a cleaner look in dried arrangements. The foliage has no culinary value.
Set aside any Blooms
The lavender blooms may fall off during the foliage removal process, but set them aside to dry for sachets or culinary use.
Fresh or dried blooms can be used for cooking. The general rules of thumb is to use one tablespoon of fresh herbs or one teaspoon of dried.
Trim the ends
Trim the ends neatly and bunch the bundle together for binding.
Bundle the Lavender
Using a string, light wire or rubber band, gently bundle the lavender together for hanging.
Hang the Lavender
Hang the lavender upside-down to begin the drying process. You will know when the process is compete if you are able to snap a stem in two pieces.
Reserve blooms for cooking or baking
Once dried, you can save the blooms for culinary purposes like baking or mixing in with cocktails or teas. Separate the blooms from the stems and store in an airtight container.
Lavender adds a wonderful flavor to desserts, but you may also use dried lavender in place of rosemary in many recipes.
Keep dried herbs in an airtight container in a cupboard with other herbs. Typically, the flavor is best when used within a year of drying and will lose flavor as time goes on.
