Garbling is the term that describes stripping the dried leaves and flowers from the unwanted stems and crumbing the leaves/ flowers to make them fit in jars for optimal storage. Garbling is the process of separating the parts of the plants that you want and discard the parts that you don’t want. Before I dry my herbs I discard the yellowed leaves and parts I don’t want.
I use a dedicated pair of leather gloves to protect my hands and make the work go faster. The dried plants can be rough on the hands.
I sometimes use a cookie screen over a cardboard box to garble my dried plants. Depending on the plant it can make the work go quicker.
Lemon Balm works well using this method.
After I garble the dried Tulsi leaves and flowers I use a fine strainer to separate the tiny black seeds from the dried plant material. There are many seeds because I harvest mature flowers along with the leaves.
Do not forget to save your culinary herbs. There is still time to harvest thyme, peppermint, sage and rosemary, for instance. We had a frost which is usual at this time of year so my basil is gone, but there is many herbs that still are viable to harvest.
Storage
The best long term storage container is glass. Plastic bags are fine for short term storage but as soon as you can, transfer the herbs to glass jars. Stay small. It is not necessary to harvest a large amount of your plants. You will run out of room in your cupboards.
Stored herbal plants have a shelf life. Most aerial or top of plants, leaves and flowers, have a shelf life of about 1 -2 years. Roots and Barks are much denser and store better than the delicate tops of the plants. They have a shelf life of 3 or more years. The trick is to store the jars out of the light and heat. The herbs in an unopened jar stored in the dark and cool can last for a long time. Color, smell, taste and feel will indicate the vitality of the herbal plants.
