How to Preserve Fresh Home Grown Herbs in The Freezer

by Shari@puregrace

Easy

Fresh homegrown herbs are the gold standard when cooking. Not a big surprise to anyone. The problem with fresh homegrown herbs is they are not always readily available. In the past few years I have made a conscious choice to live in a more sustainable way, so I grow an abundance of herbs during spring and summer. This way I am able to harvest and preserve the herbs for use when they are no longer in season. This saves the costly expense of buying herbs in a store, and I have the added bonus of knowing exactly what I am getting when I grow them at home.
My first choice for preserving fresh garden herbs is to place them in a bed of ice. I appreciate simplicity and this method is very simple. The herbs retain their color and give flavor to my pure food recipes as if I had picked them straight out of my garden.

how to preserve fresh home grown herbs in the freezer, flowers, gardening, homesteading, Basil Frozen in neat little cubes Perfectly packaged to toss into that pot of soup or sauce you are creating The taste remains as fresh as the day you picked them

Basil Frozen in neat little cubes. Perfectly packaged to toss into that pot of soup or sauce you are creating. The taste remains as fresh as the day you picked them.

how to preserve fresh home grown herbs in the freezer, flowers, gardening, homesteading, Harvest your basil at the peak of freshness before the flowers begin to bud This way the most potent oils and flavor remains concentrated in the leaves

Harvest your basil at the peak of freshness before the flowers begin to bud. This way the most potent oils and flavor remains concentrated in the leaves.

how to preserve fresh home grown herbs in the freezer, flowers, gardening, homesteading, Don t leave those herbs sitting out for too long to preserve all that wonderful flavor at its peak

Don't leave those herbs sitting out for too long to preserve all that wonderful flavor at its peak,

how to preserve fresh home grown herbs in the freezer, flowers, gardening, homesteading, Rinse your herbs well and remove the woody portion of the stems If you are freezing larger leafed herbs chop to desired size

Rinse your herbs well, and remove the woody portion of the stems. If you are freezing larger leafed herbs, chop to desired size.

how to preserve fresh home grown herbs in the freezer, flowers, gardening, homesteading, Place your herbs in clean ice cube trays Herbs will float a bit so take this into consideration when filling your trays to keep them from spilling over

Place your herbs in clean ice cube trays. Herbs will float a bit, so take this into consideration when filling your trays to keep them from spilling over.

how to preserve fresh home grown herbs in the freezer, flowers, gardening, homesteading, Once frozen pop out your cubes and place them in a heavy duty freezer bag Remove as much air as possible and close tightly Now you have fresh tasting herbs at the ready for whatever good things you may be cooking up Buon appetito

Once frozen, pop out your cubes and place them in a heavy duty freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible and close tightly. Now you have fresh tasting herbs at the ready for whatever good things you may be cooking up. Buon appetito!

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3 of 29 comments

Steve on Mar 22, 2014
Mary Lou Nelson ... besides basil, what other herbs do you grow ? And thank you for your reply... I think I'm making progress & ready soon to jump in : )))

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- Nancy Wagers on Sep 12, 2014
  @Steve I'm in the panhandle. We have successfully grown basil, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, thyme, lemon thyme, lemongrass, mint, and chocolate mint.
  
  2
Shari@puregrace on Apr 04, 2014
That's a great idea Jossi!

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