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Some herb gardeners crush their leaves to powder before
storing, but others prefer the whole leaf, or as much of it as
can be rescued. Generally, if the herbs are dry, they are so
brittle that few whole leaves will survive handling. It is
largely a matter of preference, and how much trouble you will
give to preserving whole leaves-for the flavor will be the
same. The essential point is that the herbs must be gotten as
quickly as possible into air-tight tins or still better into
stoppered bottles. In the drying process you have inevitably
lost some of the precious oil, and closed containers, in a
reasonably cool place, are the best method of holding the
residue.
In those herbs of which the flowers comprise the harvest,
such as camomile, lavender, pot marigold, etc., the flowers
should, of course, be cut when in full bloom, not when just
opening, as in the flowering tops of herbs where the leaves
are the chief object. The flowers, however, should be dried and
stored as already noted except that the flowers of roses require
somewhat different handling.
All green parts of the rose flower must be pulled off and
thrown away before attempting to dry the petals. These should
all be picked apart, and the base or claw of each petal, which
is usually lighter in color than the exposed part, should be
clipped off with scissors. The petals can then be dried and
stored as previously described.
Where seeds are the harvest, it is only needful to see that
they are thoroughly ripe, which is usually indicated by their
becoming darker and of a fixed (not greenish) color. They
can then be harvested and all withered bits of flower parts,
stems, etc., should be cleaned away. They are then ready for
storage in tight containers. But they should not be stored until
all surface moisture has dried off, and if there is any doubt
about this, it is safer to leave them on the drying rack for a
few days. Their loss of oil is neglible, but putting away moist
seeds will surely ruin them
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