Adventures in Herb-land

We've been growing culinary herbs for a few years now and I think we are finally getting the hang of it.

We started growing basil, cilantro, catnip, and rosemary out of mason jars a couple of years ago, which was an idea I stole from a magazine. It looked really cute in our apartment but wasn't that great of an idea because the roots ended up suffocating the plants and the soil did not drain. Now that we are in a house we have more room for larger pots to plant in. Right now we are successfully growing basil, rosemary, oregano, Greek oregano, mint, thyme, and lavender (ok not too successful with the lavender).

The reason we started growing herbs in the first place was because we LOVE bruschetta. Sometimes it can be hard to find fresh basil at the supermarket. I remember one time specifically we were having my cousin over and asked her to pick up some basil on the way. The only basil they had was a 4 inch plant! It must have been a sign...

We enjoyed growing catnip at the apartment but we are no longer in the business of attracting stray cats....we have enough of our own thank you!!!

After we got the plants growing, we realized that the herbs should be dried. Especially the oregano and the lavender. Normally this is a process that requires patience that I really don't have. It also works best in an environment that isn't 120% humidity all the time. My sister recommended that we get a dehydrator to speed up the process.

I selected a Ronco 5 tray electric dehydrator. It dehydrates the herbs in 2 to 6 hours depending on the moisture in the leaf. I have been using it for about 4 months. now and I have jars filled with herbs! I found out that the mint turns to a fine powder when dehydrated - I'm really not sure what to do with that yet (suggestions welcome). The oregano and basil dries like a charm and is great on meats, bread, pizza, pasta, etc.

I think thyme might be my new favorite herb. The only trouble is that the dehydrator trays are vented and the smaller herbs fall through the holes down to the bottom where they get fried by the heating element. I read my user manual to figure out what to do about this and it recommended that you use cling wrap on the trays and poke a hole in the middle to make sure that the heat vents through to the top.

This worked great for the last four months. I just love the aroma that comes from sucking the moisture out of fresh herbs and heating them to a crisp. Really, it smells great. Unfortunately, my adventures in Herb-land hit a big snag.

I woke up early and trimmed a bunch off of my oregano, basil, and thyme. I had enough harvested for two full rounds in the dehydrator. 4 hours into round one I decided it was time to pull the thyme out. Low and behold, the trays had melted. I couldn't believe it. I've cooked for much longer than that in the past - what gives?! I was really upset because I've come to enjoy the crap out of this new hobby of mine.

I called Ronco and let them know what happened. The lady was totally rude and told me that they've never heard of that problem before, and I should take it back to the retailer. Frustrated, I obeyed and took it back to Target where I purchased it. Unfortunately Target has a 90 day return policy - and if you've been following along - you know I've been at this for 4 mos not 3. UGHHHHH. I just want my dehydrator back!!

I decided it was time to call Ronco back. This thing wasn't cheap and I'm not prepared to replace it out of my pocket when I followed their instructions. Luckily the lady I talked to the second time at Ronco was very helpful and told me that they've had a lot of complaints about their trays lately and they will replace them free of charge. Now, riddle me this batman - don't you think the problem might just be the heating element?? No, no she reassured me that it's not the heating element. So I will try again and see what happens. Until then...