first, there was this list of what to do when you’ve got too many herbs. then, there was this recipe to use up some of those herbs.

now, i’ve let all my oregano go to bloom. and by “let” i really mean “forgot” about my oregano (and the rest of my garden) for the last couple of weeks. we’ve been out and about enjoying these last days of summer.

the temperature dipped yesterday. sweater weather, which i normally welcome. but then i saw a flock of canada geese heading south, and a yellow leaf fall to the ground. all within minutes of each other. no baby steps, mother nature?

nope. i don’t care what the calendar says: autumn is here.

i’m still getting some veggies from my little patch garden. tomatoes mostly, with the odd cucumber and green pepper (so tasty fresh off the plant). but my herb garden is booming as always and i have a hard time keeping up even though i use herbs in my cooking constantly.

the mint is overflowing, the chives are up to my shins, and neighbours scurry into their homes and turn off the lights when they see me coming with more herbs for them. i think they’ve had their fill too…

so it’s drying time here. i did a small batch of oregano yesterday.

a few days ago, i took a bunch of blossoms, removed most of the leaves (remember when i said the leaves get tough and don’t taste as good when the plant goes to bloom?). i tied them in a bunch with some raffia and hung them in the kitchen to dry.

they were sufficiently dried yesterday. i placed them on a piece of parchment paper (to help transfer the blossoms into a jar later), and plucked off the flowers while trying to avoid collecting the tough stems.

aren’t the colours pretty?  i let them slide off the parchment and into the jar…

smell ya later! it’s like a little time capsule. i love opening these jars in the thick of winter, and being reminded that there was a time when it wasn’t a vast and frozen tundra everywhere. hope in a jar ;-)

i will be sharing this post with jami & her readers at an oregon cottage.