5 things to do with extra herbs

With the Airgarden, herbs go from seedling to fully grown in a matter of days, and grow so quickly that sometimes it can be hard to come up with ideas on what to do with all your amazing, fresh produce!

Here are some of our favourite ideas from the Airgarden Tribe.

1. Make Dried Herbs

This works well when you have bulk amounts of thyme, lavender, lemon balm and rosemary.

Tie each of these into small bunches and hang downward. The bunches may take at least 7 days to dry, make sure to hang them in a dry spot free of humidity and direct sunlight.

Once the herbs feel dry to the touch and start to crumble, you can place them into air tight jars and put them into your pantry.

2. Make Pesto

If you have been growing your Basil in an Airgarden, chances are you have eaten and given away enough basil to feed the whole street.

For excess basil, nothing beats whipping up a batch of pesto. All you need is fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil - throw into a food processor or use a stick blender to make it and “Hey Pesto” you're done.

Don’t have any Basil, we’ve made a kale pesto and you can also experiment with watercress, Spinach, Rocket and parley just to name a few. Here's one of our favourite pesto recipes.

3. Flavour up some Ice Cubes

The legends over at theseedcollection.com.au have a great article on this, basically the process is:

You can freeze the herbs in either boiling water or a light cooking oil. Each has its benefits and drawbacks, but the basic method is the same.

Pick good quality, undamaged herbs which are as fresh as possible. Wash and pat dry if necessary.

Finely chop or mince your herbs, stripping the leaves off the stems for woodier varieties.

Add measured amounts of herbs to each section of the tray, up to no more than two-thirds full.

Add liquid to just cover the herbs, leaving a little space below the rim. The herbs might float, especially if you're using water. If so, press them down to cover as much as possible, but don't worry about this too much.

Cover the tray and freeze for several hours or overnight.

When solid, top up the frozen cubes with liquid to fully submerge any floating herbs, and return to the freezer.

Once completely frozen, transfer the finished cubes to labelled zip-lock bags or containers. Remember to include the herb type, its freezing liquid and the date on the label. (I.e. Rosemary Olive Oil 13/11/18)

4. Replant Them

Some herbs like mint, sage, basil, and rosemary are great for replanting. If you're using an Airgarden, you can use a coco plug and wet it, poke a hole and place in a branch or cutting.

Keep it moist with ½ strength nutrients and in a tray out of your Airgarden for at least 7 days until you see roots growing out of the sides. And boom, you've got a new plant.

5. Infuse Water

If you're struggling to get through the 2 litres of water you need to drink each day or after a particularly nasty hangover, reach for some herbs to spark it up.

Some great herbs for this are mint, lemon balm, rosemary. For some inspo, head over to Spoon Uni for a truckload of great recipes.