storing herbs

In case you have not found a good way to keep herbs fresh, here is what I am doing now. (Formerly, I put a batch of fresh herbs in a small jar with a little water and loosely covered it with a plastic produce bag. It worked great but we were forever knocking over the jar or small glass and spilling contents. Frustrating! And it took up a lot space especially if storing several herbs.)

A picture book lesson:

You will use 2 Ziploc sandwich bags and a soaking wet paper towel:

One bag has the rim turned back making a cuff.

The paper towel goes into the first bag, the herbs go into the one with the cuff.

The cuffed bag of herbs goes into the first bag which is sealed shut. The cuffed bag of herbs is left open inside the sealed bag. So the herb is in a nice humid environment without being wet. If there is a large bunch of herb to store, just use larger plastic bags.

This basil has been in the refrigerator for a week or more--pinched off my new plants to encourage branching. It is just as fresh as when just picked. The little bags just go into the hydrator, taking almost no room!

I am excited about this because I have planted a LOT of herbs and they all need cutting back to encourage healthy growth--but I won't want to use all of them that regularly. I'll have a whole produce department of herbs waiting on me in my own refrigerator.

Now, I'm not eager to hear from you that you've always kept your herbs stored this way! But you can remark that it is a very clever way to store herbs. Cheers!