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How to Preserve Basil in Salt

May 20, 2015 by Melissa Norris 53 Comments

Want the fresh taste of basil for months on end? Use 3 ways to preserve basil in salt in minutes. I can't believe how easy this is!

Learning how to preserve basil in salt isn't something I knew I needed to know how to do until now. Seriously, where has this been all my life? Fresh basil and savory tinted salt, all in one jar, all ready to marry up with my meats and sauces. 

I had no idea you could preserve basil in salt, bacon and ham, yes, fresh herbs, never thought about it. My culinary side met my homesteading side and I knew this was a match made in heaven. In heaven ya'll. Because my southern roots come out when I'm really excited.

Shelle graciously agreed to write us up a post on how to preserve fresh herbs in salt, not one way, but 3!! Yes, triple time coolest thing ever.

Resources for How to Preserve Basil

Kosher or Sea Salt

Wide-mouth Mason Jar

Fresh Basil

How to Preserve Fresh Basil in Salt

Salt has been used for centuries to dry and preserve foods. It pulls out the moisture from herb leaves and preserves the original flavor. Salt also inhibits the growth of microorganisms by drawing water out of microbial cells through osmosis. Concentrations of salt up to 20% are required to kill most species of unwanted bacteria.

This preservation method works best on certain moist and tender herbs that are hard to dry. Herbs like basil and cilantro, that either mold before they are dry, or that dry to a flavorless leaf that does not resemble the freshness you are looking for.

In all cases, start this project with freshly picked herbs that have been cleaned and thoroughly dried. Store your finished herbal mixture in a clean glass container with a tight fitting lid. When using, always use a fresh, clean spoon to reduce introducing contaminates into your herbed salt.

What kind of salt?

I recommend either sea salt or kosher salt, but canning & pickling salt will work too. These are considered food grade and are courser than regular table salt. Using table salt is acceptable, but it should not contain iodine, which will darken the herb leaves.

Here’s the best answer I could find from the Penn State Extension office:

“Table salt is used for baking, cooking and normal table use. However, it is not recommended for canning recipes because the calcium silicate may cause clouding or settle to the bottom of jar. Furthermore, the iodide may discolor some foods. Neither of these effects makes the food harmful to eat. However, the visual quality of the product is adversely affected.

Canning and pickling salts do not contain potassium iodide, dextrose or calcium silicate and thus can be used for cooking, baking, canning, pickling as well as for the table. Because anti-caking agents are not added, it may form lumps in humid weather or if exposed to moisture and should be stored in an air-tight container or re-sealable plastic bag. Kosher salt is usually pure salt and thus is also appropriate for pickling and canning. However, check the label to make sure it does not contain additives.”

http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/faq/canning-and-pickling-salt

3 Ways to Preserve Fresh Herbs in Salt

These three methods are so east you will never need to buy herbed salt again!

Preserve fresh herbs in layers of salt
Preserve fresh herbs in layers of salt

1. Alternating layers of fresh herb leaves and salt

This is by far the easiest method. In a clean glass jar add a layer of salt to cover the bottom. Add herb leaves in layers, alternating with the salt, until the container is full. Refrigerate.

The leaves will stay surprisingly fresh and flavorful for months. To use, just remove a leaf and brush off the salt. As an added bonus, the salt will become flavored over time and can be used in cooking too.

How to Preserve Basil: 4 Surefire Methods
Grind and dry method of preserving basil with salt
Grind and dry method of preserving basil with salt

2. Grind & Dry Method

Use a ratio of 1 part herbs to 4 parts salt for the grind and dry method. Clean and dry fresh herbs and chop them into small pieces until you have 1/4th of a cup. Place them in a blender or food processor and add 1 cup of salt. Process until they are completely incorporated.

Lay the mixture out on a baking sheet and cover with a cloth, keeping it out of direct sunlight. After a day, place the mixture into a clean glass jar and cap tightly. Keep in the refrigerator until needed. It will last for one year.

How to Preserve Homegrown Herbs with Sea Salt: In the Pantry
chop and stir method
chop and stir method

3. Chop & Stir Method

Use a ratio of 4 parts herbs to 1 part salt for the chop and stir method. Clean and dry fresh herbs and chop them into small pieces. You can add them to a food processor, coffee grinder, or glass bowl.

Add one part salt to the herbs, pulsing in the food processor for about 30 seconds. This will create a distinctly herb smelling salt that will take on the color of your herb. It is the most fragrant of the herbed salts we are making today.

Store your mix in the refrigerator and remove as needed. It will last for at least 6 months.

http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Salting/r/Cilantro-coriander-Salt-Recipe.htm

Which herbs work well for this method?

  • Basil
  • Celery Leaf (and try my homemade celery salt recipe)
  • Cilantro
  • Chives
  • Dill leaf
  • Lemon balm
  • Parsley
  • Rosemary

You can use it anywhere you would use herbs and salt, just replace the amount of salt required in the recipe. Consider using it in spaghetti sauce, stuffed fish, soup, savory baking, bread or rubs. Luckily, there are no hard and fast rules so experiment with your own herbal salt blends and enjoy!

PreparednessMama is Shelle Wells – busy mom, wife, preparedness enthusiast and blogger. She gave up her (boring) bookkeeping job for something better. She likes family history (when she has the time), action movies (which she should give up for family history), canning, preserving food, and gardening- she dreams about growing things!

Shelle recently traded her garden in the Pacific Northwest for one in Central Texas, where she's learning a whole new way of gardening. Find her gardening and canning adventures over at www.PreparednessMama.com

Filed Under: Food Preservation, Food Preservation - Other Tagged With: how to, prepper, preserving, self-sufficiency, survival

How to Prune Tomato Plants for a Better Harvest

July 9, 2014 by Melissa Norris 50 Comments

Learn how to prune tomato plants for a better harvest, because we all want more delicious tomatoes right?

How to prune tomato plants for the best harvest ever. Love these tips on how to get more yield from your plants.

Tomatoes have long been my nemesis crop.

From the rainy summers of the Pacific Northwest, the dreaded blight, and even blossom drop. But this year, I've finally got a gorgeous bunch of tomato plants. And nothing, I mean nothing, is going to come in the way of my harvest. At least, if I can help it.

There's nothing more discouraging than putting in all the time, effort, and money, to care for a plant, and then not get a harvest. And, if I'm being totally honest with you guys, it feels like a black mark on my homesteaders badge. I consider myself a fairly decent gardener. I'm also a tad bit stubborn.

This my friends, is a recipe for going-to-get-it-right-if-it-kills-me. While that kind of makes me crazy at times, it's a huge win for you. Because you get to learn what not do and what works, without all the hair pulling and rotten tomato throwing.

Course, maybe you don't throw rotten tomatoes. Maybe you're way more reserved and calm. I however, took great relish in hucking those rotten tomatoes as far as I could across the fence for the livestock to nose through.

Resources for How to Prune Tomato Plants for Maximum Yield and Good Plant Care

Soaker hoses– never all water to cause fungus or encourage blight by using a soaker hose

Pruning shears– for small tomato plants I use my fingers, but for the larger vines, I use pruning shears. If you can't easily pinch them off, you don't want to leave a gaping wound by ripping it.

This year, we put up a high-tunnel, or a.k.a. off-grid greenhouse. I was through taking chances with our rainy weather. I'm also thinking it's the reason we're having an unseasonably hot and dry season…. kind of like wash your car it will rain. Put up a greenhouse and it won't!

Want to know how we tie up our tomatoes (check out the video below Tying up Tomatoes [DIY tomato trellis that works BETTER than cages] )

 

I also invested in a soaker hose. Not one drop of water was going to touch my tomato plants this year. After raising my darlings from seed in the house, taking a full two weeks to hardening them off, you can bet I wasn't done after I'd planted them in the ground.

One of the secrets to a good tomato harvest and larger tomatoes, is in the pruning. Why prune a tomato plant you ask?

A bit different than pruning a regular fruit tree, but the end result is the same. A better harvest.

How to Prune Tomatoes

There are two reason we want to prune our tomato plants. One is to eliminate chances for disease in the first place. Any of the leaves that touch the soil should be removed. If they drop down into the soil, they'll get water on them and act as a ladder for any disease to climb up into the plant. Any of the leaves that appear damaged, yellowing, spotty, or dying should also be removed, they can be the beginnings of blight and you want that eradicated immediately and done when pruning determinate tomatoes.

Wondering when to start pruning tomato plants?

As soon as they bottom leaves are dragging the dirt with at least two to three branches above them. Never remove all the leaves, your plant does them to grow and thrive.

The second reason is your tomato plant will put more energy into the foliage if not pruned than it will into producing fruit. We don't tons of lush green leaves, we want tons of ripe tomatoes. A bonus reason is we want plenty of air circulation around the ripening fruit and too many leaves don't allow for good air flow. Below I've got how to prune tomato plants pictures for ya.

Damaged leaves and also touching the soil need to be removed.
Damaged leaves and also touching the soil need to be removed.

You'll want to prune off all the lower leaves that can or are touching the soil. You may use pruning shears or just use your thumb and pinch them off if small.

How to Prune Indeterminate Tomatoes

pinching out tomato side shoots, picture of pruning sucker shoots


The second item you'll want to prune is the sucker shoots. This is true for Indeterminate tomato plants, not determinate. Say what, a determined tomato? No, not quite. Don't worry, I got ya covered.

Most heirloom tomato plants are indeterminate and need the sucker shoots removed. We grow an all heirloom garden so we're safe there. However the packet of seeds you used should tell you which kind it is. If not, here's the basic difference between them.

Determinate tomato plants are bushy, not tall, yield all of their crop in one to two weeks, and it dies after the first crop.

Indeterminate tomato plants are taller, need to be staked or caged, produce fruit until the first frost, and do best when their sucker shoots are removed.

Now that you know what kind of tomato plant you have, what's a sucker shoot?

Sucker shoots grow in the crotch of the branch, between the main stem or trunk of the tomato and the branch. They grow up right. They will produce flowers and fruit, but too many of them and they compete with the main plant and will actually produce a smaller tomato and harvest.

If you remove all of them, you do cut into your overall yield. I prefer to leave about two to three sucker shoots on my larger plants. It's totally up to you how many to leave or not leave.

Take your discarded leaves away from your plants

If you leave them, it won't hurt your plant, but the plant will do better without them. Just pinch it off with your thumb.

Don't leave your pruned leaves on the ground by your tomato plant. Discard of them away from the garden.

How to prune your tomatoes for the best harvest ever. Start now for a larger crop yield.

One note of caution, if your tomatoes are in direct sunlight, don't remove so many of the branches there isn't any shade left for the tomatoes. Tomatoes need to be shaded by the leaves so they don't become burnt in the hot sun. 

Will you look at these beauties, just waiting to turn to drops of rubies in a few more weeks. Is your mouth watering thinking of all the tomato fun we'll have in the kitchen? Or maybe a fried green tomato to get things started early…

P.S. pruning tomato plants in pots? Same procedures.

Now that you know how to prune tomato plants do you have any other best tomato growing tips?

More Tomato Related Posts

  • 10 Tomato Growing Tips for a Disease-Free Harvest
  • Storing Green Tomatoes for Fresh Eating
  • Preventing & Treating Early Blight of Tomato & Potato Plants
  • Weston Tomato Press (+ Tomato Sauce Recipe)
  • Canned Tomato Sauce Recipe
  • Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls Recipe
  • Homemade Barbecue Sauce Recipe
  • 129+ Best Canning Recipes to Put Up This Year
  • Canning Problems and Solutions: Siphoning (Liquid Loss in Jars)
  • Pressure Canning FAQ's

Filed Under: Gardening, Raising Your Own Food, Vegetables Tagged With: gardening, grow your own food, how to, tomatoes, Vegetables

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