With the exception of Basil, I just cut the herbs and place in paper bags, still attached to the stems, for a month until good and dry. Then I gentle remove from stems and place in recycled small glass jars.

I have never been able to save basil successfully and it still taste good. I have tried a half dozen different ways to save it and after I thaw, I just don’t like the end result. Could be all mental, I just don’t like it.

Concerning overwintering, this is the first year I am going to cut a branch now for potting, which will give it a solid two months to get established. Once in the pot I will bring in to avoid over night low temps and I should get a few extra months.

Best of Luck…

I chop up fresh basil leaves and press them into ice cube trays. I then add enough water to make an iced cube when frozen. I vacuum seal bags of Basil Ice-cubes with a Handi-Vac sealer. Whenever I make sauce I pop in a basil cube and it’s like adding fresh basil. I do the same for Parsley for my Scampi.

For Dill and Thyme, I dry it in a paper bag like Cherokee does. Besides using an Excellsior to dry my herbs, I also use the Box-Fan method that really works good for big leaf herbs.

I usually have a lot of herbs to preserve, so after I dry them I put them in Bell Jars and vacuum seal it. This works really great when storing herbs that tend to lose their potency over time. I use this for Rosemary and it keeps it’s potency for well over a year.

Usually I infuse my basil in olive oil! To do this, I blanch about 1 cup of basil then puree it in a blender with 1/2 cup of olive oil (or any other preferred oil). I pour everything into a jar and let the mixture sit for a few hours in a cool, dark place so that all the flavors are extracted. Then I strain out the basil and freeze that for future pesto. You can pour the oil into a decorative bottle and use it for sauces, soups, salads, etc.