Pint of Petals
The growing season seems to be full speed ahead now. Everything is growing. And I do mean everything. What I want to grow AND what I’d rather not grow;) Last year I had chamomile in one of the flower garden beds. It did wonderful. So wonderful that I didn’t keep up with harvesting it. So, naturally it dropped seed and grew beautiful new plants this year….right in the paths between the beds. Oh boy.
I haven’t decided what to do about the location of the chamomile plants that are in the path. But I did decide to harvest while I can. Chamomile is such a dainty and sweet flower. While it’s wonderful to grow and enjoy its beautiful flowers and fragrance, it’s also equally wonderful to harvest those pretty little petals and save them for later. I’ve changed the words from He loves me, he loves me not, to….Some for now, some for later.
That’s a recurring theme here on the homestead. Some for now, some for later.
If I had to declare my favorite way to preserve any product from the homestead, I’d say it’s probably dehydrating. My two favorite things about dehydrating over other preservation methods are 1.No electricity to keep it preserved. Like a freezer or refrigerator. 2. Space saving. Dehydrating pulls the moisture out of the product and then you’re left with less volume to store on your shelf. And I may as well add a third… 3. It looks so pretty in the jars for storage! It’s part of my mission to prove homesteading can be made beautiful. And storing your food or product in glass jars is a sure way to make your larder look lovely.
For these little chamomile flowers I already knew that when I harvested them I’d be putting them in the dehydrator. So I harvested with clean hands and into a clean pint sized stainless steel container. While the thought of picking pretty little flowers sounds romantic (and it is), it also takes way longer than you’d think. I only harvested the flowers that were fully open. When I finally filled my pint I put them on my clean dehydrator tray. Then I dehydrated them for about 16-18 hours on a low heat setting which was about 115ºF. Their sweet apple aroma filled the barn during and after dehydrating. I absolutely love it. After they were all dehydrated I put them into a clean dry jar to save for tea later.
It’s so exciting to me to think about this process. I’m saving something from the garden now before the heat of summer even truly begins, to enjoy during the freezing cold days of winter. Amazing.
I find it so divine that the season when things are growing like weeds we are also given a way to preserve it with nature itself via the sun/heat if we didn’t have an electric dehydrator.
Whether it be in the garden or in life we are often given what we need in the moment we need it.
Have you ever dehydrated before? If so, what was it? Let me know in the comments.
