How to dry oregano at home from your garden is very simple! I’ll share how grandma did it all the time. Step by steps on harvesting and storing oregano at home successfully to fill your pantry with the culinary and healthy delight.
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Drying oregano (and other herbs) at home.
Growing and drying herbs ones self is really quite simple. This old fashioned method of drying herbs at home is tried and true, it’s what grandma used to do all the time.
I first learned how to preserve oregano from the garden when we lived at one place where some original owner must have planted some hearty oregano that had spread to a large section of the backyard. I discovered that drying oregano form the garden was not only practical but beautiful summer addition to my indoor decor.
It has such a pleasant culinary taste and smell, definitely a favourite of herbs. And a bonus is oregano is a garden perennial to zone 4 and some hardy varieties to zone 3!
Ways to dry oregano at home: How to dry herbs indoors
Today there’s many ways you can dry oregano or any herb indoors. You could use an oven, a dehydrator, freeze dryer, and if you’re not opposed a microwave, air fryer or simply freeze the fresh herbs.
Hanging herbs to dry is great as it takes no special equipment that you don’t already have! We’ll focus on the easiest, old fashioned, simple and beautiful way to naturally dry oregano, hanging herbs to dry.
It’s really so easy! Simply bundle up the herbs, turn them upside down and hang them somewhere out of the sun until they’re completely dry. That’s really all there is to it!
What are the health Benefits of oregano?
You want to have oregano on hand as it is a king of herbs! It is packed with vitamins and minerals as well as essential oils that act as the anti-everything for optimal health and healing.
Oregano if packed full of vitamins A, C and K plus minerals like iron, calcium, and manganese and dietary fibre. Packed full of essential oils like carvacrol and thymol, this humble leafy herb is powerful to prevent and heal a host of illnesses. The essential oils of oregano have powerful antiviral, antibacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory properties. It’s almost an all in one herb.
However, stay away from overusing oil of oregano as it’s a hot oil and shouldn’t have too many drops taken in a day or for an extended period of time. Oil of oregano is an oil that pregnant mother’s will want to avoid.
When to harvest oregano, can you harvest oregano after it flowers.
The best time to harvest oregano for culinary use is right before it flowers when the flavour is the most powerful. This is usually in spring or early summer.
Ideally harvest oregano or any herb in the morning, after the due has dried to get the most delightful flavour as well. If you wait there’s a chance the flavour will be slightly bitter.
However, if you miss this window of time that’s totally ok. You can go ahead and harvest the flowered oregano anyway and you’ll still get delightful flavour and health benefits too.
Are dried oregano flowers edible? Yes, and apparently they contain medicinal benefits.
How to harvest oregano, without killing the plant!
If you want to have continuous oregano to harvest throughout the summer then make sure to choose healthy stems that are at least 4-6 inches long. Cut just above a node, the place where the leaves and stem meet, so the stem on the original plant will continue to grow and produce. Only harvest about 30% of the plant at a time.
However, oregano is a very hardy, prolific and resilient plant. Even if you did cut the whole plant down to the ground in the spring to harvest it, it will rebound in a few weeks and be just has luscious and prolific as before.
Speaking of this hardy herb, did you know that oregano is a perennial to zone 4, and some varieties to zone 3! It’s able to survive some very cold, long winters!
Drying oregano step by step guide:
How to dry out fresh oregano leaves is so easy! All you essentially need is bundles of oregano, turn upside down, tie with a string and let them hang to dry. So easy, such a simple and great old fashioned way of drying herbs!
If you’re wanting more details on how to dry fresh oregano leaves the easy way, and in my opinion in a beautiful way, I have all the steps listed below.
- Using a pair of sharp scissors, gather a large handful of shoots with your left hand and cut them with your right.
- Give the handful of oregano a few brisk shakes to remove any insects.
- Then wrap the bundle of stems in a string or rubber band. Or simply throw it into a basket and do this step later.
- Place this bundle into a basket or bowl.
- Repeat these steps until you’ve gathered all the oregano you plan to harvest. I usually do around 10 bundles for the winter.
- Once inside, I hang each of the bunches on little nails I have on my wall. If you haven’t tied the bundles outside, now would be the time gather a handful and tie them with a string or elastic bands.
- To find a place to hand dry your herbs, you can string a twine to act as a clothesline in your home. Try to find a spot that’s out of direct sunlight and use clothespins to hold the bundles of oregano in place.
- Pro tip: Make sure there is enough airflow around each bundle and that each bundle isn’t too large to avoid any mold from forming.
- Once the oregano is fully dried (if you touch it it will crunch and crumble in between your fingers) it’s ready to be stored.
- Undo the stems and slid your fingers down the stems into a large bowl to gather the oregano leaves.
- You may want to crunch the leaves down with your hand so they are in smaller pieces for ease of measuring when cooking.
- Store the oregano leaves in an air tight glass jar out of direct sunlight.
- Throw the stems into the compost pile.
The easy way to dry herbs that don’t have long stems!
If you’re wanting to follow these above steps to hang dry other herbs that don’t have long stems, like thyme or red raspberry leaves for tea. You can still hang them to dry using this handy setup.
In the past I’ve placed small harvests of herbs on a cooling rack for baking so they still get good airflow. However, one can only dry so much on a small cooling rack. So enter this amazing hanging herbs to dry hack!
A friend of mine got a hanging mesh collapsable basket with multiple racks for drying herbs. It’s perfect for keeping the bugs and dust out while hanging and air drying any herbs! You could even place it outside under a covered deck, out of the sun of course, to dry your herbs or flower. I love that it’s stackable and stores away so minimally.
If you’re planning on getting into drying your own herbs or even seeds and flowers, you may want to consider getting a hanging mesh drying rack.
Why you shouldn’t dry oregano leaves in the sun.
When herbs are left out in the sun to dry they will loose flavour and can fade or yellow from their dark rich colour.
So as much as possible, dry herbs out of direct sunlight, where they can have enough airflow around them to not mold.
If you’re hanging herbs right along a wall, like I did, just make sure your bundles are a bit smaller so they will all dry and no mold will form.
How to store dried oregano.
The best way to store dried herbs, such as oregano, is in an airtight glass container. I like to use a mason jar with the plastic leek proof mason jar lids. But you can use whatever air tight container you have.
If you’re worried about moisture build up, perhaps you live in a more humid part of the country, consider putting a food grade desiccant silica gel packet in the jar with the dried herbs.
How long does dried oregano last?
It’s ideal shelf life, and that of most herbs, is one year. However, it doesn’t go bad after that year if it’s remained dry. The only downside is the flavour may not be as potent and it may have lost some of its food quality with the passing of time. But if no moisture has caused any mold, dried herbs will last a few years.
How do you use oregano?
In my kitchen it’s a staple herb! I love the flavour of oregano and add it to most any savoury dish. I’ll use oregano when making my fresh garlic-lemon-olive oil dressing. Or when baking with potatoes, soups, pasta sauce, in my favourite EASY zucchini lasagna recipe, or my freshly milled spelt sourdough crackers and so much more!
If someone is feeling like they’re fighting a cold it makes a perfect immune boosting tea as well. Just steep a teaspoon of the dried oregano in boiling water for 15 minutes, then strain and enjoy its many immune boosting health benefits.
FREEBIE: Gardening Planting Guide
Want to know when to plant oregano, or better yet when to plan what in your garden? Grab my FREE gardening planting guide here!
Go ahead and pin this to your Preserving Food board for later!
Do you like to grow herbs and preserve them from the garden, what’s your favourite way to dry them? Let me know in the comments below!
Tools needed to dry fresh herbs:
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
- 16oz Mason Jars
- Plastic Mason Jar Lids, leek proof
- Food Grade Desiccant Silica Gel Packets
- Hanging Mesh Drying Rack
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