First and foremost, this is a practical post about drying herbs. But, it is also about boundaries. Because if you grow herbs, you will know they sometimes need a reminder about minding their own business. And that’s what I will be covering today, along with some hints and tips to help you along your herb preserving journey.
Boundaries are important. They define identity and are the barrier against being drained, taken, corrupted or damaged. Boundaries help make something or someone what it is and sustain its nature – its soul (however you define that). So if people take and take from a person or place, do damage, gain things too quickly without due care, ritual or respect, it results in a loss—a loss of sense of identity, mana, and fundamental essence.
So we need to manage boundaries well. Not so well that our learning from difference, suffering, and disruption is blocked. Not so badly that our inner strength and identity is compromised
Sometimes, we have to help others manage boundaries because they have become so weakened by constant raids on their soul that they cannot fight for themselves. Colonisation does that; bullying does that; abuse does that.
A herb garden is a little like our lives. Some herbs are more dominant than others. They like to take and take territory, to overshadow other plants and, eventually, kill. And then the whole garden is ruined because all we have is one kind of herb and nobody wants to cook with just that. It’s bland, and we won’t grow and learn from experiencing the diverse range of herbs we could have.
My job, because I have the sheers, is to take action and PRUNE PRUNE PRUNE—a little snip here, a little snip there. I facilitate my garden actively, so it doesn’t descend into chaos from a lack of leadership.
The herbs have their equal chance to shine, the diversity feeds the ecosystem, and the more marginalised plants thrive. Today was a harvest day. Would you like to know more about drying herbs? Keep reading.



Pick herbs on a dry day, when any morning dew has lifted. If you are working within specific belief systems (e.g. indigenous, magical, religious etc.), you may choose to harvest at certain times astrologically, within particular moon cycles, or as part of a ritual or ceremony. I gather with love when they need a trim or if I feel it’s the right timing. I always check with the plant, and it feels not right they don’t get harvested. That’s the simplicity of it.
The herbs in these images were Vietnamese Mint, Thyme and Majoram. All of them have boundary issues – Majoram is the worst! She creeps on all the other plants, gets in their business and swamps them until they become drained and weak. So I was glad to give her a little trim.
Thyme had let herself get a bit woody. She had too much attention on some of her branches, while the others were left to wither. She will bounce back next year with some helpful trimming here, thriving in all her herby parts.
Vietnamese Mint shoots also intrudes on others. She burrows under the surface and pops out where she doesn’t belong. It’s a stealth attack on other herbal territories that I will not allow. I harvested the worst offending branches and will keep an extra eye on where her tendrils are travelling next.


Once harvested, I checked the cuttings for insects, pulled off dead leaves and generally gave them a tidy up. Some people wash herbs. I have an organic garden and honestly cannot see the point in washing off good oils, especially when picked at their very best and nice and dry. You may beg to differ, especially if you don’t know if herbs have been sprayed. (I suggest you should only buy organically grown herbs – ideally not sprayed with anything.)



Then it’s time to bind them – with love, of course. I use jute or cotton (something natural) and make a tight bow on their stalks. Make sure the bunches are not too thick so air can flow through and not so thin you are just hanging one small cutting at a time, which wastes string and space.
Then hang them up to dry, with love. I mean, you don’t want to leave anybody or anything just hanging right. But here, a few weeks won’t kill them. It will just dry them out very nicely as they slowly die inside. (Ok, that does sound brutal, I admit it.)

I converted my cleaning cupboard using hooks and bits of wood. You can dry herbs anywhere out of direct sunlight and free of dampness. Check on them regularly to ensure there is nothing in your cupboard that shouldn’t be, e.g. bugs and desperate cooks. After a few weeks, they will be dry.
Drying herbs is satisfying and can be a very mindful process. Protecting the boundaries of those who cannot defend themselves is the absolute joy of the experience.
For support with boundaries, register for my spiritual mentoring programme. If you are interested in herbs, I will be doing lots of posts in the future – so subscribe to my newsletter. For now, you might be interested in this related post about drying sage for burning.