It’s a joyous thing to transform produce from the earth into beautiful objects you can also eat! And homemade herbal vinegars are a perfect example.

Today I cut herbs fresh from the garden and promptly drowned them in magical herbal mix. Here’s how I did it.

Simply gather herbs – take care that they are fresh and the nasty bits are picked away

Sterilise the bottles (generally vinegar is relatively safe to bottle but I do that to make sure the bottles are cleansed of all their previous contents).

Gently heat a mix of white and apple cider vinegar with whatever spices you might like to add for flavour. For me that was: Star Anise and a stick of Cinammon. Don’t let it boil – just get the mixture hot.

Put the herbs you want to use into a bottle. I used Lemon Balm, Thyme, Bayleafs, Oregano and Chives (one type of herb per bottle).

Add spices that complement each of these herbs (For me it was different mixes of Cardommon, Mustard Seeds, Coriander Seeds, Cinammon). Some of these I added first so the herby foliage would press them down and keep them on the bottom (i.e. Cinammon stick bits and Star Anise)

Pour the hot vinegar mixture right up to the brim and seal the top on.

Keep these in a dark, cool place for at least 2 months (in my experience) so the flavour deepens and then use.

Great as quick dressings and perfect as gifts.