We got the first frost Friday night. I had filled the dehydrators with nasturtiums and toothache plant on Friday as I thought they’d be first hit. Surprisingly, the nasturtiums weren’t bad, but the toothache plant was. I’d not gotten as much as I wanted of that so was searching the understory for undamaged leaves on Saturday. (The toothache plant is for us.)
I reloaded the dehydrators with what I found, more nasturtiums, some calendula, and lots of marigolds. We were to get a worse frost on Saturday night. As you can see above it was 28F Sunday morning.
Ever since I got the new back porch and moved the dehydrators out there, I’ve tried to keep them full and running. These jars are the ones for the Herbs for Hens project. There are about 42 different herbs, flowers, and forbs I dehydrate for the mix the hens get every morning in winter. (There’s a jar of kapija peppers on the far right that is people food.)
I started out with all quart jars years back. But slowly the ½ gallon size has replaced them. I’d say it’s about half and half now of the 2 sizes. When I checked Sunday morning this is what I have left to do, providing the frost has left me anything:
Marjoram: half of a ½ gallon
Oregano: half of a ½ gallon
Rosemary: whole quart jar
Sage: whole quart jar
Yarrow: half of a ½ gallon
I hope the marjoram and oregano won’t be bothered by the frost, which is why they were left for later. I’d forgotten the rosemary out there, I hope it survived. The sage and yarrow should be fine. I’ve harvested sage leaves in January here.
The herb mix provides medicinal, nutritional, immune boosting, and vermicidal support when there is no greenery for them in winter. It also serves to keep the eggs bright orange all winter. About a cup of a varying mix is sprinkled on their alfalfa mash each morning. They select the bits they need and leave the rest. The above mix was oregano, wormwood, marjoram, lemon verbena, fairy roses. I use bright colored flowers like roses or calendula as an attractant in addition to their properties.
On Sunday we have to move the pasture pen and then I will be loading the dehydrators yet again. Perhaps I will get out to the Big garden to do more cleaning out.