Jess and I have mentioned many times the use of the pick your own herb garden. This is such a great part of your CSA membership at Springdell. The herbs are right there in the herb beds waiting for use. I recently went to a free lecture about uses for herbs and I wanted to share this awesome use for herbs…fresheners! Use them when a room is smelling not so fresh, or a quick spritz on your blankets or sheets, this spray is inexpensive, and really easy to make!
The key to this tip is to use DISTILLED water and freshly cut herbs. Distilled water can be picked up at any grocery store for under a dollar. ( this looks like an ad for Market Basket here, but it totally isn’t, shop where you’d like!)
I used mason jars for my “brewing” overnight.
And of course don’t forget your herbs!
It is as simple as this:
- measure out 2 cups of distilled water into your mason jar, or any container with a lid.
- place 1 cup of herbs into the water, you can give them a rough chop if you’d like to help bring out the oils from the plants
- seal the top and let it “brew” at room temperature on your counter for 24 hours
- Strain the herbs out with a fine mesh strainer and put the finished liquid into a spray bottle
- enjoy!
Now, I did some experimenting with mixing of herbs as well as “brew” time. I tried to brew my first batch for 48 hours….not a good decision. The end product smelled really gross because the herbs started to spoil in the water. stick to the 24 hour “brew” time, trust me. I also tried some different herb combos:
- lemon balm
- basil mint
- mint
- lemon balm and rosemary
- lavendar
- lavendar and thyme
Don’t forget to label which is which while they sit on the counter. My favorites of the six I tried were the lavendar, peppermint, lemon balm, and rosemary.
Enjoy!