juliasb

I have been dehydrating and canning for many years now. I have a Gourma. I bought it on Amazon and it has great timer, and heat control. I also purchased the sheets that I could fit to each shelf so things don't go through the slats. Some things don't need the sheets, like bananas, lemons, etc but things like mint that will fall apart I put on the sheets so if they crumble I don't have all sorts of little crumbs all over the place. the sheets are great for making fruit leathers too. Dehydrating can mbe a lot of fun. I hope your pantry grows like mine has.

Snooze2978

You can dry your herbs in the microwave on paper towels just have to watch it carefully. I've done basil in the past and keep it in a plastic bag whole until I'm ready to use it, then I crush it. I have a dehydrator still in the box but bought it to do tomatoes. Someday I might even try it but until then it stays in the box. Found other uses for my extra tomatoes......tomatoe soup canned.

tropit

The easiest way is what Ice Blossom suggested...just tie them up and hang. You can even lay them out on a baking rack instead of tying. I have some chamomile drying this way right now. It helps to turn the branches over every day for even drying.

My dear DH made me a huge, solar drying cabinet a few years ago. It works great, but it's big and sits out by the garden. I use it for drying large crops of tomatoes. You might look on Mother Earth News' website to see if they have some plans. I also have Dehydro electric dehydrator for smaller jobs. It was cheap and works just fine for small items.

Happy gardening!

~ C