Herbs are usually dried by hanging bunches of in the roof space or cellar or by spreading on stones in the courtyard. Dried herbs are for culinary use and as herbal tea infusions.

Older generations remember drying fruit and vegetables by digging a whole in the ground, filling it with large river stones and building a fire on top. When the stones were hot the fire was raked to one side and the produce dried with the indirect heat.
In more recent years freezing has been used to preserve fruit and vegetables for the winter.

Eight simple solar driers were built by local carpenters and introduced in 2006, but for the first two seasons everything was consumed by the households as the quality was better than was being obtained in the roof space or by freezing.  Using the solar driers, the colour and the flavour were retained and the process was hygienic with the drying chamber fully enclosed and protected from dust and vermin. More units are planned to be built in 2009.

“A common infusion served at breakfast is a mixture of St John’s-wort (to calm the nerves but is good also for the stomach and liver), linden (lime flowers for making you calm but also for cold in general and calming the cough) and mint (to help digestion). Never more than three herbs are included in the mixture, but the mix can be adjusted to suit the occasion.”
  Gerda Gherghiceanu

The dried herbs include:

Romanian Name / English Name
Ciubotica cucului – Cowslip
Coada soricelului – Yarrow
Galbenele – Marigold
Marar – Dill
Menta  - Mint
Paducel - Hawthorn
Patrunjel – Parsley leaves
Sunatoare – St. John’s-wort
Soc – Elder flowers
Tei – Linden or Small-leaved/Large-leaved Lime flowers with bracts
Urzica – Stinging Nettle leaves

Beans, tomatoes, apples and plums have also been dried successfully.

Herb Salt

At the Boiu biodynamic demonstration farm, sun dried herbs are combined with salt to form a range of flavoured seasonings.

Click now on the link below and help Fundatia ADEPT support other families to get access to solar driers by donating through the TravAid Carbon Philanthropy Project. Our target is to raise sufficient funding for local carpenters to build another eight solar driers for distribution to families in the Tarnava Mare area.