How I dry greens for winter use

I use:

• A sewing needle threaded with a long piece of sewing thread.
• Two nails about a meter apart in my kitchen wall, close to the ceiling, but far from the stove or other direct heat source.

Take some fresh greens

Take a handful of greens, trimmed of their stems (and mid-ribs, such as on chard leaves) and stack them together.  I have some nasturtium greens here.

Pierce with a threaded needle

 With the threaded sewing needle, carefully pierce through the center of the stack.

Right through the center

 Pull the needle through the stack and along the thread.  Continue doing this with all the leaves.

Keep going

Carefully spread out the leaves on the thread, making sure not to tear them off accidently.

Don't let it slip off

When all the greens are threaded, wind the ends of the thread around each nail to secure.  I even leave the needle on the end of the thread so I can reuse it for the next lot once these ones are dry.

Very decorative--the curtain hides our fuse box

Let dry fully (it takes two weeks in cool weather, but less than a week in the warmth), then slide the leaves off the thread into a labeled container:  I use a clean glass jar, but ziploc bags also work fine.  I try to crumble the leaves a little as I put them in the jar, but it's not necessary.

To use:  add to soups, sauces and stews as normal, allowing for a little extra cooking time so that the greens may rehydrate.  In my experience, chard and nasturtium greens each taste the same whether fresh or from dried.  Further experiments are needed for other greens in the future, such as young kale and sorrel.