Home Dried Versus Store Bought Thyme
Home dried thyme on the left. Store bought dried thyme on the right.
The color is exquisitely preserved when you use a dehydrator to dry them. I've had less luck drying them the old fashioned way. 
Store bought. The color is sallow and faded. Plus I paid for all these twigs too which are annoying as well as not being tasty.
I recently (this week) ran out of my home-grown dried thyme. I use thyme in most of my soups and many of my savory dishes. In fact, thyme is my go-to dried herb. I don't remember my mother using a lot of thyme in her cooking when I was growing up and I remember reading a recipe for a French style lentil soup when I was living in the first home we owned (and getting crazy domestic), that called for thyme. I made it, not knowing whether I was going to like it or not. It was incredible. It was a revelation to me that lentils could taste better when cooked with thyme than with curry.
I've never looked back.
It helps that my style of cooking is largely Mediterranean and although I grew up eating lots of curry and still like curry, it is not my true love in the kitchen. Aromatic, sharp, earthy, silvery green, clean, scrubby, warm is how I think of thyme. I have managed to grow enough thyme to dry in my own garden for almost six years now. I dry it twice a year, in late spring and again in the late fall.
This is the first time I've run out before there was more to harvest. What I usually do is underplant all my roses with thyme. I plant it as edging around most beds too, vegetable and flower. I usually have 6 to 10 plants of it growing in my yard at any given time. They don't take up too much space and they are pretty.
Is it worth the effort? The energy? The garden space?
I can't provide you with a cost comparison right now because for that I will need to keep track of all the thyme I harvest and how much it yields. That will have to wait until later in the year. But right now I can show you the difference between my home dried thyme and the store bought thyme I had to purchase a week ago.
Look at the pictures carefully. The kind I bought in the store is not the same variety I grew and dried, so of course there will be differences in appearance based on that alone. The kind in the store is a more narrow leaved variety than the kind I grow. I grow a few different kinds myself, some narrow leaved, some larger leaved, some lemon scented, etc. What I would like you to notice is the faded browner appearance of the store bought thyme. It is not very fresh. Unfortunately you can't smell it- but it has lost much of its fresh sharp scent and is a shadow of its potential.
Notice how much greener my home dried thyme is? That's because drying it at home (in the dehydrator) yields a superb quality and the color of the plant is retained. So is the scent and the flavor. It still has some of the fresh green scent to it that you get on your fingers when you brush them across the plants in your garden. There are very few browned leaves in my home dried.
Now I want you to notice the amount of sticks and rubbish that are included in the store bought thyme. When I dry my own I remove the woody bits because they aren't all that fun to get in your spoonful of soup. It doesn't take much effort on my part to pull them out. I do most of this while watching movies on DVD. To be honest, it is so enjoyable to separate the leaves from stems of dried herbs I find myself tuning out whatever show I'm playing and concentrate on the pleasant feel of crisp dried herbs crumbling into my bowl and mediate on the scent which makes me feel I'm on a scrubby hillside with the fresh air holding up my lungs.
Growing thyme takes very little effort. In many areas* it will grow as a perennial and last several years. In the right conditions, if you let a couple of stems flower on each plant, they may seed themselves. Once settled in a spot they don't need much care.
Thyme doesn't need a rich soil, almost any soil will do. It is drought tolerant (though I always give mine water in the heat) and it isn't invasive. For best quality you should avoid over-watering because that will dilute the potency of the herb's flavor and medicinal quality. Thyme generally has very few pest problems.
So yes, grow thyme! Grow lots of it. It is also a great herb to include in bath teas: it is antiseptic and a great treatment for a variety of skin problems. We used to have a bath recipe that included thyme and our skin was never better than when we bathed in that tea!**
This year I will make sure I have between 10 and 12 thyme plants. Share your tyme growing experiences here and if you have any troubles you would like help with, don't hesitate to ask. If I don't have the answer myself I can get it for you.
*Where it will not overwinter you can grow it in large pots to put under protection for the winter. Or you can grow it as an annual. If you grow it as an annual you may want to try starting it from seed yourself to cut down on costs.
**Another reason for my bathtub ambition.
Comments (12)
I have some herbs that I can't even identify that are store bought and it makes a big difference to dry them yourself. Thanks for the comparison shot! :) And I like the idea of planting under roses or other flowers or shrubs. That's a good idea as I tend to think in terms of "what can this plant do for me?" and if I plant a flower that's pretty then I can have a thyme under it to pick and eat.
Posted by amy | March 19, 2009 12:54 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 12:54
Amy- thyme (as you may already know) is fond of sunshine so it works especially well under roses because they don't tend to block out the sun near their bases (most are pruned vase shaped).
Posted by Angelina | March 19, 2009 2:08 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 14:08
I finally have managed to keep some thyme for more than a year by growing it in an herb pot (tall for long roots). Whenever I planted it in the ground it would rot away on our heavy clay soil when our summers were hot and humid. I just can't get the drainage it requires except by growing it in a pot.
I don't have to dry it because it's warm enough in Austin just to leave outside. I'm trying some new herbs this year. Parsley has been really easy and makes a lovely dense mat of green. I don't eat much parsley but I'm going to grow more for edging next winter. I should try drying it or preserving it in some way because soon it will be too warm for it.
I'm also growing culinary sage and a French tarragon substitute, Mexican mint marigold. Again it is just too hot here for real French tarragon.
Herbs are awesome!
BTW. A single bunch (handful) of fresh organic herbs at our market is $2.00. I bet you grew a small fortune in thyme.
Posted by mss @ Zanthan Gardens | March 19, 2009 4:41 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 16:41
I did! I'm not a big parsley fan in general but I always grow it now because I make a lot of lentils for salads and I make a vinaigrette for it that calls for a quarter cup of fresh parsley and the parsley adds a great fresh flavor to the lentils. I also like to add it to hummus.
Yeah, unfortunately the clay doesn't always agree with the thyme. I have some serious clay in my yard here too which is why I'm mostly doing raised beds. Since I didn't get many built last year early enough I didn't grow enough thyme. This year I'm ready though.
I'm intrigued by the tarragon substitute. I am lucky to be able to grow tarragon here. I don't use a lot of it but I like to have an established planting for putting fresh into quiches with winter savory.
I would think the sage does very well for you. It's so unpicky and loves the heat.
I use so many herbs and no one sells anything but basil at our farmer's market (usually) so if I didn't grow them myself I would have to buy it in those boxed bunches in the store that are usually at least $2.00 and often close to $3!
You grow cilantro too don't you? I need to get some in the ground now. That's another one I use a lot of but I haven't had great success growing it myself before. Which is weird since it grows like a weed for most people.
Posted by angelina | March 19, 2009 5:12 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 17:12
I've been wanting a dehydrator for some time now. Seeing the color difference in the thyme is astonishing! I saw a counter-top variety at Fred Meyer recently. I may have to check it out closer.
Posted by Karmyn R | March 19, 2009 5:38 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 17:38
this is great! I was just thinking yesterday about a post regarding thyme...because I have all but maybe a handful left that overwintered and my cupboard jar is empty. wah! Its such a potent herb carrying a multitude of good...I just love it!
Posted by Kathy | March 19, 2009 6:40 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 18:40
I just planted more herbs under my roses several weeks ago. I think I put in three thymes, some oregano, chives and a sage.
Parsley is so easy to grow and it overwinters well here. Cilantro does grow like a weed, but unfortunately bolts quickly!
I'm thinking of doing an herb spiral soon to get more herbs in and use some concrete chunks I've got in the backyard.
Posted by Lisa | March 19, 2009 7:02 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 19:02
thyme is one of my favorites too! I haven't gotten my plants in the ground yet, but I have two different "common" thymes and one very scraggly orange thyme (lovely w/ roasted broccoli). I love the different cultivars and "flavors" that so many herbs come in. I use a ton of thyme also and I'm really hoping that my plants will take off once they get in the ground. I might have to grow some from seed too!
sage is my other kitchen favorite - the easiest dinner in the world is to fry some garlic & whole sage leaves in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, and toss the whole mess with cooked pasta. delicious!
Posted by miss lila | March 19, 2009 7:19 PM
Posted on March 19, 2009 19:19
What an amazing difference in the two thymes. Thank you for reminding me about thyme. I had planted some when I first moved here, but my rosemary bush had grown right over the top of it and destroyed it. I'm thinking bout what to plant this year here at Acorn Cottage, and thyme in spots around the sunny front yard sounds like a win!
Posted by alison | March 20, 2009 9:14 AM
Posted on March 20, 2009 09:14
use a lot of tyme but i messed up. i made a pot of clam chowder and added too much TYME. is there any way to decrease the tyme flavor or is it best to start over
Posted by Eugene Peters | April 14, 2009 1:53 PM
Posted on April 14, 2009 13:53
this is thyme used for chicken .
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