Gauteng Smallholder December 2015-January 2016 | Page 48

HERB GARDEN

From page 44

and are much easier to make.
They can be used as massage
oils or as culinary oils.
There are two ways to make
oil infusions. For the cold
version you simply pack a
sterilised bottle with dried or
fresh herbs and cover them
with oil. You can use
sunflower oil or olive oil, or
you can try jojoba oil,

almond oil, coconut oil
(popular with the Banting
brigade), grape seed oil or flax
seed oil. Obviously these are
much more expensive.
Seal your bottle and leave in a
sunny spot for two to three
weeks. Strain the mixture into
a jug, before pouring into a
bottle and sealing. For a
stronger flavour, you can use
the infused oil to pour over a

new batch of herbs to
steep for another two
to three weeks.
A quicker version of
oil infusion is to use
heat. Take 1,5 parts
fresh herb or one part
dried herb to two parts oil
and mix them together in a
double boiler, heating them
gently for about three hours.
Strain the mixture into a jug,
pour into a sterilised, airtight
glass bottle.
And lastly, you can make
herbal vinegars. You may use
any vinegar - spirit, white
wine, red wine or apple cider,
remembering that they each
have their own
distinctive flavour. You
may use most herbs
and can use combinations of herbs and even
add spices if you so
desire.
You will need one litre
of vinegar (or multiples
thereof, depending on

Herbal oil

how many bottles you want
to make), 250 ml of fresh
herbs per litre of vinegar (eg,
thyme, rosemary, tarragon,
parsley, basil) and sterilised
battles.
Heat the vinegar in a glass jug
in the microwave for two
minutes or until it is just
warm. Rinse the herbs, pat

Herbal vinegar

46
www.sasmallholder.co.za

Continued on page 47