Cookaholics Bulletin Board

My creeping thyme has done unexpectedly well this year, but soon cold weather will set in and kill it.

Can anyone suggest recipes or dishes which require a lot of fresh thyme?

I have the same problem with French tarragon. Never thought that would happen. I'm the only one that really likes it and I never really had much luck with it so it's neve been a problem until this summer. I'll dry some and I've given some away but still have way too much.

I'm in a climate zone 6 in Illinois & my common thyme lives through the winter without protection. I don't know how cold it gets where you're at.

EN,

Well, last year we were below freezing for about a month, with snow. That kills thyme (although not, strangely, parsley).

I just finished drying all of mine. My thyme doesn't stand a chance to over winter here. I also harvested and dried all of my oregano. My basil went to seed before I could make pesto (it was not a good year for basil here). I am going to try keeping the rosemary in the garage this winter, but I am not going to hold my breath.

I can't think of a lot of things that require a lot of thyme (a sprig here or there maybe, but not quantities like you'd use parsley or cilantro or basil). Maybe buy an inexpensive dehydrator?

Thyme is an herb that dries well, and it doesn't even need a dehydrator - just set it on trays and let it dry. It strips off the stems easily.

Not really worth it to dry it; I still have 5oz or so of Penzey's Thyme. I'll come up with something.

Josh, have you tried covering it with a garbage bag? We do that to our huge immovable pot that has rosemary, sage and thyme. It has survived winters for years now. It gets scrawny and unusable for a while, but returns to normal. We cover ours when freezes are predicted and take cover off when not.

Hmm, might try it.

Mind you, it comes back after it dies in the winter. I didn't replant.

This was my first thought - most thymes are resistant to zone 4, so I figured that it should be a perennial in your area.