Making The Most of Midsummer Herbs

​By midsummer here in Ontario, your herb garden will be overflowing, and your market vendors will have more than enough to go around. This is the time of year to capture those flavours and prolong the life of these herbs for the season ahead. 

Between late June and mid August, this is your time to harvest and preserve your basil, dill, mint, lavender and more. The best time to harvest is just after the morning dew has evaporated off the herbs but before the sun begins to swell the garden with heat. Look for the most alive and vibrant of your herb crop and leave those past their time or the ones looking like they aren’t quite there yet.
Its fun to have your own bounty to pull from, but if you don’t have your own herb garden, worry not, Horton will have you covered.

It’s easy to get started with creating your own herbal infusions. You don’t need anything except for a few jars and the herbs you have on hand. In this blog we will give you a few ideas for some of the more common herbs you might come across at the market.

Basil

• Blend with garlic, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. When they are solid, transfer cubes to a freezer bag, you can garb theme to use in your pastas, soup, or sauteed veggies through the fall and winter.

Parsley

• Blend parsley with lemon zest and coarse salt, spread on a tray to dry out then transfer to jar. Great on roasted veggies or grilled fish.
• For a nice parsley oil, blanch leaves, blend with a neutral oil and strain, this will keep well in the fridge to drizzle on potatoes or whatever your heart desires a little parsley flavour on.

Cilantro

• Make lime cilantro cubes by blending cilantro with lime juice and a splash of water or oil. Freeze in cubes for later use. Alternatively, you could create a cilantro-chili vinegar by combining cilantro, chilis, and vinegar, let infuse for 1-2 weeks, strain, and use to drizzle on whatever your heart desires.

Dill

• You can make some tasty quick dill pickles by adding dill heads to jars of cucumbers with vinegar, garlic and mustard seeds to keep in the fridge for easy snacking or for an addition to a charcuterie board.
• Or make some infused butter by mixing chopped dill with soft butter and a squeeze of lemon. You can freeze this in portions, and it is perfect for whatever you put butter on or need for cooking!

Mint

• You can make a super easy mint syrup to add to lemonade, tea, or cocktails by simmering qual parts sugar, water, adding mint, allowing it to steep in the heat, then strain and refrigerate for use. If you do happen to be a tea fan, you can always brew some strong mint tea to freeze into ice cubes to add to your drinks.

Oregano

• Oil infusions are just so easy and versatile. Gently warm oregano in olive oil, steep then strain, adds a savoury drizzle to use in your cooking.
• More simply, you can bundle and hang your oregano to dry in a shaded space to give you crisp oregano to crumble into cooking year-round when stored in jars.

Thyme

• Thyme infuses well with some of your favorite local honey. Add sprigs to the honey and let sit for about a week to use in tea or add to toast with your favourite soft cheese. Like other herbs, thyme also makes great frozen cubes with olive oil for soups, beans, and pan sauces.

Sage

• Sage is another herb you could make a butter infusion with. Chop it up, mix with butter and a pinch of salt, roll and chill for slicing when needed—great for use in roasting. You can also steep sage in cider vinegar for a few weeks to use in vinaigrette or to gargle during the sore throat season.

 
Besides these infusions, there are endless uses for herbs and countless more creations than the ones we have listed here. Midsummer in Ontario is a short, fragrant, and generous season. We always encourage that you talk to your growers, listen to their uses and recommendations for extending the goodness for the months to come—just don’t be afraid to play around and experiment. 

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Jacob Wilcox, EDC Summer Marketing Student ​

Jacob is a St. Thomas-born, Wallacetown-raised artist and writer who recently completed a BA in Visual Art at York University. An avid Elgin County enthusiast, he has a deep appreciation for local businesses, rural life, community connections, and grassroots initiatives. From a young age, Jacob has been involved in local theatre--most notably Dutton’s community theatre, WEDS. As a practicing artist, he blends photography, writing, and illustration in both his personal work and marketing initiatives, with a focus on visual storytelling and brand identity. He is drawn to the beauty in the mundane, finds art in everyday life, and hopes to carry that perspective into a future career in community stewardship and education.