Dehydrator works well. The item s coursly chopped and dried. Dehydrators work the best as they dry things very fast, compared to air drying. The faster something dries, the more flavor it retains.

From personal experience I can say that air-drying doesn't work for some things, chives and parsley being two of them. Use a food dehydrator. Some people use their oven, especially convection ovens, if they don't have access to a dehydrator. The temperatures get hotter than you need in an oven but it will have better results than air-drying for chives and other allium greens.

FataMorgana

Chives don`t dry well. YOu can either freeze them whole in plastic bags and snip off as and when needed.
Or you can chop it up, put it in ice cube trays, pour water over it and freeze.Then store in a plastic bag in freezer.
Neerukat

Hum, thankx guys ill try both to see what method i like better. i hurd something about Vinagar helps preserve vegies and herbs. is that true?

YasminShi

Vinegar, well yes but then you would have pickled herbs and veggies, wouldn't you? Different taste altogether. If you are looking to keep them for extended periods of time, you may have to do some reading up on canning especially for the veggies. Canning is not hard at all but make sure you follow directions so that you safely preserve your food. The preserving method really follows how you intend to use the herbs and veggies.

Chives do dry well if you use a food dehydrator. I did a bunch like that last year and had no problems at all. I understand leeks and other onion family members are equally easy with such methods.

FataMorgana

Chives are all freeze-dried nowadays - and you really can 'just' lay them out on a paper towel (on plate or something) and let them freeze, if you like - they're better frozen than dried, anyway.

You can dry anything if you want to, but with chives you won't get much flavour left in them. Not much colour, either, and they fade quickly even if the colour is preserved after drying. Chives are best frozen.

Thank you all! FataMorgana I was just curious about the vinagar. I will be sticking with the Herbs for a while, Veggies are later to come. Although, my mother-in-law bought me a hot pepper plant just the other day. Its about 3 in tall. I cant wait to see what it will turn out like it will be my first Veggie. Does any of u know if there is something special i have to do with a Hot Pepper plant.

If you purchased a onion with green things growing out of the top the green things are not chives but the leaves of the onion. Since the onion you purchased has already matured if you allow the green area to mature a hollow stem will develop and will have a spray of flowers like it's cousin Allium. The flowers can develop into seeds. Either way drying the tops of chives or onions will not produce a flavorful herb.

BTW, chives are not the same as onion tops. Chives are much smaller and there is no harvestable bulbs in the soil. I grow a winter type that dies out in summer heat and, has pea sized bulbs. These winter chives some a seed ball of very small bulbils that I replant eevry summer once they are loose and star to fall off the stalks. These are wild onions, but are more like chives when it comes to appearance. Onion tops, or scallions, are different kinds of plants. About the best way to get the most color and flavor in a chive is to freeze dry it. Unfortuneately, you cann't reporoduce the freeze dry process at home. It requires 100+ degrees below zero, a vacuum, and special chambers to remove all traces of moisture.

Thank you all!!