First a little basic science -- from online sources: "At pressures less than 0.00604 atm, therefore, ice does not melt to a liquid as the temperature increases; the solid sublimes directly to water vapor. Sublimation of water at low temperature and pressure can be used to “freeze-dry” foods and beverages. The food or beverage is first cooled to subzero temperatures and placed in a container in which the pressure is maintained below 0.00604 atm. Then, as the temperature is increased, the water sublimes, leaving the dehydrated food (such as that used by backpackers or astronauts) or the powdered beverage (as with freeze-dried coffee)." The partial pressure of water vapor in the atmosphere is about 4.3 mm Hg at the freezing point. To evaporate, it has to barely exceed the atmospheric pressure of 760mm Hg. To do this, either reduce the pressure, or increase the temperature....or add other substances that can evaporate and contribute the rest of the pressure needed. This is where dry ice comes in. It will sublimate (i.e. -- go from solid to gas without first becoming liquid) at -78.5 C. A stream of CO2 flowing over a fixed source of ice will allow the water to sublimate. The key is to have the CO2 "flow." This is where a vacuum with discharge to atmosphere comes in, or a "sink" for the water, such as a dessicant. Clearly, a small blower will not come anywhere close to procucing a suitable low-pressure: It needs to be a pretty good vacuum. Even then, if the source of the CO2 is dry ice, you will need an awful lot of it. You can see why. Divide 760 mm Hg (total pressure) by 4.3 mm Hg and get the ratio 177:1. So if you have 0.1 lb-mole of water in the food (1.8 lb), you need 17,7 lb-mole of dry ice (779 lb). Alternatively, if you have a frost-free refrigerator, you can freeze the food and let the refrigerator do the rest. It will sweep atmospheric air over the food, drawing moisture from it in equilibrium with what is in the air. After a few MONTHS the water in the food will likely all sublime. If you have ever put a tray of water in the freezer, and left it, you would come back to find the tray empty, or mostly so. You can spend your money on freeze-dried foods made by someone else, you can run the refrigerator for months and pay the electric bill, you can buy dry ice and a decent vacuum pump (with other equipment), or you can do air drying or home canning. For emergency foods with long shelf-life and break-resistant containers, commercial freeze-dried foods are the way to go. For everything else, home canning and air drying is cost-effective and pretty healthful. As to the vitamins lost in processig, take supplements separately. By the way, these home vacuum sealers? Yes, they remove oxygen in the air that can otherwise react with food causing flavor and nutrient changes. They don't appreciably change the amount of water so if there are spoilage organisms (there usually are!) that can survive low temperatures in the absence of oxygen (anarobic bacteria), they will continue to grow. One "trick" I've taught is to take steel wool -- maybe a cigarette-sized twist -- and wrap it in a coffee filter. Put it in with the mostly dry food to be preserved, in a very tightly sealed container. The steel wool will react with the water and oxygen inside the container forming rust. The filter paper contains the rust particles so it doesn't mix with the food. As the water and oxygen react, the inside pressure drops. You can see this in a flexible container as it appears "squished." CO2 will not be removed, nor will nitogen or other fixed gases. Since all organisms appear to need SOME water, and that has been converted to hydrated iron oxide, this shouldn't be a problem

Wow--lots of questions--but I think that's a great thing. Chives. They are a perennial. They won't reseed, but you should be fine in your zone overwintering. If they flower, the flowers are wonderfully edible as well, on salads or whatever, or you can preserve them by drying, making vinegar, or compound butters. I just made a butter with the blossoms and some garlic chives as well that we freeze and pull out to use on corn and veggies. The advice to cut them in thirds is so that you always have some fresh to use. This is if you only want them fresh--you don't have to harvest them. Harvest them by cutting about an inch above the soil line. They can be dried, but chop them finely before drying or you get straw. If you're dealing with small batches and have freezer space, I would just put the stems in a zip bag and freeze them that way--pull and chop and use. Cilantro will bolt (seed) when it gets hot. Collect the seeds too. It does not dry well, and can be frozen, but I tend to not bother because it's so readily available in grocery. I grow it more for the coriander seed which you can get a much higher quality than bought. Cilantro is annual, so you'll need to reseed. You can also do succession seeding next time--plant a small bit, then wait a week and plant a bit more, etc. This way you have different stages and not a huge crop at once. Mint is a perennial. You were right to pot it--it's very invasive. It will come back year after year. I do throw all my containers in a corner of my yard and cover them with straw for the winter to protect them. You can harvest it pretty much any way you want--cut it all off and it will still come back. Or just grab a sprig or couple leaves for tea. It can be dried for tea, or frozen as well in zip bags. When drying, I prefer to strip the leaves first, then dry them. Store whole, and crumble when ready to use. Basil can be dried, but it loses a good portion of its flavor, and has different characteristics once it is. Most people who like fresh basil prefer to freeze it to keep the flavor. You will have to purchase new basil seed next year. You can freeze whole stems or leaves of basil, or you can chop them and freeze in oil or water in ice cube trays. You can also make pesto and freeze that. It all depends on how you will be using the basil. Rosemary will not overwinter for you in zone 5, so you'll need to treat it as an annual, or pot it and bring it in overwinter, but it's a tricky pot plant. Thyme and oregano will return. It really depends how you will be using them whether you want to dry them, freeze them, or just use fresh. Some will say that dried herbs are not worth it, and I agree that badly dried herbs or old herbs like most of what can be purchased really aren't. But it is possible to dry them well for use, though as I mentioned with the basil, the flavor profiles do change, and some like parsley or cilantro truly are not worth drying. I am just learning a lot about drying now, as the Herb Guild I am part of makes gourmet blends to sell at our Botanic Gardens. If you're interested in books, I have one called Homegrown Herbs by Tammi Hartung that I like as a good basic herb book, with both growing and some culinary and medicinal use. It would be worth checking at a library if you can. If you're seriously interested in fancy culinary with herbs, Jerry Traunfeld's The Herbfarm Cookbook is good. The recipes are a mixed bag for home use, but there are a lot of good charts and info on how much of different herbs to generally use.

Basically, you'll end up doing it in your own way, depending on which herbs you want to store, and how you use them. Drying is suitable for most herbs (but not chives!), but if you have a lot to do, it can be messy around the house for a while. Freezing will usually give a better flavour - but maybe you have a ginormous freezer and don't want to be hunting around in it for small parcels while in the middle of preparing your dinner, and I don't recommend freezing if you keep your freezer a long way from the kitchen or if you have an unreliable source of electricity (perhaps a lot of blackouts due to storms?). I'm not so organised that I follow my own advice, but if you decide to freeze your herbs, do each one on a flat tray, then either bag it or put it into a small container. Then put all the herbs together, each packaged separately, into a larger container or a large sealable bag. This will make finding your herbs easier and quicker. For things like chopped parsley or chives, the ice cube method is very convenient - just the right amount for adding to your stews etc - but once they're frozen, bag them or put them into a suitable container. Small packages tend to get lost and forgotten even in a small freezer. (Ask me how I know!) Don't forget to label each container. Why not experiment by both freezing and drying your herbs, and see which you tend to reach for first?

Thanks for the heads up on Vorlon tomato, google shows it to be greatly gaining in popularity; Lord willing I will grow it next year. How would you compare it to Cherokee Purple? I presume where you're at in CO the climate is very low humidity, excellent conditions for drying food, right? It's typically very high humidity here during tomato season, takes longer to dry tomatoes especially when the dehydrator is outside. I'll try your tip about selecting 'just turning ripe' tomatoes for drying, my observations support that also. Don't know how much you can tell from the OP photo of the Brandy Boys in the tray, but all those chunks of tomato have the skin on the backside. I was trying to replicate the success I had with drying the cherry tomatoes on their skins, and for the most part it was successful, just some turned dark/black, but I honestly couldn't even taste the black, it just didn't look good.