I have a high quality problem: there too many herbs growing between the MoMA PS1 Salad Garden and my own garden at home. In my cooking, I can only use so much of any one fresh herb, so I have been tasked with finding ways to preserve the herbs for future use.

Herb salt is incredibly easy to make and forgiving too. The salt desiccates and preserves fresh herbs in one sunny day, while maintaining color and flavor. A small jar of your homemade, colorful salt is the perfect gift as well. I am giving these away at the opening of the Salad Garden next Sunday, so I have been making this in bulk.

I made two batches. The first was predominately lemon basil, lemon thyme, English thyme, Genovese basil, bush basil, oregano and fresh garlic.

The second batch is a bit more experimental: Lavender flowers and tri-colored sage.

Wash herbs thoroughly and dry as much as possible. I used about 4 cups of herbs per one 26 oz. container of salt.

Remove all stems and fibrous parts of the plant. Add herbs to a food processor with coarse sea salt of pink Himalayan rock salt. Pulse until all of the herbs are combined and consistent. Spread on a baking sheet in a thin layer and put the sheet out in direct sun. Move the salt around at some point to make sure it is drying all the way through. This drying is what preserves the fresh herbs and prevents rotting.

Don’t worry about the salt being too strong in flavor. Remember, you will only use a pinch of this in any one dish, so it shouldn’t overpower.

Put in bottle and give this away to everyone you know.