Avoiding damage caused by air:

1. Store the herbs in regular canning jars (Kerr or Mason brand). These are available in the food canning section of your local grocery store, generally in both pint and quart sizes. Gallon sizes can be custom ordered through your store. Canning jars use two-piece lids, a flat sealing lid and a screw-on ring that holds the sealing lid down.

   For more protection, jars can be vacuum-sealed with a machine called a "Foodsaver". Foodsaver has an attachment hood that goes over the mason jar (with only the sealing lid in place), and removes all the air from the jar. This eliminates the problems caused by air coming in contact with herbs. Foodsaver can also vacuum-pack herbs in custom-sized plastic bags. Foodsaver bags come in two widths, you determine the length of the bag based on the quantity of herb you are sealing. If you make your Foodsaver bag larger than is initially necessary, you can reseal it once you have removed some of the herbs.

2. If you do not have a Foodsaver machine, pack the mason jars as fully as possible with the herb. Tap the well-filled jar on a thickly folded towel laid on your counter, to settle the herbs and expel as much air as possible, then put on the sealing lid and screw down the ring lid tightly. As you use more of your herbs, transfer the remaining herbs to a smaller mason jar (pint sized), and again remove as much air as possible before sealing the lids. Jars that are not vacuum-sealed need to be kept as full as possible at all times.

3. I do not recommend using plastic (sealed with twist-ties) or ziplock bags for long-term storage of herbs because there is a small amount of air exchange with these types of bags. Also, the plastic composition tends to eventually "gas off" into the herbs. Ziplock bags and bags "sealed" with a twist tie are acceptable for short-term herb storage only.

  Avoiding damage caused by light:

1. Store your herb jars in a dark place. I put them back into the box that the canning jars came in. These boxes have cardboard separators to keep the glass jars from hitting each other and breaking when the boxes are moved. I write the name of the herb in the jar with a permanent marker on the top of the sealing lid. That way, when you open the box, you know exactly which herb is in which jar without having to take the jars out of the box.

2. As an extra precaution, some people paint the outside of their mason herb jars with black paint to keep out the light. This is not really necessary if you put the jars back into the box they came in and close the box well.

3. Store the box in a dark place such as a closet, preferably one that is rarely opened.

  Avoiding damage caused by heat:

1. Do not refrigerate your herbs. Yes, it will protect them from heat, but refrigeration causes condensation within the bag or jar which may encourage mold.

2. Keep the filled, boxed jars in a cool place. If you put the box of herbs in a closet, make sure it goes on the floor and not on the top shelf-- remember, heat rises.

3. The smaller, pint-sized mason jars can be kept in a drawer. If it is a drawer that is seldom opened, just put the jars in with the lids facing out. If you open the drawer frequently, put a dark towel over and around the jars.

4. When selecting a storage place for your herb jars, make sure you choose a site that will not be subject to freezing. And, of course, never store herbs in the freezer.