Cool ideas for tons of rosemary?

September 20, 2005 2:44 PM

So much Rosemary!

My two rosemary bushes have become seriously overgrown. I'm going to trim them back, and was wondering what I could do with all the rosemary I'm going to have. This is well beyond what I would ever need to cook with (plus I prefer fresh to dried anyway). Any cool ideas?

posted by Gilbert to Home & Garden (23 answers total)

Make bags and give them to your friends? I'd love to get fresh herbs from a friends who had a surplus.
posted by fvw at 2:53 PM on September 20, 2005

You can use it in the same way you would use dried lavender--

Put it in mesh bags and use in the linen cupboard or your lingerie drawer.

Put in potpourri.

Throw it on the fireplace this winter.


I adore rosemary and have tons of it growing in the garden. I love it when the dog walks through a patch.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 2:56 PM on September 20, 2005

Put a fresh small branch of it on your car's defrost vent (up near the windsheild) - mmmmm....
posted by tristeza at 2:56 PM on September 20, 2005

Make Queen of Hungary water and peddle it to your friends and relatives as a baldness cure? The linked site has a lot of neat suggestions including using it to flavor your charcoal smoke when grilling and using it to make sachets to ward off moths.
posted by MsMolly at 2:58 PM on September 20, 2005

You could make infused olive oil to give as gifts for Christmas. To every person you have ever met.
posted by bcwinters at 3:00 PM on September 20, 2005

Sell it at the local flea, farmer's or grower's market. Or set up a roadside stand one day over the weekend.
posted by Sara Anne at 3:03 PM on September 20, 2005

If you can harvest enough sizable branches, little wreaths make excellent gifts. Directions here. (Photo made with rosemary and lavender)
posted by boomchicka at 3:17 PM on September 20, 2005

"To preserve fresh rosemary, freeze whole sprigs in freezer bags - this preserves more of the flavor than drying."
posted by iviken at 3:19 PM on September 20, 2005

These are all great ideas; I'd do them all.

I know you said you prefer dried, but I've got an amazing recipe for rosemary polenta bread... and it uses the fresh stuff. Drop me a line if you'd like it.
posted by Specklet at 3:20 PM on September 20, 2005

Throw lots of branches on the coals of a barbecue. The smoke makes meat taste great.
posted by fuzz at 3:21 PM on September 20, 2005

Put rosemary sprigs in a warm honey & water mixture. Straing out the rosemary and then serve the honey over lemon sherbet with slices of blood oranges and kiwi fruit.
posted by jessamyn at 3:24 PM on September 20, 2005

make paper with rosemary in it.
posted by heeeraldo at 3:36 PM on September 20, 2005

Make pesto with it and freeze it in cubes in an ice cube tray. It'll keep for months.
posted by NYCnosh at 3:57 PM on September 20, 2005

Use long straight branches as skewers for shrimp, stabbing each shrimp twice. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill them. mmmmmmmmmmmmm
posted by fixedgear at 3:59 PM on September 20, 2005

Rosemary lemonade!
posted by donovan at 4:02 PM on September 20, 2005

OOO, hey Specklet, can I have the recipe for rosemary polenta bread too? That sounds really good.

I second the idea of wreathes, they would make great gifts.
posted by mulkey at 6:01 PM on September 20, 2005

Simmer in vinegar and water in a covered pan for as long as you want, and use as a hair tonic (thickens and darkens hair). Store refridgerated.
posted by singingfish at 6:09 PM on September 20, 2005

Second the pesto idea - just puree it with enough olive oil to be a pourable sludge, then freeze. Drop a cube into soups, sauces, casseroles, pasta, whatever.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:14 PM on September 20, 2005

Rosemary grows from cuttings very easily. Pot up the cuttings and consider whether you want to use them structurally in your garden - create a hedge? - or give live baby rosemary bushes away to your firends and family.
posted by wilful at 6:32 PM on September 20, 2005

We have a couple of monstrous rosemary plants. I always throw a few sprigs of rosemary on the BBQ when I'm grilling; on the grill with the food. Also, I use rosemary branches for shish kabob skewers (shave off most of the leaves, but leave them on at the end, and sharpen the other (thick) end).

Just a comment about rosemary: large rosemary plants are an age-old indicator that the woman of the household "wears the pants."
posted by jimfl at 7:18 PM on September 20, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks, jimfl. That's just what a male stay-at-home cooking, baking, gardener wants to hear.

I'm really loving a lot of these. Had never even considered the kabob idea, and I'm leaning toward rosemary wreaths for Christmas gifts. Yay, new project!
posted by Gilbert at 7:32 PM on September 20, 2005

Throw it on the fireplace this winter.

Oh wow that would probably be amazing. Maybe little (sigh... I can't believe I'm going to use this phrase) gift-faggots of it for friends and family to toss onto woodfires as an aromatic enhancement? You could make a lot of those and it shouldn't take much to add some nice aroma to any fire. Just bundle some twigs of it together with some kind of clean-burning ribbon or a twist of uncoated wire.

This would be kind of a project, but maybe you could also look into pressing it for the essential oils. The oil would be compact, storable for a later date, and I'm sure there are many alt.medecine type remedies out there that call for it, in addition to using it in potpurri, cooking, and who knows how many other potential uses: animal repellent, astringent, antiseptic, etc (just guessing there).

But in truth it is just another bush. It smells great to us, but that's a side issue. Not every twig of it is all that precious.
posted by scarabic at 11:51 PM on September 20, 2005

Rosemary Jelly - great with lamb!
posted by adamvasco at 11:29 AM on September 21, 2005