thyme work

I've been drying my own Thyme. Every time one of the plants needs a trim I put the cut stems up to dry in a paper bag with a few holes punched in it, hung up. A few weeks later when a plant needs another trim, I take out the dried herbs and put the new cuttings in the bag to dry.

Then separate the leaves off stems to store. It's a bit of tedious work getting all the little leaves off but not too difficult. Holding them over a piece of clean paper, I pinch the (used-to-be) growing end with one hand, then gently pinch and run my fingers of the other hand back down the stem- they strip off pretty easy that way. Then fold a crease in the paper and tip it all into a jar to save for cooking.

Today the trimmings came off this thyme plant I'm trying to shape as a tree (doubtful how well I'm succeeding). Probably anyone who knows about bonsai would be horrified at my methods. I don't have any proper tools, so I've been training the thyme plant with wire leftover from this project, and trimming stems off with nail clippers. Yikes. But that's what I've got.