Make your own salts and scrubs with dried herbs from your garden

Dried summer herbs captures the season, giving you a variety of flavours for cooking and the ingredients to make salts and scrubs for use around the house. I like mixtures that do more than one job, so while these recipes come in handy around the home they are also thoughtful gifts. All herbs in these mixes are dried.

Garden herb salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon finely crumbled rosemary, 1 tablespoon finely crumbled sage, ½ cup flaky sea salt. Pulse briefly or crush by hand. If your kitchen is humid or the salt feels tacky, spread on a tray in a warm, dry spot for 30 minutes, then cool and seal in a jar. Use on roast vegies, grilled meat, flatbreads and baked potatoes

Lemon verbena bath salt

1 cup Epsom salt, 2 tablespoon dried lemon verbena,1 teaspoon finely dried lemon zest, ½ cup sea salt. Combine and stir well. Spoon into a small muslin bag or reusable tea infuser for the bath so leaves do not float loose. Provides a calming, citrus-clean scent.

Kitchen garden body scrub

⅓ cup melted coconut oil, 1 tablespoon finely crumbled lemon thyme, 1 teaspoon dried lemon zest, 1 cup raw sugar. Stir to combine and then store in a jar. Use a small amount on damp hands, scrubbing the mixture all over and then rinse well. Keep water out of the jar.

Safety notes Patch test any product used on the body. Keep lids on and moisture out. For food items, use fully dried herbs. If infusing oils, use dried herbs only. Fresh herbs stored under oil at room temperature can be unsafe because water trapped in leaves creates an oxygen-free environment that can support harmful bacteria.

Learn more about the many ways Natasha uses dried herbs to make seasoning blends in our Summer 2026 issue, available here.