Ok- first post but I'll make it quick. Just harvested my "veggies" and am fairly proud of it. Too much to dry in a box inside the house, so hanging it in attic with fan on timer blowing on it. Trouble is that it is ~19 Deg. F outside right now and not much warmer in attic. Question- will I have any mold/ decomposition probs. or will it just take longer to dry. And is the fan a good idea?- I knoe orchard farmers use giant fans to keep frost from forming on apple blossoms. (there is no frost in attic, Just trying to speed up drying). Any suggestiond appreciated.
Use a small space heater with a thermostat, set it at about medium to high and run your fan constantly when the temp drops the heatear will kick on but shouldn't get past 75 degrees. This will keep your harvest drying at a normal rate and prevent molding issues.
It's a BIG attic. would take some serious btu's to even get above freezing, not to mention give a big heat signature (one area of roof without snow/frost). If the temp needs to be > freezing to dry then I guess I need to build a box and heat it. but if it will just take longer to dry- I'm a patient man. I just don't want to see the whole crop turn into mushy slime. Seems that even though it's cold it's still dry. the skin on my hands will split in these temps- just don't know if herb will dry.
Yeah I guess if you have no issues with humidity then that would be fine, I suppose you could just dry smaller batches inside the house by a weekly cycle. Good luck and Smoke well.
yeah if ur not in a hurry i suggest just not drying at all at once. i cant see it drying in my garage in MN in the winter, water just wont evaporate at those low of temps. (at a rate that u need at least)