We’re back in the kitchen with Chef Pamela Salzman and today she’s sharing her indispensible tricks for storing fresh herbs. Maybe you’ve been harvesting your own basil from your backyard herb garden or just taking advantage of the summer by buying extra mint at the market to add to your favorite Mojito recipe. Either way, we know what a bummer it is to have to throw away ingredients that have gone bad too soon, so we asked our favorite chef to give us her cheat sheet for making your herbs last as long as possible. Here’s her fail-proof trick to always keep in the back of your mind: If you treat your herbs like fresh flowers, they will last so much longer and taste fresher than you could have ever imagined.

Just follow her easy-as-pie instructions below and check out our step-by-step video guide:

• Once you get your herbs home from the market, leave any rubber band or tie around the bunch of herbs and cut off any dead ends at the bottom of the sprigs.
• Then go ahead and wash them off.
• Place them on top of a kitchen towel to dry.
• Grab a glass jar or cup and add an inch of cool water.
• Remove any excess leaves at the bottom of the herb sprigs.
• Put the herbs in the water and—voila!—you’ll have little herb “bouquets” that are as gorgeous as they are fresh!
• Finally, cover the herbal “bouquets” with the plastic bag from the market and pop them in the fridge.