The allotment is producing lots of lovverly stuff at the moment - onions, garlic, sage, chives, basil, dill, that I’d love to use in some cheeses. It’s all organic, not a drop of herbicide or pesticide anywhere in sight. How would I prepare veggies and herbs to go in a cheese? I’m assuming they can’t go in as-is for a cheese that needs aging. Would drying them in the oven do the trick (and also kill off any lurking unwelcome bacteria), or would it leach out the flavour? How dry do they need to be? I imagine they’ll pick up some moisture again from the curds?

SALT.
I would mix the herbs (depending on the type) in a jar with dry salt to draw out moisture and preserve them (Onions garlic Chives Dill) basically anything that can go moldy.
You can then use the salt for cooking as a “Flavored” salt. Even use the salt to rub down the finished cheese.

I have typically dehydrated all my herbs.  The one exception is the green onion I put in Cotswold - and I put that in the salt that is to be mixed into the curd and let it set for a couple hours, stirring occasionally.  I find that the temp in my dehydrator is sufficient to ward off any bacterial contamination.  If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use the oven.  I wouldn’t let it go higher than about 180 deg.  160 is sufficient to kill off germs (according to USDA standards), and too hot might degrade the quality.  I’ve never dried in an oven but I suspect you’ll have to turn your herbs occasionally since there is little air flow through an oven as there is in a dehydrator.  Have fun!

Thank you both. Would a couple of hours in the salt be long enough to work? We’re in the middle of the wet season at the moment, so the salt isn’t all that dry….toast the salt first to dry it out, then mix in chopped herbs/onions? If the salt is hot, it will help kill germs, too?

My mouth is already watering at the thought of herby cheese!

couple hours no, in a tight lid jar is enough even if the salt is humid. It naturally draws out moisture. could line the jar with paper towls but I cant see the salt being wet in that it runs, you dont normaly leave salt out open do you?

The salt isn’t out open, but it’s not in an airtight jar, either. Think I’ll try dropping a few chopped herbs in a sealed jar of dry salt as an experiment, see what happens.