HARVESTING HINTS
Once the herbs are growing happily in your garden or containers they
will provide a source for culinary adventure, flavorful teas, and
fragrant combinations. It is in these uses that they distinguish
themselves from other plants and truly show their qualities as herbs.
First, however, the leaves and seeds must be harvested.
Using Fresh Herbs
The leaves of most culinary herbs such as
basil,
chives,
marjoram,
mints,
parsley,
rosemary, sage, and thyme have enough flavor throughout
the growing season that you can harvest them to use while fresh at any
time. Pick only healthy green leaves - not yellowed or dead ones. Be
very careful, however, that you don't injure the plant's growth by
pulling off too many leaves from one stem or plant - particularly with
young ones.
When the herbs are large and full enough, you can cut sprigs from the
ends of stems. This is called pinching. It also stimulates new growth,
causing the plant to become fuller and bushier than it would if allowed
to grow unchecked. If you want flowers for bouquets or seeds for
planting the following spring, let a few stems grow and mature into
blossoms.
Though you will enjoy using the herbs fresh, you will probably also want
to dry some for winter cooking and for making fragrant preparations such
as potpourris and sachets. Keep this in mind while picking in the summer
so that you will leave enough foliage for a large fall harvest.
How to Pick for Drying
Although herbs may be cut and used fresh at almost any time, the main
harvest of leaves and seeds for preserving comes during the blooming
period. Herbs tend to lose some of their flavor during the drying
process. The best time to harvest them for drying is when the flowers
first open. It is then that the oils which give each herb its
distinctive flavor and aroma (held in tiny glands in the leaves) become
most concentrated. The only exceptions are:
hyssop,
lavender,
rosemary,
and thyme - cut them when the blooms are fullest; and sage harvest it when
the buds first appear.
Choose a sunny, dry morning just after the dew has dried from the leaves
but before the sun is hot. Some annuals bloom early in the summer, and
if you do not cut them back too much this first time they will re-grow
enough by fall for a second harvest. If you are harvesting annuals in the
fall you can simply cut them to the ground.
Shrubby perennial herbs (such as
lavender,
marjoram, and
rosemary)
should be cut back annually after blooming to encourage compact growth;
this is also an easy way to harvest leaves and flowers for drying. Cut
back about half the length of the current year's growth.
Harvesting Seeds and Flowers
Some of the herbs such as anise,
caraway,
coriander, and
dill produce
seeds that are tasty on pastries and other dishes. As soon as the seed
heads or capsules turn brown-but before they fully ripen and scatter the
seeds- cut the entire seed head or stem into a paper bag. Do this on a
warm, dry day.
Seeds to be used for future planting should be harvested when the seed
capsules begin to yellow and are about ready to drop off.
Flowers for drying, fresh arrangements, and potpourris can be cut with a
knife or pruning shears. Choose newly opened ones that are bright and
fresh.
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