Harvest Your Bounty

Harvest herbs into bundles and hang to dry

Why Harvest? One of the advantages of growing your own herbs is being able to harvest fresh herbs when you need them for cooking.  Also, herb gardens allow you to grow specialty herbs that may not always be available at local markets.  Preserving herbs for future use allows herbs to be available throughout the year.  There are several ways to preserve herbs. Some methods may be preferable over others depending on what type of herb you are growing. Your own dried herbs will taste better than store-bought because they’ll be newer and thus more pungent. If you grow your own herbs, you can also choose the tastiest varieties.

Create your own tonics, tinctures and elixirs

What to Do with What You Grew

Dried herbs and flowers can be used to make loose leaf tea blends, herbal tinctures, flavor extracts, pickling and seasoning blends. Bottle them and add an attractive label for use during the winter and give them as gifts. They are great for holiday stocking stuffers, party favors or add into gift baskets.

Harvest Herbs, Flowers & Berries. Use scissors or pruners to cut stems

Harvesting Your Bounty

Prune and pinch back branches to use herbs fresh (which makes bushier plants) as you need to during the growing season. For a bigger harvest, allow the plants to grow to a more mature size. If you want to harvest leaves, do so before it flowers and prune regularly to discourage flowering.  If you want to   harvest flowers, don’t prune until the flowers open fully and if you want to collect the seeds, allow the flowers to form seed head and to dry before you collect seeds. Harvest roots in autumn or winter when plants are dormant. Bark should be collected from young trees or small branches (with no rings) spring through early autumn. Allow stems to harden up before winter sets in to avoid damage.

Add clippings into a shallow basket with handle for easy harvesting

 Large Leaves & Flowers-  are better to cut off the stem. Dry Flat. Bay Laurel, Ginkgo

 Small Leaves & Flowers - Leave on stem, tie in bundles. Hang to dry. Peppermint, Rosemary, Thyme, Chamomile

Some flowers benefit from removing the petals like Roses

Herbs should be harvested when the oils responsible for their flavor and aroma are at their highest.  Proper timing depends on the plant part you are harvesting and how you plan to use it.  Herbs can be harvested when the plant has enough foliage to maintain growth.  With annual herbs, they can be cut back 50-75 percent and still recover. With perennial herbs, remove about one-third of the growth at any one time.  Use a sharp knife or pruners to make clean cuts.   Try to harvest early in the day after plants dry off and before it gets hot. Herbs are best harvested before they start to flower otherwise leaf production declines.   Deadheading or removal of flowers as they appear will result in the continued production of new leaves suitable for harvest.

Use a handy gadget like this one to strip leaves off of dried stems

When harvesting foliage from herbs, be certain that the plants have not been sprayed with pesticides.  There are a variety of products to control insects and diseases but many of them are not cleared for use on herbs harvested for foliage to be eaten.

For most herbs, you never want to harvest more than one third of the entire aerial growth at one time.  This ensures that the plant will have plenty of leaves to regrow itself afterward.  However, there are some exceptions to the rule.  Chives, for example, grow back faster if  all of the leaves are cut off within an inch to a half inch from the ground.  Many species in the mint family (including catnip and lemon balm) regrow more efficiently if all of the stems are harvested at once – cut above the first or second set of leaves from the base of the crown.

Dry herbs out of direct light

How To Harvest & Dry Herbs

1.      Cut healthy branches from your herb plants. Remove any dry or diseased leaves. Yellowed leaves and leaves spotted by disease are not worth drying. Their flavor has already been diminished by the stress of the season.

2.      Shake gently to remove any insects. There are always hitchhikers and since you won't be thoroughly washing the stems, you want to get rid of as many as you can now.

3.      If you've picked your herbs while the plants are dry, you should be able to simply shake off any excess soil. If you've picked your herbs while the plants are dry, you should be able to simply shake off any excess soil. But if necessary, rinse with cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Give them plenty of air circulation, so they can dry out quickly. Wet herbs will mold and rot.

4.      Remove the lower leaves along the bottom inch or so of the stem. Or cut individual large leaves or flowers to dry flat.

5.      Bundle 4 - 6 stems together and tie as a bunch. You can use string or a rubber band. The bundles will shrink as they dry &  rubber band will loosen, so check periodically that the bundle is not molding. For larger leaves and flowers dry on a tray – platter, shallow cardboard or screen tray. Cover with paper towels until dry to keep the dust off while air drying. Or use a dehydrator.

6.      ONCE 100% COMPLETELY DRY, Store in glass jars or BPA free plastic containers. If you are unsure if completely dry, store in a paper bag for an additional week or so. Label and date your herbs.     

Label and date your herbs. Store away from sunlight, excessive temperature changes, humidity and heat.

The earliest time that its safe to harvest your herbs varies from plant to plant. Typically we start harvesting early Spring through Fall. Avoid harvesting evergreen plants in the winter as the cold can enter the stems causing potential damage to the plant.

Learn more about harvesting & growing herbs- take one of my classes in person at Centralia College, Pierce College or SPSCC https://www.herbalelements.net/classes

- or - online https://www.herbalelements.net/challenges

Enjoy harvesting the plants you have grown!

Happy Harvesting!