A fantastic part of the joy of growing your own herbs is in the harvesting. I like to harvest my flowers and herbs this time of year to be used in crafting and cooking. You planted herbs that would produce leaves, flowers, and seeds for use throughout the winter. Now’s the time you will see the fruits of your labour. The great majority of your crop will be leaves-parsley and chervil, sage, thyme, basil, marjoram, lemon balm, the savories, tarragon, rosemary and possibly spearmint.
Herbs!
Needless to say, you’ve been using your herbs all summer long. You snipped pieces of chives and parsley to scatter eggs and creamed dishes or to spice up low-carb diets. You gathered those that required your fancy as you wandered about the garden with the salad bowl in your mind, or possibly tucked a sprig to a favourite book or into your handbag for fragrance. Now it is harvest time, the time once the majority of your plants have to be gathered for your enjoyment and utilized through the winter. You can now go in the garden and collect loads of fragrance and enjoyable.
Harvesting
Harvest time is a period of preparation also. You have to decide which crops to bring in the home, which to dry, which to turn into presents. You may wish to mark those plants that you would like to pot for the winter, though it’s not necessary to dig them till just before frost. When making this choice, Remember that you will need:
- A selection of culinary herbs for your kitchen window sill.
- few larger plants to supply sprays for bouquets or iced drinks, to throw into your tub, and for other favourite uses.
- Several small compact plants to bud for presents.
- Pots of plants to put in various rooms throughout your own residence.
Just when is harvest time?
The time for harvesting is determined, not by the time of year, but from the willingness of the herbs. Most herbs are ready to harvest just as the buds are opening into full blossom. This is when the plants contain the most volatile oils and for that reason the best fragrance and flavor. Fortunately for you, not all types will be prepared at exactly the exact same time. But in the event that you should discover that many are just right on the identical sunny morning, have another box, basket or tray for every plant and tag it. Otherwise, unless you’re more of an expert than many people, you might have trouble sorting the herbaceous plants as soon as they are dry.
It’s ideal to collect herbs in the first morning of a warm, bright day once the dew has evaporated, but before the sun is hot and high. This is the most enjoyable time for being in the backyard, and it’s a fragrant, relaxing manner to start your busy day.
It’s essential, also, to harvest as soon as possible in the season so the plants will develop again vigorously before the growing season is finished. For me, this first harvesting is a challenging decision. I wander about the garden, enjoying the beauty of the plants, their delicious fragrance and lush growth. And each year, despite prior years’ experience to the contrary, I think,”What if they don’t come back again? Will I ruin this lovely garden?”
But don’t you think it!
You’re more likely to ruin by holding back than by clipping! If you wait to harvest perennial herbs in the season, you’ll lose not just their flavor but likely the whole plants also. Do reduce early enough to guarantee regrowth. Otherwise, your plants may die during the winter. Don’t cut annuals too near the ground. Leave enough foliage so the plants will keep growing. You may hope for a different harvest this year, at which time you may take the entire plant. Cut perennials about two-thirds of the amount of the stalks and side branches, less if the stalks are stiff and woody.
You may select sage, marjoram and basil at any moment. The new development of sage is always yummy, and so is that of marjoram anytime before the plants blossom. Basil scarcely has an off-season even though, as with other herbs, it’s in its best only at blooming time.
If for some reason you don’t figure out how to harvest all you need of a specific herb when it’s ready, collect some later on even though its summit cutting season has passed. Once I made a last bottle of basil vinegar in a greedy rush once the weather forecaster said,”Look for a freeze tonight.” The resulting product could hardly be distinguished from that made earlier.
If the herbs you harvest should be dried, it’s necessary to collect them if the oils are at their finest. Should you choose to dry some of those last-minute crops, it may be well to tag your jars so you will know which are prime and which are moments. Needless to say, you’ll also keep some of your favourite herbs growing in the home during the winter, and those you may use fresh.
The moment you’ve carried your herb harvest indoors, quickly rinse off the dirt out of the lower leaves and shake off all excess moisture. Then spread the herbs on each window displays laid across two seats or on some stretched cheesecloth.
Remove any yellowed, decayed and very coarse leaves, and dry your crop in an airy location away from direct sunlight.
When to Harvest
Harvest these herbs when they are only beginning to blossom: basil, tarragon, horehound, mint, sweet marjoram, lemon balm, costmary, fennel, winter savory, sage, summer savory, lavender (also may be cut later).
Clip the tops of those at full stage of blossom: hyssop, rosemary, lavender, thyme.
It’s possible to harvest both the leaves and flowers of these four herbs, and you can also select rosemary leaves separately.
These herbs should be chosen in the young leafy point: parsley, caraway leaves, chervil, lovage.
It’s the flower heads of these herbs you may want to harvest: camomile, German camomile, and marigold. You can go ahead and cut the flower heads off and only dry them on a display. Camomile is very good for the skin and can be used in herbal bath sachets together with some oatmeal (uncooked) and grated soap. Put equal amounts of each in a washrag secured with a rubber band and used as a wash cloth in the shower.
The culinary herbs you will want to dry comprise sweet basil, parsley, thyme, chervil, rosemary, spearmint, marjoram, summer savory, sage, tarragon and lemon balm. Lemon Balm cookies are simple to make with 2 tbsp of sliced Lemon Balm added to a simple sugar cookie recipe. There are some amazing books on making vinegars and herbal scrubs in the local bookstore and library. With the holidays right around the corner, you might choose to obtain these books and begin crafting some gifts!
As far as the other culinary herbs in your garden are involved, don’t dry chives, but bud for winter use, place in vinegar or freeze. Dill shouldn’t be dried , but the leaves can be frozen fresh or the seeds dried. Parsley may be potted, salted, dried or frozen. If you would like to dry parsley, put it in the microwave between two paper towels for a minute intervals until dry. If you attempt to air dry it, then it will just turn brown and unappealing. Burnett, which can be too fragile for drying, can be grown inside in the winter.
Conclusion
Harvesting herbs in the autumn is a fun way to bring your garden indoors for the winter. You’ll be rewarded with countless hours of fun for not only for you but those you bless with the gifts from your backyard.
