How to harvest herbs?

[Jean Hibbs]

I've been growing herbs for years, with fairly good success, but I really don't know the best way to pick/harvest them. I never know where to take the Basil leaves from - take the big ones - those are at the bottom and then I have a long empty stalk before the newer leaves start? Cut the top 4-5" off? What about mint? take leaves or cut lengths? Tarragon? Dill? Rosemary - I cut the newer growths. And I usually only cut when I'm cooking with the herbs. Probably I should be regularly pruning?? I live in FL now but will be in SC in a few months - and have to adjust to some new weather. Thanks

[The Helpful Gardener]

Hey Jean,

Basil I tip pinch a lot (especially when I am just looking for a little for dinner), but whack it back to the last good set of leaves when I am harvesting for pesto or such (I usually have a lot of plants so I can do that and I usually have a SPicy Globe I can fall back on for pichable bits for sauces and such while I am waiting. Whack back the lot at the first sign of flowers; bolting ruins basil...

I cut mint to length for harvest and dehydrate, but so much gets tip pinched for drinks and such...

Tarragon, I take branches. It will turn into a shrub eventually, so don't be gentle...

Dill depends on whether you are collecting seed; harvest MOST but leave a few to flower to get seed for next year...Rosemary really depend on which one you are growing; leave enough for nice form, back budding and new branches...

Hope that helps...

HG

[annafaie]

I also am interested in how to harvest properly.

For Italian Parsley I cut tall stems down to dirt level.

For Thai Basil I clipped tallest stems down to top of bottom-most leaves.

Are both of those way correct?

Do I need to trim often to keep production up?

[The Helpful Gardener]

Be sure not to damage the crown on the parsely by cutting too close...sounds like you are fine with the Thai basil...

HG

[jal_ut]

With Basil you can just pinch a leaf anytime. At the first sign of it bolting, I clip it all and dry it.

Dill: every part of the dill plant has the desirable flavor. You can pinch off individual leaves for a salad, or pick the whole plant and snip it into short lengths for use in dill pickles. When you get seed on the heads, you can cut the head and put it in a cardboard box to dry, then shake the seed off and keep the dry seed in a jar.

Most herbs can be preserved by drying and if stored in ziploc or seal-a-meal bags can be stored for years. I find the best time to harvest is just before the plant blooms.

For fresh eating, just go pluck any leaf that looks good to you.