subject: How to Harvest Home Grown Herbs [print this page] How to Harvest Home Grown Herbs How to Harvest Home Grown Herbs
Growing herb plantsis merely part of the enjoyment of having an herb garden. The facet of herb gardening, which many of us enjoy even more, is harvesting and preserving the herbs as soon as the growing season ends.
Ask five different herb growers, and you are certain to get at least as many concepts about the best method to harvest these plants. A renown herbalist from the 12th century has been recorded as firmly believing that all medicinal plants should really be harvested when the moon was waxing, before becoming full. Herbs claimed at this stage possessed their ultimate potency. She did acknowledge, however, that herbs would be preserved for an extended period when they were harvested during the waning of the moon.
A conflict? You bet. Many herbalists hold other ideas. Many believe, for example, that herbs should be gathered only during a full moon. This is the time, they say, when the sap in the plants plus the potency of their oils are the greatest. While you may consider these ideas "old wives' tales" they do seem to have some validity.
But, Ozzie Frae, an herb grower and enthusiast for nearly 30 years, argues that the seasons of harvesting play a part in the potency of herbs. "Herbs whose medicinally-active ingredients are found in their roots and rhizomes-like ginger, ginseng and mandrake," he says "are more potent when harvested early in the spring or in late autumn."
At that time, they have actually reserved much of their energy and essence below the ground, he says. In harvesting these types of herbs, Frae advises to dig widely around the plants, to not cut or damage the root system. Wash the roots with cold water and thoroughly dry them.
The essence of a plant becomes concentrated with each succeeding night. The herbs, therefore, are most potent when they're picked in the early hours of the morning well before the sun's heat and the light actually dissipate any essential oils in them. And, it's best to harvest the herbs on a morning that is clear and dry, just after the dew has evaporated from the leaves.
Frae, whose Web site is HomeGrownHerbs.info contends that just about all herbs should be harvested before they bloom. The active healing substances of these plants also lose their potency after the flowering process, for obvious reasons. They've just spent much of their energy on actually blooming and generating seeds.
When you do harvest herbs, be sure to use sharp pruning clippers. You don't want to tear the stems. If you don't cut too low on the stem, you'll discover that some herbs-basil is particularly noted for this-will produce more growth for harvest.
