Tips for Garden Harvesting

By Jillian Way

If you grew a potager (a culinary herb garden) this summer, you will likely harvest your

herbs several times throughout the season, but it is important to note that different parts of plants are best harvested at different times. Here are some general guidelines.

The Harvest

Leaves are generally most potent right before the plant is in full bloom (though this is

not always the case, mint family plants are sometimes more potent while in flower). Use

the same discretion you would at the grocery store while shopping for greens – are the

leaves colorful? Is there little insect damage? Are they alive, vital, and healthy?

Leaves are generally ripe for harvest right before the plant is in full bloom, as seen on this parsley plant.

Buds and flowers are best to harvest just as they are opening. Flower buds (think

chive flowers, for instance) are the most potent with flavor as the potential energy inside

gathers and centralizes the active constituents. Most flowers are potent when they are

fully formed but not fully opened. However, if you only have open flowers in front of you,

don’t fret. Just try your best to harvest them in the wee hours of the morning before they

have opened to the sun for the day.

Roots are best dug in the fall and very early spring, when the energy of the plant is still

stored in the bulb/rhizome/root (think ginger, garlic, horseradish). As spring and summer

play out, the energy of the plant is sent upwards to nourish the stem, leaves, and

flowers, leaving the root less potent. Roots are best dug with a tool like a hori hori,

spade, or broadfork.

Processing Pointers

Garbling is what it’s called when we clean up our herbs and remove the unwanted parts

from the parts we want to process. Once you’ve harvested and garbled, you may want

to dry some of your herbs to preserve them for the future. Drying herbs is easy, but it

does present some challenges. Many volatile oils and constituents which provide flavor

with their herbs are destroyed by heat. Drying plants in temperatures over 110 degrees will cause these compounds to dissipate. Humidity is another challenge when drying plants (though not for us in Colorado :-).

Tips for Drying Herbs:

• Store them in a steadily warm area with a temperature of around 90-100 degrees, if possible.

• Find a space with minimal humidity – the less humidity, the better!

• Ensure the space gets good airflow.

• Provide protection from direct sunlight (this could even mean dark colored glass – cobalt blue is more expensive glass, but it will help prevent oxidation).

  
  

The traditional method for drying herbs entails hanging them in small bundles to air-dry

for a few days, but you can also use a basket or screen to dry herbs. As long as they

have good, dry airflow, the water content will evaporate. When herbs are properly dried,

their qualities will last for at least a year, and sometimes much longer.

Freezing is another easy option for preserving your harvest. Most herbs retain their

potency, color, and taste when frozen fresh. Some will lose their color but remain full of

flavor (basil, for instance, loses its color and texture when frozen, but remains flavorful

for preparations where color would not be noticed, like a soup or tea).

You can freeze herbs chopped up or whole in ziploc bags. You could also puree them

with a touch of water or fully in olive oil and freeze them in ice cube trays. For example,

stinging nettle +water puree lasts forever in the freezer and retains all the medicinal

qualities of the fresh plant. Parsley chopped up and frozen in olive oil/butter makes a

quick and easy start to any meal you’re cooking. Once the purees are frozen, pop them

out and keep them in ziplocs in the freezer. You can even do blends of ready-made teas

that you can just plop into a mug and pour hot water on for instant almost fresh tea all

year round.