Harvesting herbs

[Thalocean2]

Is it too late to harvest and dry oregano and basil that's flowered?

Thanks, Laura B.

[Frogleg]

There's nothing toxic about the leaves of herb plants after they've flowered. Basil, an annual, tends to put out few if any leaves once it's begun flowering and on my plants, at least, the leaves begin to yellow and decline. But they're still basil leaves and fragrant and useful. Dried basil is a poor substitute for fresh, so I have no experience with the difference between the dried version of pre-bloom lushness and post-bloom decline. Oregano is a perennial, so you don't want to "harvest" to the extent of digging up and drying the whole plant, or even clipping *all* the leaf stems. In moderate climates, you may have fresh oregano available through the winter.

[Phisherman]

We have (different kinds of) oregano growing year round. Harvest basil before the frost hits. Read up on specific herbs to find the best time to harvest--that's when the flavor is usually the strongest.

My Italian flat-leaf parsely only has small withered leaves left on it with LOTS of flower heads. It normally self seeds, but I'd like to start some new plants now for winter harvesting to use in soups.

[GrampysGurl]

One year I was so far behind in everything right before the first frost I chopped all my hebs don and tied them all together and put them in the furnace room to dry... I laid newspapers below it and all winter would go down and crumble what I needed onto a plate... It worked.

Colleen

Zone 5 Connecticut

[GrampysGurl]

I have to agree.... fresh basil is my very favorite herb. It along with garlic goes into pretty much everything I cook. Zone 5 Connecticut.