How To Keep Herbs Fresh And Fragrant
December 12, 2022
Most herbs have the best flavor and fragrance before flowering. Here are some things to keep in mind to ensure your harvest of fresh and fragrant herbs. Remove any flowers from your herb plants as soon as they appear. Otherwise, your herbs will stop focusing their energy on producing tasty leaves. Once the herb flowers, it also means that its life cycle is about to end.
The herb makes a flower followed by a seed and then dies back. In the early growth stages, the plant puts all its energy into producing leaves and roots. Once the plant has enough roots and leaves, it produces flowers and then seeds. If your herb is in the flowering stage, it does not mean that it will die and not produce any more leaves.
When it’s time to harvest, the best time to do so is in the morning when the sprigs are fresh. Be sure to wash the herb leaves and stems thoroughly when harvesting. If you see flowers appearing on the herb, it means that the plant needs frequent pruning.
Weeds are great competitors for herbs, so better deal with these quickly once you spot them! Using your hands or a garden trowel, carefully remove weeds and their roots to protect your herb’s growth.
Trim or prune the herbs to prevent the stems from becoming woody. Woody stems do not produce leaves. Pruning is best done in spring as the plant produces new growth during this time of the year. Pruning increases the plant's life and helps in prolonging the harvest by a few months.
Sometimes, the herbs get stressed due to extreme heat or drought and produce flowers. To avoid such situations, protect your plant from extreme heat.
