Newbie to Harvestiing Herbs - suggestions needed please!

[stellinacadente]

Hello...

I have finally been able to get around to plants dome herbs and not having them die on me!!!

So I am at a point where I am asking myself how to harvest and when.

The Herbs I have planted on my deck are:

SAGE
LEMON BALM
DILL
TERRAGON
THYME
ST. JOHN'S WORT
STEVIA
RUE

Also would you have suggestions as to why my camomille, st john's, rue and stevia are not blooming?

[nefyuBB]

Hello...

I have finally been able to get around to plants dome herbs and not having them die on me!!!

So I am at a point where I am asking myself how to harvest and when.

The Herbs I have planted on my deck are:

SAGE
LEMON BALM
DILL
TERRAGON
THYME
ST. JOHN'S WORT
STEVIA
RUE

Also would you have suggestions as to why my camomille, st john's, rue and stevia are not blooming?

I generally just pick them anytime i feel like it .
Whether just to rub them betwist me hands and sniff 'em real good or when a recipe asks for them .
I remember reading somewhere that tarragon is best pick to dry before it flowers , but my memory is foggy here .
I treat it as a rule of thumb to pick herbs for drying and use before it goes to bloom .

I'm cheap so  there is no fancy drying stuff for me , I just choose a hot sunny , before I start plucking the plants , i give them all a good spray to clean them and then give them a good rattling about to dry them up a bit before plucking or cutting what I need .

I've seen some gardeners that like to pull out the plant with all or some roots attached , they then hang it up somewhere sunny inside the kitchen to dry along side braided garlic and kitchsy stuff loike that .

Also keep the dried herbs as dry as you can while at the same time away from light and high temperatures .

I have a great old book on herbs somewhere , I'll have to find it because I've no exposure to the plants you're having problems with .

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I have finally been able to get around to plants dome herbs and not having them die on me!!!
...
STEVIA

Any tips as to where to find the seeds and how can achieve survival?

[Opsa]

I am interested in growing Stevia too, and found this: http://seedrack.com/indiv/stevia.html?gclid=CJSG25CT_psCFYZM5QodgyXD_g and this, which has a growing link: http://www.prairieoakpublishing.com/Stevia_Seeds.php

I agree with nefyoo, you need not be fancy about drying your herbs and many are great fresh. I use my sage and rosemary whenver I like, before, during and after flowering. Some herbs, like basil, taste better before flowering, but you can postpone the flavor change by pinching off the flowers as they develop.

I like to hang herbs in my kitchen in small bundles, upside-down. This is supposed to make the flavor drain into the leaves or something like that. Basically though, I like the way it makes the kitchen look Old World and homey. Sometimes I just leave them there for that reason alone!

Some herbs bloom very late. Some need full sun to bloom. How's the sun where you are growing them?

[Bluenose]

I never bother drying herbs, since they generally seem to grow year round here.  I just go and pick some when I want them for cooking - which is all the time!

I don't worry too much about flowering, most herbs I find will have some stems not in flower at any given time and I just pick those.  I guess I'm pretty lacsidasical about my herb growing but I guess that's one advantage of living in a "Mediterranean" climate.  I don't think about it too much, I just enjoy the flavour of fresh herbs!

[stellinacadente]

Thanks for your help guys! My herbs are on my deck in full sun most of the day...

My Stevia is almost 4 feet tall!!!! I have been thinking on how harvest it because I want to use the powder as a substitute for sugar...

MY daughter has picked up eating the leaves when she wants candy ))

For seeds a good source is reichter.com
they have the biggest selection I have seen...

[Bluenose]

One of my favourite herbs is lemon myrtle, it has a delicious lemony flavour that goes well in many dishes and as a delicious substitute for lemon grass in asian cooking.  It can be grown in a large pot and if kept cropped by taking the leaves for the cook pot will effectively be "bonsia-ed", remaining a small to medium shrub, instead of the towering 30 metre tree it can grow to in the wild.  I am going to plant one this spring.  If snyone is interested I might be able to get you some seeds, subject to checking out the legalities of sending them by post overseass, although I would not be surprised if they're available in the US anyway. 

[Opsa]

Cool! I found only this source online : http://www.horizonherbs.com/product.asp?specific=1418 but it looks like it may be challenging to grow in our climate. Looks like a lovely plant, though.

A friend of mine gave me some rooted Stevia on Friday. She had offered it to me before, but stelli's post reminded me to ask again. What she gave me was a rather spindly rooted plant (her garden gets shade) around 7 inches tall. She regularly breaks off fresh leaves to sweeten tea. I have just found this site on the subject: http://www.stevia-products.com/growing%20stevia.html which has some good hints.

[Bluenose]

My understanding is it needs to be protected from frost, the suggestion I saw was to move the pot under shelter during the cool months.  Of course in the warmer parts of the US, there would be no problems.  So maybe you just need to move to california or Florida! 

[Opsa]

Hmmm... we gots Siblings down there....

I wonder if it can grow indoors during the frosty months.

[Aggie]

Most perennial herbs will move indoors for the winter without too much grumbling, provided you have enough sunlight.  They may go dormant on you, regardless, so I don't think there's a need worry if there's not much growth.

Hmmm...  gotta get my repotting taken care of soon, winter's on the way!

[Opsa]

Update:

My little stevia plant grew well and without any fuss, in fact I forgot all about it for a while, and it didn't mind at all. It bloomed very late- in October! They were tiny white flowers. It had also grown a little sprout alongside the parent plant.

I took two cuttings at the end of last month, potted them, watered them and put them in a window with a clear plastic cup over them to conserve moisture. They grew, and developed a couple of more flowers. the cup is off, and they seem to have rooted, as they are upright and happy. I hope to plant them back out in the garden next spring.

I harvested some of the branches at the same time as the cuttings, and hung them upside down. I'll use them to sweeten tea and the like over winter.

[stellinacadente]

The sad part about moving is that I had to leave all of my herbs behind (for their sake)....

They are in good and loving care, but I miss them dearly... I am wondering if I can pot the perennial ones right now...

after all this is SoCal

what do you guys think?

[Opsa]

Oh, absolutely! This is a good time for that. They may go dormant, but they should sprout again in the spring.

[stellinacadente]

Oh Opsa... I wish I could find herbs in this place...

no nursey sells them... the only option is to buy online....

wondering what do they use their perfect weather for here...