any people have asked me when the best time is to harvest herbs. I tell them that it depends on what part of the plant you need. Root, leaf, flower, seed, bark, and fruit are each harvested at different times of the year, as well as different times of the day. And besides wanting to know when to harvest herbs, folks also want to know what to do with them once they’re harvested. There are several different ways to process and store them.
The following is what I’ve learned from other books, through personal experience, and from my own intuition. I have used many methods over the years, some of which I’ve streamlined and some of which I’ve expanded upon.
First Things First
Naturally, you want to select plants that are free of sprays and auto emissions; I can’t stress this often enough. Dust isn’t exactly desirable either. (I’m assuming your garden plants won’t have any of these issues.) In addition, if harvesting from the wild, you should leave at least half of the plants intact, unharvested, in order for them to replenish themselves for the following years. A few years ago, I learned about the life cycle of a local plant, Lomatium dissectum, the root of which we dig and tincture for lung congestion, very powerful and used in small quantities. Well, I found out that some of the larger roots could be up to forty years old! So we restricted how often we harvest (every few years) and from where (several different stands) so we don’t deplete the local population. Oh yeah, and we talk to the plant first before harvesting. No, I’m not kidding. My own personal ritual is to say a prayer of thanks to the spirit of the plant for giving itself to us. I also leave some sort of offering, a snippet of hair maybe, or even a bit of natural fertilizer if appropriate. This is where intuition comes into play; don’t be afraid to use yours. What do you think the plant would appreciate?
I’d like to add here that these methods are for harvesting wild herbs for your own personal use, not for selling commercially. If that’s what you’re into, I suggest you check with your local ranger district and see what rules and regulations apply to the commercial harvest of forest and range plants. I’ve seen a lot of abuse over the years in the form of erosion and the destruction of plants and native grasses from people driving their ATVs where they don’t belong, picking berries and mushrooms for money. Most of these folks are not harvesting with any heartfelt commitment to preserving nature or anything else. You might want to get in touch with renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar and her organization United Plant Savers for more information about the ecological and ethical harvesting of wild plants for commercial use. Another good resource to learn about ecologically sound harvesting methods is Gregory L. Tilford’s The EcoHerbalist’s Fieldbook: Wildcrafting in the Mountain West, which focuses on wild plants of the western United States.
Roots and Other Underground Parts
When you harvest a root, you are taking the whole plant, which means it won’t grow back. The exceptions to this are plants such as wild ginger, in which case the “root” is actually a rhizome, or underground stem, and whatever breaks off usually grows back, especially if the root crown is replanted; Oregon grape root is another such example. A plant such as dandelion, however, will be taken whole. Most people aren’t worried about depleting the dandelion population, though, or burdock, bramble, or comfrey, for that matter. Truth be told, I have yet to see comfrey die out, even after being inadvertently rototilled with the rest of the garden—it just makes more comfrey plants.
So, when do you dig up roots anyway? Either early spring or late fall, and early in the morning. The reason? Plants have periods of rest, and when they are resting, the root is the most energized part of the plant. Early spring and early morning, the plant is just beginning to awaken, and the carbohydrate is still in storage (the root is the storage center of the plant). In the fall, part of the summer’s growth has gone back to feed the root in order to continue the cycle and come back the following year. If you harvest in mid-summer, for example, you’ll get a root that is less potent, because the plant is more interested in ripening seeds then. One advantage to fall harvesting is that you’ve been able to locate the desired plant(s) by identifying its more obvious parts, i.e., the flowers and leaves, and maybe visiting it a few times to let it know your intentions—sort of like a new puppy. You could also make note of the plant’s location in the fall with a ribbon or something and go back to it again in the spring, when its “juices” will be fresh and clear.
Leaves
The leaf of a plant is an energetic “receiver.” There is a magical process called photosynthesis, whereby the leaves, via the green substance called chlorophyll, manufacture food using energy from the sun: they miraculously synthesize carbohydrates for the plant from carbon dioxide (in the air) and water, putting pure oxygen back into the air. Even houseplants add oxygen to a home; the more the merrier (though I actually know someone who can kill an air fern, but I won’t mention any names). Because the leaves receive most of their energy during full sunlight, you should harvest them midday and as near as possible to when the flower is in bloom.
Flowers
At peak florescence, or flowering, the visible parts of a plant (including the leaves) are at full potency, and it practically vibrates with energy; if you watch long enough, you can just about see it breathe. So, again, midday is the best time to harvest flowers, when they are stretching their fullest to the sun. Just before all the flowers have opened is best too, because as the flowers fade, the energy goes toward reproduction, or seed making, and the potency is reduced. For example, cutting stalks of mint just as the flowers bloom is ideal because both the leaf and flower are at optimum potency. If you are harvesting individual flower heads, such as red clover or violet, these should be taken when fully open, when their fragrance is most intense; in the case of roses, take only the petals and not the seedpod, otherwise you’ll take autumn’s rosehips.
Fruits (Which Are Technically Plant Ovaries)
Speaking of rosehips, or elderberries or hawthorn berries, these should be picked when just becoming perfectly ripe, not overripe. You don’t want them turning into wine in your drying basket or food dehydrator … or do you? If you are going to use them fresh, as in a tincture (or even in pies or jams), fully ripe is good, but if you are going to dry and store them, you don’t want them too squishy. Some people say these fruits taste best after a light frost, which is true for pleasurable eating, but I think they dry and store better if harvested before that point. Be sure to give them plenty of air circulation when drying to avoid any mold from forming.
Seeds
If you wait to harvest the seed until it’s completely mature, it may have lost some of its potency. The seed is the life-center of a plant, the germ for the next generation. An overripened seed, while certainly not dead, is not as energized as a just-on-the-verge-of-ripening seed. This is important in aromatic culinary seeds such as dill or fennel; harvest the seed heads midday, before the seeds are ready to fall off—in other words, slightly underripe. They will fully ripen after being harvested if left on the head; tie the stems in bunches and hang them upside down, perhaps with a brown paper bag loosely tied around the actual heads to catch any falling seeds and to keep the dust off. These culinary seeds are remedial as well (see “S is for Spice Rack Remedies,” page 255). Their aromatic quality contributes to their potency; therefore, you want to catch them at their peak.
Bark (and I Don’t Mean “Woof”!)
I don’t often harvest tree bark, but should you desire to do so, springtime is best, when the sap is fresh and running. Remove a small branch from the tree with a saw or sharp loppers. Then remove the whole bark with a hefty knife, and scrape off and keep the fleshy inner bark, which is the medicinal substance and is often red, pink, or orange, from the rough outer bark. This may actually take some doing, but be patient. Do not take any bark from the main trunk, for, unless you plan to cut it down for whatever reason, this will damage or even kill the tree—bad karma! Check out page 299, “X is for Xylem & Phloem,” to learn more about the inner workings of tree bark.
Now What?
So there you are with some nice bunches of mint, a quart of St. John’s wort flowers, a basket of rosehips, several strands of Oregon grape root, wondering what to do next. Again, that depends on what part of the plant you’ve gathered.
In Bunches
In the case of stemmy plants like alfalfa, mint, yarrow, oregano, and so on, the simplest and most effective way is to tie them up in small bunches or bind the stem ends with a rubber band (which works well as the herbs dry because of the stretch factor) and hang them in a dry, dust-free, semi-dark place. Hang them from the rafters, suspended wire or clothesline, or a wooden clothes-drying rack. Even decorative flower arrangements can be gathered in bunches and dried this way.
On Screens
You can use recycled screen panels (well washed and dried) or buy or make new ones to dry herbs. You can prop the screen up between two chairs or balance them on the rungs of the above-mentioned clothes-drying rack. This method works well for large, thick, or heavy plant matter, such as split and quartered roots, dill weed fronds, large mullein leaves, or even calendula flowers. Spread out the herbs evenly so they don’t touch and so there is plenty of air circulation between them. An oscillating fan is a useful but not necessary piece of equipment you can use to add air movement to the situation. In fact, air circulation is the most important factor in drying herbs, much more so than heat, which, if excessive, can compromise the potency of the herbs.
A Tisket, a Tasket
You can dry ’em in a basket. Take flowers such as red clover, chamomile, or marigolds, and fruits such as rosehips and hawthorn berries, and spread them in large, shallow baskets. Make sure you toss them around at least once a day for that all-important air circulation. In my experience, rosehips dry better if you split them open using a sharp paring knife; you can cut them in half, or if they’re huge, such as from the Rosa rugosa variety, into quarters; there will be small yellow seeds inside—dry these too, along with the fruit. Sometimes roots are dried in baskets as well.
Not On My Watch
I hear that some folks nuke their herbs and dry them in a microwave oven. Please, please, please! After all the kindness you have shown the plants, after all the effort you have taken to be gentle on the earth, don’t dry your herbs this way! While this method most certainly quick-dries the herb, it destroys all the life force of it, which definitely alters their healing properties. No, I don’t have a microwave oven in my home; I don’t even have a cell phone.
What About Freshly Harvested Herbs?
If you don’t want to dry your wild or domestic healing plants, I refer you to the Kitchen Apothecary section on page 3 for a multitude of ways to process them into useful homemade concoctions such as syrups, oils, and salves. These are a lot of fun to make, and your friends and family will be grateful that you took the time and energy to produce products to soothe their symptoms as well as their souls.
Trust Yourself
As for the culinary herbs (and some of these do double-duty, as I have pointed out), here’s another chance to use your intuition. Just what will you do with all those elderberries, now that you have a gallon of them? Jam, pie, homemade wine …?