● Harvesting tips

○ In the morning is the best time to harvest your herbs; they are most fresh then.
The heat of the day will make them wilt a bit each day. Essential oil content is
highest in morning as well
○ This is a good time to prune them to stimulate their growth
■ “Prune them” by cutting just above a growth node (or point of growth…
usually a V branch off or more is a good place to trim)
○ Some Spices…
■ Turmeric and Ginger can just be pulled straight out of the ground…
cleaned off them ready to go!
○ Lemon Grass… Parsley… oregano… etc
■ Lemon grass can be quickly propagated by using literally just the root.
● For Dehydration
○ If just doing the ‘tried and true' old tyme method, you can just take your bundle of
herbs and hang them upside down in a brown paper bag for about 14 days.
■ You could also do just the leaves and omit the stems for things like
Rosemary or basil if you want to speed up the drying process and you
don’t end up using the stem typically. Of course, it is more difficult to strip
rosemary from leaves, so it's up to you.
■ Lemongrass or longer herbs can be cut into leaf/stalk (stem).
Stems/Stalks can be dehydrated or used in thai cuisine
○ Cut up ginger/turmeric into 1mm or so slices to dry on a sheet. Can do this with
leaved herbs too (leaves taken of stem)
■ Looking for a bit of a “snap” from your dehydrated Ginger/Tumeric
○ Once you have dried herbs/spices, you can save them for rehydrating in a soup
or stew, or you grind up herbs into your own mixes:
■ Homemade italian seasoning, etc
■ You can grind up turmeric or ginger or neither into a nice dust. Up to you!