Unless you live in a very mild region, you have lots to do before winter has its nasty way with the calendula and cilantro. Foremost is harvesting. Fall is also the time to get ready for spring — to prepare tender plants for overwintering and propagate new ones, and to prepare the soil for next year. Hold on to your straw hat because the garden season isn’t done yet!

Bringing In The Sheaves

Just as you harvest different herbs at different times, you collect different parts of your herbs — leaves, stems, flowers, fruits, seeds, and roots — at different times. The timing of your harvest also depends on how you expect to use the herb: to make tea, for example, or to make a wreath or a nosegay. Annuals, biennials, and perennials have their own quirks, but the rules for harvesting are pretty simple and straightforward.

Following are some general harvesting tips:

• Don’t get carried away on harvest day and pile your basket high. Tightly packed, newly cut herbs generate heat. The effect is similar to what happens in a compost pile when you add a big load of fresh grass clippings.
• Use labeled paper bags instead of a basket if you harvest more than one herb at a time. Herbs can look alike once they start to dry.
• Don’t over-handle your harvest. Many herbs bruise easily.
• Don’t rinse your herbs. Dampness invites mold. Dust off dirt and dust specks with a soft brush; if plant leaves are muddy, rinse them off with a garden hose the day before you collect them.
• Pop small amounts of unwashed leaves or sprigs in a plastic bag if you’ll be using the herbs within the next day or two. Leave the bag partly open to prevent mold or rot, and toss it into the refrigerator.
• Keep leaves on their stems if you’re going to dry your herbs.

Leaves And Stems

Don’t be afraid to snap a few stems or pick a bouquet. Most of what you harvest is foliage, whether you’re just grabbing a leaf or cutting armloads. Collect foliage when it’s still tender. If you want herb leaves to use as greens in salads, harvest as soon as the leaves are large enough to be used. Harvest in late morning, after dew has dissipated, but before the day has started to heat up. The oils that make herbs taste and smell wonderful and work medicinally are at their most powerful then.

If you need large amounts of material for a family feast or a major craft project, you can generally harvest up to half of the tops of annual and biennial herbs. After perennials are established — at least a year old — you can take a half or a bit more of their top growth in late spring and another third in midsummer. Six weeks before your expected first frost, resist the urge to pinch more than a leaf or two off your perennial herbs. Perennials are a bit like bears and need time to collect extra “fat” in their roots to survive winter hibernation. In contrast, you can harvest annual herbs up until the moment frost kills them.  ....read more