On 15 Apr 2004 11:54:07 -0700, (hjl) wrote:

to promote new growth of herbs, i heard that you're supposed to
harvest herbs by pinching, as opposed to cutting. anyone know if
that's true?

(I thought we went through this last year, but couldn't find the
thread in Google. )

You "pinch" off tips of some plants to promote branching. You also
"pinch" off the flower buds of basil to both promote branching and to
prevent it from 'bolting' or putting all its energy into making seeds.

Harvesting herbs is mostly a matter of gathering leaves or stems of
leaves. Some (sage, thyme, parsley) are soft enough to be separated
easily by hand. If you're harvesting a bunch of stuff, or things with
hardish stems, use scissors for convenience.

The terms 'pinch' and 'cut' are not specific to any particular method
of harvesting. You can pinch, cut, clip, gather, sever, or pluck as
you fancy.