On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:18:09 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Sep 11, 1:56*pm, Captain America wrote:
On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:11:09 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson



wrote:
How do I prune or deadhead? *Herbs

I planted sage, thyme, parsley, basil, *mint, oregano.

And hardly ever use them!! * By the time I remember, I'm
through with the tomato sandwich, e.g.

How much can I, should I, prune to stop these herbs
from roaring away?

I don't want them to go to seed, so will offer some to
neighbors, but it's hard to coordinate schedules.

Your advice appreciated.

Hypatia

Google is your friend -- search for each herb by name with such terms
as "harvesting sage/thyme/etc," "storing sage/thyme/etc." . . .

I used scrap 1X2 lumber and window screen to build several 2 X 4 ft
drying racks.

Wife uses the drying racks to dry apples -- she slices the apples,
spreads the slices on the screens, then we suspend the racks from the
ceiling joists in the garden shed for several days until the apples
are dried. *We use the dried apples in the winter for pies.

Use the same racks to dry herbs. *

-- Sage, thyme, oregano, and basil: *Cut a bunch of each then strip
the green leaves off the stems onto the drying screens. *Hang the
screens in the storage shed ceiling or another warm, dry place. *After
2-3 weeks, use a small blade-type coffee grinder to grind the dried
leaves -- store in dark-coloerd glass bottles and use in cooking.

-- Parsley and basil: *Cut stems with the leaves on. *Wash, pat dry,
stuff into freezer bags, freeze. *When you need parsley or basil in a
recipe, pull out what ever amount you need and chop/grind/mince while
it's still frozen.

-- mint: *Make mint juleps.

Thanks, folks, for those handy suggestions.

But I still need an answer to pruning/deadheading plants, rather
than drying them.

TIA

Hypatia


I cut my herbs throughout the growing season either for immediate use
or for drying. So, I guess you could say that I prune and deadhead
mine all the time.

On the other hand, I went through two growing seasons a few years ago
when I was too busy to spend much time on the garden and pretty much
let the herbs go. Didn't seem to hurt them.

Herbs generally don't take much fussing over -- they tolerate a wide
range of conditions that would be neglect for other plants.

Prune/deadhead them if you have time, if not, don't worry about it.