When and how to harvest culinary herbs for the best flavour, how much to take without weakening the plant, and how to collect herb flowers and seeds for the kitchen.
The short answer¶
Pick herbs little and often, mid-morning after the dew has dried but before the heat of the day, and cut just above a pair of leaves or a leaf joint so that the plant branches. Never take more than about a third of a plant at once, and for most leafy herbs the aroma is at its strongest just before the plant flowers. Regular picking is itself a form of pruning: a well-harvested basil or mint plant is bushier and more productive than one left alone.
Why timing matters¶
A herb's flavour lives in volatile oils held in tiny glands on and in the leaves (see aroma compounds). Their concentration varies with the plant's stage of growth, the weather and the time of day. Oil levels in many aromatic herbs tend to be high in the morning once leaves are dry and to fall as volatile oils evaporate in the midday sun. Leaves picked wet are more likely to bruise and go mouldy, and are a poor choice for drying.
As a plant moves into flowering, it diverts energy to flowers and seed; in many leafy herbs the leaves then become smaller and tougher and the flavour shifts. Pinching out flower buds as they appear on basil, mint and oregano prolongs the leafy stage. For drying in quantity, the traditional moment is just as flower buds are forming.
Herb by herb¶
| Herb | How to harvest | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| basil | Pinch out the top pair of leaves above a node | Start once the plant has 3–4 pairs; pinch flower spikes |
| parsley | Cut whole outer stems at the base | Leave the central growing point |
| Coriander | Cut outer leaves, or whole plants when young | Short cropping window before bolting |
| chives | Cut a handful of stems to 3–5 cm above the soil | Regrows within weeks; flowers are edible |
| mint | Cut stems to just above a pair of leaves | Cut hard in midsummer for fresh growth |
| thyme | Snip soft green tips | Avoid cutting into bare wood |
| rosemary | Snip 5–10 cm sprigs | Available year round; light picking in winter |
| sage | Pick individual leaves or tips | Trim after flowering |
| Bay | Pick mature leaves | Any time; older leaves have more flavour than soft new ones |
| dill, chervil | Cut feathery leaves from the outside | Sow successionally for a steady supply |
| French tarragon | Cut stems from early summer | Cut back by half in midsummer to encourage new growth |
| lovage, sorrel | Pick young leaves | Older leaves are coarser; sorrel toughens after flowering |
Woody herbs: pruning and harvesting together¶
rosemary, thyme, sage and lavender can be harvested whenever you need a sprig, but they also benefit from one purposeful trim a year, usually straight after flowering. Cut back the season's growth by about a third or up to half, keeping to the green, leafy part. Most of these herbs regrow poorly from bare old wood, so do not cut into it. Avoid hard cuts after early September: the soft regrowth that follows is vulnerable to frost.
Big harvests for preserving¶
If you want to dry or freeze a batch, cut in the morning of a dry day, just as flower buds appear, and deal with the harvest promptly. Shake off insects, discard damaged leaves and wash only if dirty (then dry thoroughly). See drying herbs and freezing herbs for methods, and storing fresh herbs for keeping cut herbs in the fridge.
Mint, oregano, tarragon and lemon balm can usually take two main cuts a season — one in early summer and another in late summer — as long as they are watered and allowed to regrow between cuts.
Flowers and seeds¶
Many herb flowers are edible and useful: chives (break the heads into florets), borage (the blue stars, famously in summer drinks), basil, thyme, rosemary, lavender and dill. Pick them freshly opened.
Seeds are harvested once they have turned from green to brown or beige but before they drop.
| Seed | When ready | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Coriander | Late summer, when seeds turn beige | Cut heads, dry in a paper bag |
| Dill | When seeds are flat and brown | As above |
| Fennel | Early autumn, as seeds turn grey-green to brown | Green seeds can also be used fresh |
| caraway | Second summer | Cut stems when seeds darken |
| nigella | When pods are papery | Shake seeds from pods |
| Mustard | When pods yellow, before they split | Pick promptly — pods shatter |
Hang cut seed heads upside down in a paper bag in a dry, airy place for a couple of weeks. The ripe seed falls into the bag. Rub the rest out between your palms, winnow away the chaff by gently blowing or pouring from bowl to bowl in a breeze, and make sure the seeds are completely dry before storing them in a jar. Green coriander seed is also lovely used fresh, straight from the plant.
💡 Leave a few for next year
Letting one or two plants of dill, coriander, chervil or borage go to seed in the garden gives you free seedlings next spring — and seed for the kitchen as well.
Common mistakes¶
- Picking the biggest, top leaves of basil one by one, leaving a bare stalk. Pinch out the growing tip instead.
- Harvesting all of a young plant in its first weeks. Let it establish first.
- Cutting woody herbs hard in autumn, just in time for the frost to kill the new shoots.
- Forgetting to pick at all. An unpicked mint or oregano plant is soon a thicket of flower stems.