Important Tips on Using Herbs from Your Home Herb Garden
It is not easy to grow your own herb plants in your home garden because this requires you a lot of effort for the herbs to grow and flourish. But if you really take time to care for the herbs, they will also give a lot of advantages because they have so many uses.
Proper season and timing is a very important factor in harvesting your own herbs. Herbs are best harvested during dry season because fewer oils are produced by the herbs during wet season. In harvesting, inspect for those damaged leaves and insects penetrating the plant. You should also get only a part of the plant and not the entire of it if you plan to harvest the herb. Remember not to take more than one third of the foliage of the plant because they need a huge amount of foliage to re-grow well. Upon harvesting the herbs, it does not mean that you have to use them at once but you can preserve them, keep it in the refrigerator for future use.
As I have said earlier, harvested herbs do not need to used immediately but you can preserve them for future use. There are three ways in preserving a certain herb. One is by drying. To dry herbs you only need six to twelve stems to bundle together and without any foliage near the base of the stems. You can also dry leaves by using a screen or a rack to placed the leaves. Obligate yourself to turn the herbs you are drying every now and then for a proper drying. Some growers use dehydrators, ovens but these are less effective in drying. Another way of preserving is freezing. This is a simple way because you just have to cut the herbs into pieces, placed on a baking paper, put it in the refrigerator and once they are frozen, you can place them together in a bag and let it store for future use. Last way of preserving is by using a medium may it be a salt or vinegar. How is this done? Chop herbs and placed it in a container covered with vinegar and keep it for few months. On the other hand, you can also use flavored vinegar by alternating herbs onto it and if they are already dry, separate the brown herb from the salt and keep it in an airtight container.
Some owners of herb use the herbs directly after it has been harvested. But be careful when preparing fresh herbs because insects might be present in any of their part. Wash it carefully with cool water and two tablespoons of salt because the salt will drive the insects away without damaging the herb.
As a golden rule from using herbs from the home herb garden; different types of herbs for many different uses have to be examined. Each different type of herb in the home herb garden has its own list of instructions on how to use, harvest, and chop them. Make sure to research the specific type of herb you are dealing with in your home herb garden to use it correctly.
Jack Grant is an herb garden lover and cultivated his passion in Italy. Get the secrets on how to cultivate your own Home Herb Garden and get FREE tips. Click here.
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