Harvesting: herbs

Where to grow herbs 282 Caring for herb plants 284 Harvesting herbs for drying... 

A guideline is set out below to which one can work when harvesting herbs for magic. The care spent on the picking of a plant is vitally important. As has been proven by Kirlian photography, a healthy plant has intense, dynamic, vital energy in and surrounding it. In fact, a plant has an aura just as animal life, and this vital force must be captured to make any alchemical experiment worthwhile. 

Natural The prime distillation of the leaves and flowering tops of the freshly harvested herb... 

API consisting of comminuted or powdered herbs Collection of plants and/or cultivation and harvesting Cutting/ comminuting Physical processing. and packaging... 

Plotto, A., Turmeric post-production management for improved market access for herbs and spices. Compendium on post-harvest operations, http //www.fao.org. 

As far as herbs go, elder is easy to harvest, providing an abundance of food and medicine with a minimum of effort. It is a joy to collect the delicious and useful parts of elder. Be careful not to disturb animals that may be dwelling in the elder. The wise person always asks permission before collecting from this tree. 

Saint-John s-wort was used in ancient Greece and medieval Europe, where it was believed to ward off evil spirits. Its name derives from wort, the Old English word for herb, and the fact that it was harvested in Europe on the eve of St. John s day (June 24th) and burned to purify the air (Fleiligenstein and Guenther 1998). Traditional uses include treatment of depression, insomnia, enuresis, and anxiety. Modern use has focused on its antidepressant effects and possible antiviral effects for treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (FIIV) (Fleiligenstein et al. 1998) (table 7.3). There has been some interest in its antiglioma effects as well (Couldwell et al. 1993). 

Always remove flowers if you want to harvest the maximum quantity and quality of leaves. Pinch out growing tips to encourage bushy growth, and cut out any plain shoots on variegated herbs. Established clumps of perennials are best divided (see p.l93) every two to three years, in spring or fall. 

Allow perennial herbs to become established before harvesting them. This will usually be in or after the second year of growth. Never harvest from plants that are struggling to grow. 

Herbs harvested for drying need to be collected with as little moisture on them as possible. A dry, warm, but not too sunny day provides ideai conditions. The ideal time is after overnight moisture has dissipated but before strong sunlight has caused the voiatiie oiis to evaporate. In most cases this is around midmorning, depending on the climate and weather conditions. 

Many Chinese herbal species currently are unavailable commercially in North America. However, hundreds of Chinese medicinal herbs commonly used in China also can be found in natural habitats in North America. The majority have a phyletic relationship with either the same species or the same genus of Chinese herb (see Tables 3 4). Some of the principal ingredients in Chinese herbs can be extracted from related plant species in the West. Thus, it may be possible to substitute Chinese herbs with more readily available herbs in the West. Moreover, these North American plants are, or can be, cultivated, harvested, and processed under proper management that will ensure their safety, quality, and efficacy. 

Some control can be built in by specifying minimum contents of actives, but this standard is prone to downward revision for reasons of commercial expediency in times when the harvest yields levels of actives that are mainly below the specification. At such times, it is likely that parcels of the herb meeting a particular specification will carry a price premium. 

The commercial products of St. John s wort are derived from the dried flowering tops or aerial parts of Hypericum perforatum L. they are harvested shortly before or during the flowering period. Hypericum preparations include the dried herb (chopped or powdered), tea infusion, liquid extract, dried (hydroalcoholic) extract, oil, and tincture. 

At home, a few hours later, the front door opens and Raoul walks in, arms full of a large basket of freshly harvested kale, greenhouse tomatoes, lettuce, green garlic, and herbs. 

Biggs, M., McVicar, J., and Flowerdew, B., The Complete Book of Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit The Definitive Sourcebook for Growing, Harvesting and Cooking, The Book People, St. Helens, U.K., 2003. 

Freshly cut coriander leaves are one of the most widely used culinary herbs, the dried leaves being less popular. Leaves are often cut from plants subsequently harvested for seed and in India it was found that one cutting generally had no effect, but two reduced seed yield. Some cultivars can be cut more often than others and still produce a reasonable seed yield. 

Smallfield, B.M., Perry, N.B., Beauregard, D.A., Foster, L.M. and Dodds, K.G. (1994) Effects of post harvest treatments on yield and composition of coriander herb oil. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 42(2), 354-359. 

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