Tips on Harvesting Medicinal Herbs
Herbs are its best when harvested at the right time and place.
I will be sharing you tips on the best location to harvest herbs, when to harvest them and how to harvest them to get the maximum nutrient of the herb.
The 'Where':Herbs are found all over, they grow on the roadside, on the farm field and even on dump sites that are already polluted. So obviously I would not recommend you to harvest from those places. Only harvest herbs from clean areas and where the plant you are harvesting is growing in numbers. I suggest to only harvesting 30 percent or less of the same plant in an area so that you can harvest them some other time if necessary.
The 'When':Morning is the best time to harvest medicinal herbs, when the dew has just dried. You can also harvest the herbs in the evening or during cloudy days, that way it will not be too hot for the one harvesting.
Others would harvest according to the cycle of the moon. Experts in herbal medicine believe that the medicinal herbs that are harvested according to the cycle of the moon are the strongest. So during New moon the roots are harvested and the plants growing above are to be harvested during the full moon.
The herbs are on its extreme when gathered before a thunderstorm occurs. The plants become vibrantly collored and charged during this time, thus giving the potency to the herbs.
The roots are gathered best in the fall. The roots are most potent during this time and the energy and the nutrient of the plant are found on the roots. It is best to get the leaves before the flower blooms because the plant is less potent during the flowering and the seed production stages. Harvest the flower just before it opens fully because it will wilt fast thus it will loose its vitality when picked once they are fully bloomed. Dry days are the best time to harvest the seeds when they are ripe. Timing is difficult because the seeds would scatter during the optimum harvesting time. So be ready as the seeds and watch them carefully. Spring or fall is the best period to harvest the bark especially when the sap is running from the bark.
The 'How':It is very simple to harvest herbs, just like harvesting any plant from the garden. You may need tools for the job to be done easily like shovel for the roots, scissors or pocketknife for hard-stemmed plants and pruning saw for cutting branches from barks.
You have to wash the roots carefully using a vegetable brush. Then the roots have to be cut into pieces and spread in a tray to dry. You can also use a food processor to chop roots. Others dry the roots whole but it is difficult to process them for tea once dried. So pre-dried roots are easy to handle and use. You can hang the plants that you have gathered to dry them but they have to be tied first. You can also spread them on screens or newspapers to dry. You can also put them inside a brown bag then hung them on a clothesline under the heat of the sun but this will only work on low-humid days. You can also dry the plants inside a closed car under the sun. The bark has to be peeled off the tree in thin strips. Using a sharp scissor cut the strips into small pieces. We would need the inner bark but the outer bark can be used as well. Dry them by spreading it on a screen.
Herbs should not be dried with direct sunlight. It is not recommended to oven dry the herb with low temperature unless the weather is quite humid. The herbs may loose its volatile oils easily when under high temperature.
Dried herbs cannot be stored with too much light. Only harvest those that you will need because the herbs have a limited shelf life. If properly stored, leaves and flowers may last one to two years while roots, barks and seed may last up to 3 years or longer.
Label the container of the herb to properly identify them, include the date of harvest or any other information that you may need. Only harvest those that you need to not waste the herbs.