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    Home » Blog » Gardening

    How to Harvest Herbs from Container Gardens

    Published: Jul 6, 2011 · Modified: May 11, 2022 by Tiffany Dahle · This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Learn how to harvest herbs from a container herb garden. Easy tips for harvesting basil, rosemary, chives, dill, mint, thyme, and more.

    A collection of herb containers in a patio garden.

    Fresh herbs are the first thing I plant in my vegetable container garden each spring.

    Many herbs love the slightly cooler weather and thrive through spring and early summer.

    Though fresh herbs are so easy for even beginner gardeners to grow, knowing how to harvest the herbs for using in a recipe was the thing I found to be most confusing when I first got started.

    Each herb plant has a slightly different way you should harvest the herbs, so here is a guide to help you know just when and how to cut the herbs for your kitchen!

    Jump to:
    • Harvesting Basil
    • Harvesting Chives
    • Harvesting Cilantro
    • Havesting Dill
    • Harvesting Thyme
    • Harvesting Rosemary
    • Harvesting Mint
    • How to Store Fresh Herbs After Harvesting
    • 💬 Comments
    • Patio containers show growing lettuce and herbs.
      Vegetable Container Gardening Ideas: Tips for Beginners

    Harvesting Basil

    The most important thing to remember about harvesting basil is don't let the basil plant get too tall or flower.

    Once the basil plant grows the tiny white flowers at the end of each stalk, the basil leaves will become tough and turn bitter.

    Instead, harvest your basil plant frequently by pinching off the largest leaves with your fingers or trimming the stems back with a scissors.

    In the early days I pinch; as it grows taller, I cut.

    The plant will continue to sprout fresh leaves and provide basil for several weeks.

    A pot of fresh basil in a patio garden filled with vegetables.

    Harvesting Chives

    Chives are one of my favorite herbs to grow in my container garden. I find millions of ways to use them.

    Harvesting chives is as easy as "cutting its hair."

    Gather a handful of the green stalks with one hand and use a scissors to trim them towards the base of the plant. Leave a couple of inches for the plant to regrow like you would if you were cutting your grass.

    Chive Blossoms

    If you're wondering if chive blossoms are edible, the good news is they absolutely are!

    If your chives plant sprouts purple flowers, you can simply cut them off and discard or you can use these onion-flavored blossoms as a way to decorate a salad or other savory dish.

    A purple chive blossom is growing on a fresh chives plant in an herb container garden.

    Harvesting Cilantro

    Cilantro loves heat and sunshine and once you start to grow it, the plant will explode with growth every few days. This is great news if you enjoy making fresh homemade salsa!

    When harvesting cilantro, it is important to remember to keep up with the trimming or the plant will get too big and the leaves will turn bitter.

    Trim the entire plant down to about ⅔ of the original height leaving some leaves at the bottom for your cilantro plant to use to grow again.

    A row of herb pots are growing on a patio.

    Havesting Dill

    Much like fresh cilantro, a fresh dill plant really takes off once it starts to grow.

    Harvesting dill is so satisfying and easy. Simply use a scissors to trim the stalks towards the base of the plant.

    I prefer to cut the older branches first, letting the newer ones grow before harvest. This helps prevent the tender dill from becoming tough by growing on the plant too long.

    The dill plant will continue to grow fresh sprouts off the base as long as you harvest the older branches allowing more sunshine to land on the newer sprouts.

    Harvesting Thyme

    There are several varieties of fresh thyme that grow really well in a container herb garden.

    Some grow upright and bushy, other varieties prefer to spread like ground cover.

    Harvesting thyme is easy with either variety of plant. Simply use a scissors to trim away the outer branches of the plant.

    Leave enough greens on the plant so it can use the energy to replace the stalks you've trimmed away.

    A fresh thyme plant is growing on a patio.

    Harvesting Rosemary

    This is the slowest growing of the fresh herbs in my garden.

    Rosemary isn't something I use a lot of but I enjoy it as we get closer to fall and I start doing roasts again. I just let it grow and do it's thing.

    Rosemary plants don't spread like other herbs, they grow more like little trees.

    As the branches get taller, the age doesn't affect the flavor. However, the taller the rosemary gets, the more wood-like the stems become.

    If you plan to use rosemary branches as grilling kabobs, this is a great incentive for having patience and not harvesting the rosemary too soon.

    Harvesting Mint

    Be careful if you plan to grow fresh mint, this herb plant tends to spread and take over gardens quickly!

    We grew one plant of it several years ago and still find baby sprouts in my herb garden containers every spring.

    Fresh mint makes a delicious garnish for desserts and is essential for mojitos, so harvesting the mint has excellent results!

    To harvest the fresh mint, simply use a scissors to trim back the branches. The plant will quickly regrow more stalks for you to use soon.

    To use the mint, you want to pluck the leaves from the stalk, the actual branch isn't quite edible.

    Fresh mint plant is growing in a white pot on a patio.

    How to Store Fresh Herbs After Harvesting

    Harvest fresh herbs frequently to keep your container garden plants healthy.

    If you aren't able to use them in a recipe right away, you can store the herb trimmings wrapped in slightly dampened paper towel inside a plastic bag in the fridge for a couple days.

    Frequent harvesting allows your plants to continually produce tender fresh herbs for you to use in a variety of recipes!

    More Gardening Ideas for Families

    • A vase of cut flowers shows some of the fun varieties you can grow in a patio garden.
      How to Set Up a Cut Flower Garden for Beginners
    • A young child's hands are covered in Monarch Butterflies.
      How to Plant a Butterfly Garden with Kids
    • A pair of hands paints a wooden birdhouse and a few picture books about birds in a collage.
      10 Picture Books About Birds
    • Kid-made garden markers are in pots of fresh herbs.
      Flower Garden Markers Made with Recyclables

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    1. Jenna

      April 16, 2013 at 8:44 pm

      Thank you tons!!!! Im determined to earn my green thumb this year & i appreciate your blog!!!!

      Reply
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      December 02, 2011 at 10:46 am

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    3. herbal incense legal

      November 02, 2011 at 3:33 am

      I think you have mentioned some nice tips for gardening i am too interested in gardening.Thanks for your suggestions

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    4. best herbal incense

      October 23, 2011 at 5:53 pm

      I also like gardening of herbs and also I am very much interested in knowing more about plantation of these kind of herbs.
      Can you please share some more tips for the gardening of Rosemary?

      Reply
    5. Zina

      July 06, 2011 at 10:12 am

      Thanks for the chives tip. I need to cut my hair!

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Growing Little Gardeners says:
      March 27, 2013 at 9:34 am

      [...] Looking for more great ideas for growing your own veggies? Check out my tips for growing vegetables in a container garden and my favorite tips on harvesting and cooking with fresh herbs. [...]

      Reply
    2. Vegetable gardening in containers » Peanut Blossom says:
      March 26, 2013 at 8:05 am

      [...] the herbs so much, I might double the number of plants of these same varieties next year. I shared how to harvest them the other day and more recipes featuring them will be coming over the next few weeks so stay [...]

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Tiffany!
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