Midsummer day’s dream: Using herbs at their peak

By Maureen Gilmer, Scripps Howard News Service

They call it midsummer’s day, the summer solstice or simply the “longest day of the year.” Under any name, June 21 marks the point when days cease to grow longer. The sun sets sooner each evening and the natural world senses this change in the environment.

Old European pagans considered June 21 a pivotal day, and even William Shakespeare wrote “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” inspired by the magical folklore surrounding this auspicious occasion.

Healers, witches and housewives traditionally harvest their herbs on this date or shortly thereafter. This time in the season marks the point at which the alkaloids and essential oils in the plants are at their greatest concentration. These natural chemicals in the plants are responsible for the fragrance and flavor we desire in our herbs.

What makes the herbs so fragrant is the oils concentratred within the stems, leaves and sometimes even the flowers. These oils are highly volatile, so the moment a sprig is cut or the leaves are crushed, the oil begins to evaporate into the warm summer air. Therefore, the key to harvesting midsummer herbs is to handle them with great care. Careful harvesting will ensure the plants will retain their oil content. In the ancient Hungarian perfume-rose fields, protecting oils from evaporation was vital to the harvest, so women picked the flowers all night long to eliminate oil loss.

Time your harvest well

Growing backyard herbs is a great way to save money, because you will have a renewable supply of herbs, thus reducing your dependence on store-bought herbs. Harvest them in the early-morning hours and use a flat basket or tray so there is minimal crushing of the leaves.

Once they’re indoors, wash the cuttings well. Often little bugs or worms are on those leaves, and if they aren’t removed, they continue to eat the leaves while they are drying. As soon as the cuttings are clean, shake the remaining water from the sprigs and lay them out to dry on a towel in the shade for an hour or two. Once dry, bundle your herbs by their stems. Use wire or a piece of twine to tie a loop to the stems to make them easier to hang. If you have herbs that produce material unsuitable for hanging bundles, then use the window-screen technique. A screen allows air to circulate so leaves and flowers will scatter evenly over its surface. This technique works best if suspended from wires or the four corners of the screen are propped up by boxes.

Herbs dry best in a cool, dark or shady place with good air circulation. This is often indoors  to prevent new bugs from finding a home in the drying bundles. This is also the reason why herbs were often dried in the kitchen so they could be inspected daily for insects. Avoid placing the herbs where they could be exposed to sunlight, heat and wind. A good place to store the herbs is near the hearth or wood stove, which can protect the herbs in wet climates.

Do not neglect your plants after the harvest because they will still be growing vigorously. If well-fed and well-watered, herbs such as oregano spread out, the perennials will produce new growth points, and new shoots will rise to replace the old ones. With the late summer’s growth, you will have plenty of fresh herbs to use in the kitchen for the rest of the season.