Planting herbs of your own in your home herb garden really has a lot of advantages. Herbs have a lot of uses to those herb growers. Although engaging yourselves in growing herbs requires extra effort for them to grow and flourish and will give you your expected outcome.

In order to use the herbs from a home herb garden you will need to harvest them first. Timing is a huge factor. The wind and the heat can disperse the essential oils of the herbs. You should choose a calm and dry morning during midsummer to enter your home herb garden and harvest your herbs. It is a fact that fewer oils are produced by the herb on extremely wet days. Harvest the herbs from your home herb garden just after the dew has dried form the leaves right before the flowers open. Harvesting the herb does not mean removing the entire plant. At this point, you are just taking a certain amount of growth for use. You do not need to use the herbs from the home herb garden that you are harvesting at the time that you pick them. You can preserve them to use later. Be careful not to take more then one third of the plants foliage at one time. The plant will need a good amount of foliage to re-grow well. Owner of a home herb garden also should inspect the plant for insects and damaged leaves before you harvest it.

Typically owner of a home herb garden know that there are three ways to preserve their herbs for later use; drying, freezing, or preserving them in a medium like salt or vinegar. In order to dry herbs you need to bundle six to twelve stems together and remove any foliage near the base of the stems. You can secure the bundle with string. The home herb garden enthusiasts protect the bundle in a cool location away from sunlight. If you are looking to dry individual leaves you can place them on a screen or a rack. Remember to turn them often in order for them to dry properly. Some people who owning a home herb garden have turned to using appliances like dehydrators, ovens or microwaves to dry herbs as well although these are less satisfactory ways. Freezing herbs is a fairy simple way to preserve herbs. Cut the herbs into inch pieces and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Once the herbs are frozen, you can place them together in a bag and store them in the freezer until use. The third way to preserve herbs in home herb gardens is through a medium. For instance, you can cover herbs like chopped mint, basil or tarragon with vinegar and it will be preserved for several months. Or you can make a flavored salt to preserve herbs by alternating layers of fresh herbs between salt. When completely dry separate the brown herb from the flavored salt and store it in an airtight container.

If you are using the fresh herbs right away after it has been harvested, you should see to it that you wash it with a cool water and two tablespoons of salt because there is a possibility that insects are present in the herb and the salt will drive them away without damaging the plant. To dry the herb, remove it from the water and place them in a salad spinner.

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 perfected his skills in Italy. Get the secrets on how to cultivate your own Home Herb Garden and get FREE tips. Click here.