Rosemary Harvest
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Les Blodgett
Posted on: March 13, 2002

I have planted an herb garden and have used some of the rosemary. I simply pinched off some of the leaves but I am not sure if this is correct since I don’t see any new growth happening. Can you tell me the best way to get my rosemary to produce enough herbs to last me the summer? How often can I pinch off leaves to cook with?

Rosemary does not grow continuosly. It usually rests all winter and the rest is especially long when the plant is wintered indoors outside of its natural range.

When you harvest parts of the plant, make sure that some green leaves remain on the plant so that it can continue to photosynthesize. This means that you have to have enough of a plant(s) that you can harvest for the whole winter without defoliating the entire plant(s). When you harvest is less important than how much you harvest in total between growth spurts.

Put your rosemary into the brightest spot you have, to encourage it to break dormancy as soon as possible in spring.

Back to Growing Herbs | Q & A Index

Copyright © 1997-2024 Otto Richter and Sons Limited. All rights reserved.