I'm a newbie gardener and recently bought a pot of mint, rosemary, and purple basil. They've grown quite a bit, making it hard to close my window, and I might need to prune them back. I'm unsure how to safely harvest them for cooking and want to make sure they're safe to eat. I'm worried about things like leftover insecticides, insect eggs, or parasites from the environment. I really want to start a community garden project in my neighborhood eventually, but I want to be sure I'm not leading anyone to sickness with what I grow. Any tips?
3 Answers
You're seriously overthinking this! As long as you know what your herbs are, you can eat them whenever you want. There are optimal times for flavor, like before they flower, but if there’s a leaf on your plant, it’s okay to use it. I personally don’t wash my homegrown herbs because they're delicate, but if it makes you feel better, go ahead!
Just give your herbs a good wash when you bring them in. Running them under water will get rid of any dust or bugs. As for harvesting, it's usually fine to cut what you need - just avoid taking off more than a third of the plant at a time so it can keep growing. Mint is pretty resilient; you can cut it back quite a bit and it’ll bounce back like nothing happened!
Don't stress too much! Washing your herbs (and even store-bought veggies) with water or a bit of soap is a good practice if you're feeling paranoid. Just swish them around in a bowl of soapy water, rinse thoroughly, and you're good to go. And let's be real, the stuff you buy in stores can be just as questionable, if not worse! You're more likely to get sick from cross-contamination than from your own garden herbs.
Exactly! And remember, little bugs won’t hurt you - your stomach can handle a lot more than we think.
I agree! Just because something is from a store doesn’t mean it's cleaner. Plus, if you're growing your own, you're more in control, which is a great feeling.