Originally Posted by
Prism99
Once the plant is a decent size you simply harvest a few stems at a time, leaving the rest of the plant to continue growing. For basil it's a good idea to trim several stems at a time to encourage branching. You can put the stems in water in the frig to keep the leaves fresh longer. Same with rosemary and thyme. Do not use the stems for cooking; just strip off the leaves.
You can use the tender stems of thyme but not the tough ones. Rosemary is great; once it's stalks get big enough, you strip the leaves off of them and use them as shish kabob sticks; talk about flavor. My rosemary goes all winter long and its about 4 feet tall and about the same around; only because I just did a major cutting back on the bush. My sage also now has a thick tree like stalk since it's lasted for over 3 yrs now, year round. Herbs are great, I even make my own herb de province because I don't like what is sold, mine has lots more in it and so much more flavor.