How to Harvest and Store French Tarragon

French Tarragon, an aromatic anise-flavored herb, is popular for culinary use as well as in scented perfumes, soaps and cosmetics. You can grow it in your garden and harvest it to sell, create your own herb blends for cooking or make your own bath and beauty products. Harvesting and freezing this herb is a quick and simple process.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Scissors
• Soft cloth
• Freezer bags
• Freezer

1. Harvest French Tarragon by removing a third of each branch. The best time to harvest the plant is in July or August of the second year of growth, once it has reached about eight to 10 inches in height. Harvest leaves before they begin to turn yellow in the fall.

2. Pick off damaged leaves and discard.

3. Wash and pat dry the sprigs gently with cool water and a soft cloth.

4. Snip the leaves off each branch with scissors. Handle the leaves carefully to prevent bruising.

5. Cut the leaves, if desired for culinary use.

6. Place the chopped leaves or sprigs in tightly sealed plastic freezer bags and label them.

7. Freeze the bags of leaves until you are ready to use them.

Tips & Warnings

• Allow the branches to grow back for eight weeks before re-harvesting.
• You can also grow French Tarragon in containers indoors, snipping off leaves as you need them.
• French Tarragon loses its flavor quickly when dried, so freezing is the best method for preservation.