How to Harvest Rosemary (Without Killing the Plant) – 7 Tips!

Rosemary harvesting is relatively easy, but it is easy to go overboard and kill the plant! Stay tuned and I’ll go over how not to do that, plus the best time to harvest rosemary, 7 tips on how to harvest it, plus rosemary storing and drying tips.

When To Harvest Rosemary

Good news, rosemary is one herb that you can harvest during the entire growing season. It’s a perennial in the warmer U.S. Zones 7 and up, but can go as low as zone 4, depending on your variety.

That means you can harvest all year in these areas, though I wouldn’t go too crazy on the poor thing during the winter, or right before your first frost.

In cooler zones, you can bring your rosemary indoors over the winter, and you too, can harvest all year.

Can we say indoor grocery store?

Personally, I love being able to walk out to my front yard and snip off a couple herbs for dinner, anytime I want. If you’re looking to do a big harvest and process, though, then there is a best time to harvest rosemary. That’s going to be before your rosemary plant flowers, when the oil content is highest, which is a different time depending on your climate.

I live in 7A in the U.S., and normally mine flowers in the summer. That’s pretty typical for temperate climates. This year, though, mine didn’t start flowering until October, which is more common in hotter areas like the Mediterranean and California. I think that’s because we had a lot of heat waves this year.

Rosemary Harvesting Tips

Rosemary is one of the easier herbs to pick, but here’s some quick tips that will make it faster and more efficient.

1. Use sharp pruners or herb snips to harvest rosemary

Firstly, use the right tool! You can harvest the greener rosemary tips by hand, but really, pruners or some herb snips are what you want. If you harvest daily for meals, like I do, keep a pair near the door closest to your garden.

2. Wear (or don’t wear!) gloves

If you are one of those people who have sensitive skin or are allergic to rosemary oil, you’re gonna want to wear gloves. The oil is pretty intense and you’ll get it all over your hands.

Or, if you’re a freak like me, my alternate tip is don’t wear gloves, just so you can sniff your hands all day like a weirdo.

Yeah.

3. Don’t over-harvest rosemary

Thirdly, don’t go nuts. If you harvest more than 20% of the plant, you’re in danger of killing it, though you might be able to go up to a third in the right situation.

4. Prune rosemary while harvesting

Fourth tip, shape your rosemary while you harvest.

If you think about it, harvesting is really just pruning but in short bursts. So, have a basic idea of how you want to the rosemary to look and prune the excess away in stages.

You can shape it into a topiary, a Christmas tree shape, wider and bushy or more upright. If you want it to spread out more, prune from the top.

In my case, I want to get rid of these branches in my walkway that are falling over anyways and not looking too hot. I also want to give my sage some room here. So I’m going to take these branches in the walkway, and prune on the sides to make it less spread out.

5. Harvest rosemary tips

If you’re looking to use a few sprigs for dinner, harvest the ends of the branches where the stems are still green. That way you’ll be able to chop or eat the entire thing.

6. Harvest longer rosemary branches and remove the leaves

If you plan to use your rosemary as a garnish, for stock, tea, or drying, feel free to harvest woodier branches since you’re not going to eat the stem directly.

To get the leaves off these woodier branches, the trick is to put your fingers, preferably your fingernails, around the stem at the top, and gently pull downward, stripping off the leaves as you go.

7. Harvest wood for rosemary skewers and smoking

The woody rosemary branches also make great wood for smoking meat because of their smell. They’re also great barbecue skewers, which is what I think I’m going to do with mine.

Storing & Drying Rosemary

Once you got your rosemary inside, enjoy! Rosemary is great with meats, seafood,
potatoes and grains, bread, Spanish, French and Italian cuisine, even cocktails.

Remember to wash it before eating or preserving. You can store fresh rosemary in the fridge for several days with the stems in a glass of water.

For longer term storage, it can be air-dried or dried in the microwave, the oven, or my favorite, a dehydrator on the herb setting.

I store my bulk dried herbs in mason jars, and then transfer the smaller quantities to
these cute little customizable spice jars I keep in my kitchen.

For those looking for a more in-depth drying instructions in all these methods, let me know down below if that’s something you’d like to see!

Sources

• Rosemary, University of Illinois
• Rosemary, Rosemarinus officinalis, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Rosmarinus (Rosemary), University of California
• Let’s Preserve: Drying Herbs, Penn State Extension