Plant Tissue Culture PPT

Most herbs actually benefit from being regularly cut, so if you are growing culinary herbs in your garden, don't be afraid to use them. Adopting the 'cut and come again' approach not only benefits the plants, it also delays them setting seed and will mean that you have access to deliciously fresh herbs to enhance the dishes you cook. The trick is to pick little and often. This will encourage the plants to put out more foliage rather than flower and then go to seed. Here is a short guide on the best ways to harvest some of the most popular culinary herbs.

Parsley is a great herb to use in fish dishes. When cutting parsley make sure you cut the whole leaf, together with the leaf stalk, cutting it back to where it joins the main plant. Cut only the young tender leaves, as older ones tend to become a little tough. Chives grow in abundance during spring and summer and are tasty snipped finely onto salads. When you are ready to use them, cut right down to the base of the plant. It may be best to grow your chives in pots and have several going at the same time. This will give those you cut down the chance to grow up again for a second cutting.

Basil is a herb much associated with the summer months. So versatile in the kitchen, this most fragrant of herbs can be used in sauces, dips or just sprinkled fresh on salads and pasta dishes. Many varieties of basil are fairly tender and so to guarantee a good crop it might be best to grow it in a greenhouse or in a very sheltered spot in the garden. When harvesting basil, nip out the tips of the plants with your fingers to just above a new pair of leaves. The plant will put out new growth from this point. If you cut back to under a pair of leaves, leaving a short bare stalk, this will simply wither and die off. Rosemary has long been associated with lamb dishes and has a strong pungent flavour. It does tend to get woody with age, so regular harvesting will help to prevent this. Trim shoots of about 10cm in length but avoid cutting back into the woody stems. Rosemary can either be used fresh or hung up to dry in bunches ready for use during the winter months.

If you aren't lucky enough to have the room to create your own herb garden, why not grow a few herbs in garden planters. Choose those herbs you use most in your cooking and place the containers in a sunny spot near to your kitchen door. You will enjoy the luxury of having fresh herbs at your finger tips most of the year round.

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