Harvesting tomato plants and herbal roots

Harvesting tomatoes and hanging the rest upside down to ripen on the vine

Fall is here! That means harvesting and/or winterizing plants. We are expecting freezing temperatures this week so in anticipation of that, we pulled out our tomato plants and hung them upside down in the garage. We’ve done this for several years and it seems to work very well. The green tomatoes will continue to get some nutrients from the vines until the vines completely die and the tomatoes ultimately will ripen on the vine up until that point.

Harvesting tomatoes, peppers, melons, herbs and roots!

We also pulled out our bell pepper plants and harvested the remaining bell peppers, along with the remaining basil and melons.

Our garlic and onions are covered and ready for winter. That just leaves our sweet potatoes that need the vines to die back and then we will dig them up.

We do have more herbs as well and have covered the rosemary, oregano, lavender, sage, bee balm, and lemon balm. Our thyme and other herbs seem to be hardier here.

Harvesting comfrey roots

I’ve also harvested some comfrey, dandelion and marshmallow roots. It is best to harvest medicinal roots in the fall (or very early spring) because the life energy (sugars and nutrients) flow back down to the roots where the energy is stored for the winter. In the spring, the sap starts to flow back up to create and feed the leaves.

Harvesting dandelion roots

Another tip that I learned in my herbalism class is that if the season is wet, wait until a dry spell. Wet roots are soggy, hard to dry, and not as concentrated in their sap and juices. Also, don’t soak roots to clean them. This will make drying harder and also dilutes the precious nutrients. Use a vegetable scrub brush and a little water to clean away the dirt. When cleaning comfrey, never scrape off the outer black skin as it contains valuable ingredients.

Air drying comfrey and dandelion roots

To dry roots, slice thinly into carrot-like pieces. Drying in the full sun is best and usually takes about two to three weeks to completely dry. To test if they are dry, they should crack and not bend.

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