Glad to see Daisy joined this thread! I need to make my way over to the herb forum myself, I am under-utilizing my herbs. I find herbal information in books hard to interpret, sometimes because the books are really old. So I question goggle and out pops the great responses from Daisy and/or Fatamorgana! See? you two are better than books! Luke_oh I see that Dave answered the question for you. I would only add that I use the peels because I know that nothing has been sprayed on my fruit. Hey I do wash them very well (bird poop on organic fruit is still bird poop....LOL). A couple of other ways to preserve the rind is to use them to make a syrup and filter the rinds away from the liquid, you get candied rinds that way. Just like what you use in marmalade minus the marmalade. I use those in baked products. To use in tea, I just let them sit, cut into convenient size pieces. If your climate is humid maybe a dehydrator would be better, try without and see what you get. I got the idea from the orange flavor in one of my favorite commercial tea blends, all they did was add orange peels! Timing for dill/cucumbers and tomatoes&peppers/cilantro is a real bummer indeed. I freeze a lot of my winter cilantro since I do not want to go to the store just for cilantro when I have everything else for salsa. This works, but as you folks already know, there is no substitute for fresh cilantro. Frozen works pretty well, it looses some flavor, so I just add a little more....;-) I know of another herb named CULANTRO. It is tropical, so it should not require cold weather at all. If you come across it just remember that a little bit goes a long way, it is VERY strong, but has the cilantro taste. I will plant some when i find seed for it. As far as dill goes, well it is my one problematic herb. The rolly pollys (or slugs?) do a number on it usually at night. So I do go to the store for dill when I make dilly bean pickles or some cucumber pickles. This year I am trying another dill variety and so far it seems to be doing better, but still too early to tell. I make pesto (minus the parmesan) and freeze flat in ziplock bags. When I need some I can easily brake a chunk of it. Basil does dry reasonably well too. zabby, the citrus is a mixed blessing. I walk to work, and have been carrying a day pack full of citrus a couple of times a week. I could probably get rid of more, I work in two separate buildings...my coworkers are appreciative of it, so why not? I have also considered calling a food pantry, I might do that if the giant minneola is still loaded by April. Don't get me wrong, I love citrus! I have also been eating citrus fruit every day. Tsatsuma tangerines, navel oranges, and the grapefruits are tasting a lot better this year.

Wow--lots of questions--but I think that's a great thing. Chives. They are a perennial. They won't reseed, but you should be fine in your zone overwintering. If they flower, the flowers are wonderfully edible as well, on salads or whatever, or you can preserve them by drying, making vinegar, or compound butters. I just made a butter with the blossoms and some garlic chives as well that we freeze and pull out to use on corn and veggies. The advice to cut them in thirds is so that you always have some fresh to use. This is if you only want them fresh--you don't have to harvest them. Harvest them by cutting about an inch above the soil line. They can be dried, but chop them finely before drying or you get straw. If you're dealing with small batches and have freezer space, I would just put the stems in a zip bag and freeze them that way--pull and chop and use. Cilantro will bolt (seed) when it gets hot. Collect the seeds too. It does not dry well, and can be frozen, but I tend to not bother because it's so readily available in grocery. I grow it more for the coriander seed which you can get a much higher quality than bought. Cilantro is annual, so you'll need to reseed. You can also do succession seeding next time--plant a small bit, then wait a week and plant a bit more, etc. This way you have different stages and not a huge crop at once. Mint is a perennial. You were right to pot it--it's very invasive. It will come back year after year. I do throw all my containers in a corner of my yard and cover them with straw for the winter to protect them. You can harvest it pretty much any way you want--cut it all off and it will still come back. Or just grab a sprig or couple leaves for tea. It can be dried for tea, or frozen as well in zip bags. When drying, I prefer to strip the leaves first, then dry them. Store whole, and crumble when ready to use. Basil can be dried, but it loses a good portion of its flavor, and has different characteristics once it is. Most people who like fresh basil prefer to freeze it to keep the flavor. You will have to purchase new basil seed next year. You can freeze whole stems or leaves of basil, or you can chop them and freeze in oil or water in ice cube trays. You can also make pesto and freeze that. It all depends on how you will be using the basil. Rosemary will not overwinter for you in zone 5, so you'll need to treat it as an annual, or pot it and bring it in overwinter, but it's a tricky pot plant. Thyme and oregano will return. It really depends how you will be using them whether you want to dry them, freeze them, or just use fresh. Some will say that dried herbs are not worth it, and I agree that badly dried herbs or old herbs like most of what can be purchased really aren't. But it is possible to dry them well for use, though as I mentioned with the basil, the flavor profiles do change, and some like parsley or cilantro truly are not worth drying. I am just learning a lot about drying now, as the Herb Guild I am part of makes gourmet blends to sell at our Botanic Gardens. If you're interested in books, I have one called Homegrown Herbs by Tammi Hartung that I like as a good basic herb book, with both growing and some culinary and medicinal use. It would be worth checking at a library if you can. If you're seriously interested in fancy culinary with herbs, Jerry Traunfeld's The Herbfarm Cookbook is good. The recipes are a mixed bag for home use, but there are a lot of good charts and info on how much of different herbs to generally use.

I don't know....it's always been my experience as I harvest herbs for cooking and whatnot that it always encourages new growth, if not bushier growth. Perhaps you're talking too much off? My experience with all thymes and oreganos and sages, rosemary, et al have been that whatever I seem to harvest is replenished three-fold. It doesn't happen right away, but give it a month with proper light and water and they thrive. I cut my onion and garlic chives back twice and they are now bigger than ever. Same with the cilantro. I trim them back and they're thicker and more lush and dense than before. I don't grow parsley. It's too easy to pick up what I need at the grocery store and lasts in a cup of water in the refrigerator til the next time I go to the grocery store. I planted cilantro on a lark, not expecting much, and it's one of my biggest plants. The tough part is keeping it pinched back and growing normally, and not bolting. But so far, so good. And it's been several months. I've put up lots of cilantro pesto!!!

I've got tons of oregano and thyme hanging next to the garlic on the porch already and I have to get out and harvest the catnip before it takes over any more of the garden. The feverfew is definitely ready to cut but my girlfriend keeps beating me to it and using it as a cutting garden. The first planting of dill should be ready this weekend and the basil's getting big enough to start pinching. This fall will be busy digging roots - echinacea, valerian, horseradish and licorice should all be ready.