Christie C. Perhaps you’ve noticed that your fresh herbs struggle to survive past a week after you’ve brought them home or harvested them from your garden. There is an easy way to make your fresh herbs last longer, and it does not involve wet paper towels.
Spring is my absolute favorite time of the year for harvesting fresh herbs. Whether you grow your own delicious seasonings or purchase them from a supermarket, it can be disheartening when they barely survive a week. Rescue your herbs by trying the following steps:
1. Find a glass or ceramic jar
Chemicals from plastics (and microplastics themselves) can steep into a plant and even change its physiology. Microplastics and Nanoplastics can “induce physiological changes in plants, such as a reduction in growth, photosynthesis, and antioxidant activity, as well as alterations in gene expression and root exudate profiles (Mészáros et al, 2023). Opt for glass or ceramic jars instead.
2. Fill the jar with 2 to 3 inches of water
Fill the jar so that the stems are submerged but the leaves are not. Try to keep the leaves of your herbs out of the water or else they will begin to decompose prematurely. You want those precious leaves, after all! Pro tip: cut your stems at an angle (45 degrees is ideal) so that the herbs can absorb more water.
3. Change the water every three to four days
To ensure that the herbs last for at least three weeks, change the water every three to four days. Be sure to also place them someplace convenient such as your kitchen window sill, counter, or table.
I often harvest tons of herbs to make Fresh Italian Seasoning. Since I make this in batches, it helps to have a bunch of herbs already harvested and ready to go in jars.
References
Mészáros, E., Bodor, A., Kovács, E., Papp, S., Kovács, K., Perei, K., & Feigl, G. (2023). Impacts of Plastics on Plant Development: Recent Advances and Future Research Directions. Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 12(18), 3282. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12183282
