I was gifted these in August but I dont really know what to do with them. They seem to be at least surviving which is great, but how do I harvest and store them? What can/can't be frozen or dried? And what do I do with them over winter?
Variegated Oregano, curry, coriander, and parsley.
by dr_otto_ort-meyer
7 Comments
Coriander is annual, harvest as much leaf as you can now and wait for seeds to form. Parsley is biennial, harvest as much as you can now and in spring before it flowers next spring/summer. That’s not the edible curry plant, it’s *Helichrysum italicum.* Oregano is perennial and semi-evergreen.
Oregano dries well, as do coriander seeds. Coriander and parsley are best used fresh but can be frozen.
Is it your coriander at the end? If so, it’s bolted. You can sow seeds next year.
Parsley’s a biennial which self seeds readily, and from experience survives winter in a pot just fine.
Thyme/oregano and curry plant are perennial, thyme is sensitive to wet and curry plant is sensitive to frost, so maybe bring those inside. Edit: realised I misread variegated oregano as variegated thyme! Same advice applies, apologies for the mix-up.
For harvesting, I tend to cut what I need and use it fresh. I like to freeze rather than dry coriander, parsley, and curry plant (note that curry plant isn’t used in curries, that’s the curry tree, but is edible), and you can dry thyme/oregano by hanging it upside down over a few days then putting it in a jar.
Cut them fresh to cook with or can be cut for cooking with and frozen in oil in icd cube trays. I suspect the parsley and oregano will survive winter if kept out the frost. They look nice – it was a kind gift.
Buy some more in the spring if you enjoy cooking with them!
Happy gardening
Use in cooking. Move inside the tenders/annuals and plant out in free draining soil the perennials
The Curry plant is not edible, the coriander looks like it’s shot but you can probalby still use it. Dry the oregano and just pick the parsley as you need it.
Use them for cooking
Eat them