Anyone who wants to use this herb is brave or looking for its broad spectrum of effects… Although wormwood tastes extremely bitter, it has enormous healing potential. This 'bitter medicine' is easy to plant and harvest as described below.
The right harvest time
The best time to harvest wormwood is when it is in bloom. During this time, the content of active ingredients in wormwood is at its highest. Flowering usually starts in June and lasts until August/September. But beware: In general, it is advisable to harvest the plant only after the second year.
Harvest the leaves, flowers and seeds
It is customary to harvest the leaves and inflorescences of wormwood. They represent the parts of the plant that are used for tea and co. If you want to multiply the herb in the following year, cut off some seeds in late summer. The contained seeds are well germinable.
You can pluck off the leaves and cut off the inflorescences. The easiest and quickest way is to use scissors or secateurs to cut off the upper parts of the stem or branch tips. Be careful not to cut woody stems!
Dry and use the crop
Once the leaves and flowers are harvested, if not used immediately, they should be spread out and dried. If you cut off whole stems, you can tie them together and hang them to dry. Otherwise, the plant parts are spread out, for example, on newspaper, a baking sheet or in a dehydrator and dried.
Since the leaves and flowers do not contain much water, they do not lose their quality or aroma as a result of the drying process. Whether fresh or dried, they can be used for and for the production of:
- tea
- Seasoning for greasy dishes
- tinctures
- oil
- envelopes
tips and tricks
Even before the flowering period, individual tender or young leaves can be harvested from the wormwood. Then their taste is less bitter and more pleasant.