Yardsmart: The summer solstice

In the natural world, the 21st day of June is an auspicious occasion. It is the summer solstice, once called "midsummer's day." The period of daylight is the longest of the year and the duration of night the shortest. The sun-worshiping ancients built Stonehenge to accurately identify this great dividing time. Plants harvested on this day were believed to be imbued with all sorts of special powers. Healers believed that herbs cut on this date would be better able to cure the sick.

Leading up to the solstice, the days grow gradually longer, and such minute changes signal to plants to grow vegetatively. This means the plant puts its energy into growing roots and shoots and leaves.

Now,right after the solstice, you'll see a change in the vegetables. The plants will shift their efforts to reproductive growth. They sense that with the days growing shorter, they must flower and set seed before season's end. Now they set about developing flowers and fruit, with little additional vegetative growth. One reason for starting plants indoors is not just to get a head start, but so they'll be as large as possible by the solstice.

When it comes to herbs, which are valued for their leafy vegetative growth, shifting into bloom isn't so desirable. The ancients wanted the leaves because these held the oils, which carry the scent and medicine. And there's another factor with herbs. Many of them hold their highest oil content at this time, before the heat of summer causes much of it to evaporate out of the leaves.

A cool, still midsummer morning is the traditional time to harvest herbs for drying and storage to use in winter. If they are cut all at once, quickly, before the rising sun hits the leaves, the maximum amount of oil is retained. Both sun and wind can cause oils to evaporate out of freshly cut material very quickly. For this reason, you want to cut herbs and get them into the shade before sunrise. The goal with herbs is to move them inside to dry right away. It's far better to cut some and move them indoors, then go back out and cut more. Otherwise, the herbs are likely to wilt as they build up in your cutting basket.

Cut most herbs with long stems to make them easier to hang upside down in bundles. Cutting generously actually benefits the plants by stimulating them to regrow vegetatively. The bundles can hang in your kitchen, scenting the air as they dry, provided they do not receive any direct sun through the window. Otherwise, store in a dark, cool, dry place with good air circulation.

If you grow herbs that don't have strong stalks -- such as oregano -- scatter them on an old window screen. Try to space them out so there's little to no overlap.

(Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist. Her blog, the MoZone, offers ideas for cash-strapped families. Read the blog at www.MoPlants.com/blog. E-mail her at mogilmer(at)yahoo.com. Also, join her online for the Garden Party social networking at Learn2grow.com.)