Content
- Woodruff when to harvest and process?
- Determine the ideal time for the harvest
- How long to wait for harvest of self-cultivated woodruff?
- Plan the harvest of woodruff by use
- Tips & Tricks
Woodruff when to harvest and process?
The season of the harvest is a bit more limited with the woodruff than with many other herbs and aromatic plants. This has also affected the name of the Waldmeister or Maibowle produced with him.
Determine the ideal time for the harvest
It is not without reason that punch enriched with Waldmeister flavor is also referred to as mayowowle. It is traditionally prepared only in the spring by the brief soaking of fresh woodruff. The reason for this is that woodruff should actually only be harvested before the beginning of its heyday between mid-April and mid-May. In the forest, you can also recognize the woodruff before its white and cruciform flowers bloom on its up to 30 centimeters long stalks with its lance-shaped leaves arranged circularly in batches. The plants often form extensive carpets in the sheltered shade of trees and shrubs, as they not only multiply via self-seed sowing but also through their root system.
How long to wait for harvest of self-cultivated woodruff?
When sowing woodruff in your own garden you should pay attention to a few things:
In principle, when sowing from September, the first stems are harvested by the woodruff at the earliest in spring. However, you should be aware that this will severely disturb the development of roots and plants in a newly planted location. It is therefore better to collect forest master from a newly created location only in the second year.
Plan the harvest of woodruff by use
The harvest of the fresh woodruff you should tune to the intended use. Optimal flavor results are obtained by hanging the cut stem upside down and allowing it to wither briefly before further processing. For longer-term storage, you can also dry or freeze the woodruff. If you need the plant at short notice for Maibowle, you can reach the aroma development by a short freeze.
Tips & Tricks
Harvesting of the woodruff before flowering is recommended because then the level of coumarin in the plants increases relatively sharply. Although Waldmeister can still be used in summer or autumn, he should then be dosed even more sparingly.
WK