When And How To Harvest Dill And How To Freeze It

Learn when and how to harvest dill to make the most of this fragrant, much loved herb. Dill is one of those herbs that’s tricky to preserve. The flavor tends to fade quite quickly. I have dried dill in the past, but find no matter what I do, the flavor is gone within a couple of months. Freezing dill is the best option in my opinion.

Read more: How to Prune Chives, Prune Mint for a Fuller Harvest, How to Cut Basil for a Bushier Growth.

When to Harvest Dill

The best time to harvest dill is when it is young and tender, before flower heads form. You can even start harvesting dill when it is quite small with only four or five stems growing from the center stalk.

Watch the Video: Step by Step How and When to Harvest Dill

Here in Winnipeg, I have found end of June, early July a good time to harvest dill. This is when the dill has the most flavour and pests like aphids haven’t moved in yet.

The best time to pick the fronds or leaves is usually a long time before pickling season. The good news is that dill typically regrows quickly and will send out flower heads in time for pickling season.

If you want to prolong the harvesting season, remove the flower heads as they are forming.

Once dill flowers, all the plant’s energy will go towards flower and seed production. At this point, the leaves get lest moisture and they start to get tougher, drier and less flavorful. You’ll find that once the seed heads form, the fern like branches get tough and the tips will start to turn yellow or brown. You definitely want to harvest before then.

Dill flower heads are great for preserving dill pickles, dilled beets, dilly beans, etc. And once the seeds form, they’re great to harvest as well. The seeds can add great dill flavor to things like this Cottage Cheese Dill Bread.