Question about growing and picking herbs?

I have recently purchased some Mint and Rosemary, which are currently growing in pots in my kitchen. Do I need to wait until they are bigger until I start to use them? and how do I pick them - do I just pick the leaves or what? and how long will they take to grow back? I have also planted some parsley and thyme from seed, which are now ready to put into small pots. How many should I put in each pot? Many thanks for your help!
Question about growing and picking herbs?
Lovely herbs to start with!



Right, Rosemary is a shrub and will grow quite big if kept outside, but if you are keeping it indoors will only last if it has plenty of light. Pot on when ever it outgrows its pot.



Mint; make sure the pot is as deep as possible - it will do well in its first year, but will need putting in the ground after that (leave it in the pot, but cut out the bottom and plant, still in the pot)



Parsley and thyme, keep them damp and use them from the pot. Put two in each pot.



Don't pick too much from any one plant. Never more than a third of the plant - and I wouldn't pick any yet, they need to build up a very good root system first, or they will die. Also, once they have matured a bit, they have more of the essential oils in the leaves to give you flavour.



Once they are big enough - about 30cms or a foot high - pick a handful of the stalks by cutting with a sharp knife or scissors. Take them into the kitchen, seperate the leaves, use them like dried herbs, but in a larger quantity. eg. put 12 - 20 leaves of mint in your new potatoes, or 5 - 10 in your peas. Rosemary needs stripping from the woody part, but can be poked into slits in a leg of lamb or the leaves scattered in the roasting tray, together with a couple of garlic cloves, for wonderful roast pots.



Well done for doing this, it's well worth the effort for the taste! Good Luck!
Reply:You can use them from when they are quite small, but obviously you need to leave sufficient leaves on there for them to survive!



With mint, if you want to use it as a garnish then just pick the smaller more tender leaves in little sprigs still attached to the stem. If you just want to use it for flavour in cooking then pick the larger leaves individually and use those.



Rosemary you usually cut small sprigs (size depending on how big your plant is) and use it either still on the stem, or strip the leaves off with your fingers and throw away the piece of stem.



Most herb plants like a position in full sun, and they will get absolutely massive if you plant them in your garden. Best to keep them in containers or pots on the patio I find.
Reply:Keep the mint in a pot because if you replant it ourside it will spread like a weed, they all grow pretty fast so you can use them as soon as you want.
Reply:You can start most herbs from seed, but for quicker results buy young herb transplants in 2-inch nursery pots or cell-packs. Let your appetite be your guide when choosing herbs. Fresh parsley, basil, thyme, and oregano are basic in Italian dishes, while cilantro is a must for Mexican cooking. Other cooking herbs like chives, dill, marjoram, mint, sage, tarragon, or rosemary will enhance almost any dish you prepare..?
Reply:I've got my mint in a large (2 ft diameter) shallow (6 inches deep) clay pot, with good soil from a pre-packed bag sold commercially.



All I did was just to plant a sprig of mint from the market as it roots easily. By now, the two pots I have are so established that if you cut away a sprig of mint, four side shoots will grow from the nodes below the cut. So you need to be sparing only when your plant is newly established. After that, it grows like a weed.



Since mint is so easily available from the market, I would suggest growing many pots of them. If one entire potful dies from over culling, you've still got so many extras. It also prevents disease in one pot from affecting the others. And planting one plant or a few makes no difference as the plants overcrowd the pot eventually.



I also have dill growing like a weed. Somehow our garden micro-climate suits these two plants. Our neighbour who is successful in growing a wide variety of plants in her garden, somehow couldn't grow mint or dill and we supply her needs.



Our garden faces east and has morning sun and is in shade by one o'clock when the shadow of the house falls across these plants. Perhaps that is the reason.