This is my first year herb gardening. My thinking was I would harvest all the leaves of plants for medicine/ cooking, like nettles, rosemary, mints, sage, lemon balm, etc. in late September/early October. I figured- use fresh leaves all summer and harvest for drying later so they would stay potent until next year. Now I seem to be finding out that I missed it and I should have harvested everything way back like in June- before or during flowering. Are there any leaves you harvest in September/October? Is the idea to harvest early in the season, then the plant will flower a second time and you can harvest again later? Or do you leave that second growth for pollinators and for the plant to nourish itself over the winter? Should you ever cut everything back in the fall and just compost the leaves, or leave it all on the plant? Thank you! Jessa

Some plants after flowering like Lemon Balm can be cut back and will regrow and you can have a second harvest, same for pPeppermint and Nettles. Rosemary and Sage are best harvested before flowering and do not regrow as quickly.