How to Harvest and Preserve Bee Balm

Bee Balm, also know as wild bergamot, is a wonderful plant to have in your garden to attract pollinators. It is also a wonderful herb to have in your pantry year round. This video will demonstrate how to harvest, and preserve it.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here are some good resources I recommend to learn about herbs and their benefits and uses:
** Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs : amzn.to/3g4r9A9
** Lost Book of Remedies : amzn.to/3v8KGUi
** Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine: amzn.to/2Sj7KCs
** Herbal Medicine for Beginners: amzn.to/3pGBwNS
** Natural Remedies Encyclopedia: amzn.to/3g9dmbL
Links with {**} are affiliate links. They cost YOU nothing to use them to make purchases. I do get a small commission that helps support my channel.
✅ You can purchase things that were grown or made, right here on the homestead. Send me an email at [e-mail] for a complete list of what I have available.
For garden growing 🌱, I use a seed starting method method called "Winter Sowing." I do have a playlist that covers this unique concept.
✅ • Winter Sowing Master P...

[@johoney5458]

thank you so much. I just was scrolling around and I am really glad I found you. I am looking forward to getting a dehydrator and I could understand your instructions and really appreciate your knowledge. I look forward to seeing more of your videos, especially when I can play with you as I learn. Thank you for taking the time and sharing things you have learned. You may never know the impact your few minutes of time might have on someone else. PS I was looking at some of the other posts and that junglee sure sounds like an unhappy person. I am a slow beginner, lol, I am 65 and I am very jealous of the knowledge you have. I am ordering from bakers creek the seeds I want and will probably get the dehydrator at a walmart. wish me luck, I'm goin in. You have a blessed day lady. I look forward to more.

[@GardenJensJourney]

Thank you for your kind words.
When getting a dehydrator, there are a few things I highly recommend. Temp control, and a unit where the fan is in back and blows across all trays evenly. Crucial for drying things properly. I got mine at Cabela's during a sale. Cost less than $125 with shipping, and has lasted me many years. 😊

[@johoney5458]

@@GardenJensJourney thank you very much. I was thinking of a smallish one like 5 trays or so but that was as far as I got. lol. I now have enough saved, it took me awhile, to get one and now I will start comparing not window shopping. Do you have any favorite brands or are they all pretty much the same. I am not rushing or have to know immediately and thank you for any input. Now I know to ask about the two things you mentioned, fan in back and temp. control. I have a lot to learn. Mostly I have been studying the plants themselves. I have to keep reading to let it sink in so it takes me awhile. You have a blessed day.

[@GardenJensJourney]

My Cabela's is pretty good. It's a 6 tray. If you go to the channel "purposeful pantry" she does some great videos on dehydrator comparisons.

[@valeriecampbell2097]

Very helpful for me, going out now to harvest mine. Thank you Jen.

[@rebeccazody1278]

Thank you for this good instructional video.

[@LittlePieceOfHeaven.65]

Thanks ! very informative

[@utahnaharris5664]

Thank you for such great and useful info on this amazing herb💕 can hardly wait to use it:)

[@judyrocha1590]

Thanks for the info very useful 😊

[@lisamarie2607]

Thank you. Good information, as I just started growing Bee Balm.

[@111marcie]

Very nice, I do love teas and I am growing bee balm

[@oneproudnana3315]

This was very useful. I loved your tips like re-using the jar lids after canning and how to check for moisture in the jar. Thanks. Will you harvest the flowers later?

[@GardenJensJourney]

I haven't usually, as I let the pollinators have them. Also by that time, mine are covered with the powdery mildew and really shouldn't be used for consumption at that point.

[@desire4liberation]

Thank you... my bee balm already flowered :( I waited to long to do this

[@pamelaremme38]

You can harvest bee balm anytime! You also use the flowers!

[@GardenJensJourney]

Yes. True for this plant. Some other herbs, you are taught to harvest it before it flowers, as it has the most concentrated form of it's "healing component" at that time. 😊
Also, as stated in my case, my plant's get powdery mildew as the season goes on, so I have to harvest it early. 😉.
Thanks for the tips!

[@7891234able]

Ty. Now how to use it

[@GardenJensJourney]

I will make note of addressing that. There are lots of ways to use it. I use it in many of my herbal teas. :-)

[@7891234able]

@@GardenJensJourney
Ty. I went out and got 2 bundles of mine and hung on wall in spare bedroom to dry. Can I eat a leaf or leaves of it now?

[@GardenJensJourney]

Yes, you can. It is edible.

[@Queenie-the-genie]

Can I just hang it upside down to dehydrate/ That’s what I do with my other herbs.

[@GardenJensJourney]

If you'd like, yes.
Where I live we have high humidity, so things like that don't dry well. They mold. Also a dehydrator is faster, and you can get a lot done and stored in a short amount of time.
But if you don't have a dehydrator, that option does work. 😊

[@111marcie]

Where did you get your dehydrator?

[@GardenJensJourney]

Cabela's Outdoors.

[@stacysmith9404]

how long can you store them?

[@GardenJensJourney]

Properly dried, at least a year.

[@judykovach6912]

I’ve heard some refer to this as sweet leaf…? Was that herbalist wrong?

[@GardenJensJourney]

According to my research, it is the same plant. I guess it depends on your area of what it may be called. In my area, and when looking for seeds, it's called Bee Balm. 😊

[@sunshine885]

What zone are you in?

[@GardenJensJourney]

Zone 5b

[@sly8056]

Weeds are plants just growing where you don’t want them. So many wonderful plants people disregard because they think it’s a weed.

[@GardenJensJourney]

Indeed.