When to eat herbs?

Michellenman

I'm a very, very, very poor gardener but I still really enjoy it. I also know next to nothing about growing and eating your out herbs and vegetables .

I have little groups of herbs growing along my window sill in my kitchen (chives, coriander, basil and parsley) and they seems to be growing well. I'm just wondering how long before I can eat them?
They've all sprouted and are about 5 inches in height, very robust looking and the leaves look healthy.

Can I just start picking at them when needs be or are there certain signs to look out for that will show when they're ready to eat?

Thanks!

looksee

You can eat them any time, but of course if there is only one sprig and you cut it off it might not grow again, so you should only take a few leaves off the top until they are vigorous.

Michellenman

No there's loads of sprigs actually so that shouldn't be a problem!

I have another quick question; I have them all in individual containers at the moment, is it advisable to take them out of these and plant them all together in one big plant pot, or should I just leave it. If they start getting much bigger I'd imagine they would be getting a bit squashed..

looksee

If they are in tiny pots then they need to be planted up into 3" pots individually or about 3 into a bigger pot.