Propagation
At Selim Uludag Herbs, each step of the production takes place in our farm under our control. The journey of each herb starts as a delicate seedling. Our herbs are propagated through cuttings, by seed or via root divisions depending on its nature. Seed and cutting propagated herbs are looked after in our greenhouse until they are ready to be planted into the field.
Others, where root divisions are used as the propagation method are transplanted into the pre-prepared field directly. All our herbs are perennial herbs and after the end of their life time, healthy roots are selected, removed from the soil and divided, ready for replanting.
Irrigation
The next step in cultivation of our delicate herbs is irrigation. All our fields are equipped with drip irrigation systems for careful monitoring of plant water intake. Drip irrigation enables direct application to plant root for increased absorption. It also allows us to reduce water loss via evaporation and surface run off, conserving our water resources.
Weed Management
Weed management is the most challenging aspect of organic farming. We do not use any chemical fertilisers, herbicides, or pesticides in any of our fields. In order to manage unwanted weeds in our fields, we benefit from manual labour, machine row hoeing and mulching techniques. Small emergent weeds are ploughed early in spring, followed by regular controls and removals throughout the season.
We take extra care prior to harvest to ensure the field is clear of all weeds and unwanted toxic plants i.e. Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PA) and Tropane Alkaloids (TA).
Harvest
Once the field has received the green light, harvest can start. Depending on the crop and field we have two options for harvest; hand-harvesting and machine harvesting. Single use sickles are used for harvest during hand harvesting. Good hygiene practices are followed and monitored during the harvest process at all touch points. Freshly cut herbs are transferred to our drying room on site immediately and prepared for air drying.
The same protocols are in place for machine harvesting where maintenance and repair of harvest machine and tractors are completed prior to harvest. All equipment, machinery and tools are disinfected according to food safety regulations.
Drying
Each batch of freshly cut herbs are placed on fibre plastic mesh frames in thin layers in preparation for drying as they arrive. Harvesting and drying are continued simultaneously until all the batches are layered on drying frames ready for air drying under shade.
Each frame is individually checked throughout the drying processes for quality and safety. Low humidity and high temperature levels in our region shorten the drying duration and reduce risks of mold and yeast.
Cleaning
For whole leaves, the herbs are taken to quality monitoring and analysis to ensure they are safe for human consumption and are compliant with our standard quality specifications. However, for other herbs that require further processing, leaves are removed from its stems. This pre-cleaning step allows us to fine tune cutting and sifting processes later on in the processing stage. The stems are discarded and the separated leaves are taken into our processing facility for controlled cleaning.
We use Cimbria Heid brand Super Delta Cleaner machine with Trieur attachment. This high efficiency machine allows custom controls to deeply clean the leaves from dust, soil and all foreign materials while sorting into desired cut sizes. We have metal detector for ferrous and non-ferrous metals that check the processed leaves at its final stage for safety.
Quality Assurance
The finished leaves are sampled according to military sampling technique and sent to laboratory for in depth organoleptic, microbiological and pesticide analysis. Cleaned herbs are packed in three layers food grade Kraft bags and sealed by sewing, ready for shipment.
All our products are certified organic by Ecocert SA, France. We have our organic certificates in National Organic Program (NOP), European Organic Standards (EOS) and Turkish Organic Standards. Furthermore, we are FDA registered for exporting to USA. You can find our current master certificates below.
Propagation
At Selim Uludag Herbs, each step of the production takes place in our farm under our control. The journey of each herb starts as a delicate seedling. Our herbs are propagated through cuttings, by seed or via root divisions depending on its nature. Seed and cutting propagated herbs are looked after in our greenhouse until they are ready to be planted into the field.
Others, where root divisions are used as the propagation method are transplanted into the pre-prepared field directly. All our herbs are perennial herbs and after the end of their life time, healthy roots are selected, removed from the soil and divided, ready for replanting.
Irrigation
The next step in cultivation of our delicate herbs is irrigation. All our fields are equipped with drip irrigation systems for careful monitoring of plant water intake. Drip irrigation enables direct application to plant root for increased absorption. It also allows us to reduce water loss via evaporation and surface run off, conserving our water resources.
Harvest
Once the field has received the green light, harvest can start. Depending on the crop and field we have two options for harvest; hand-harvesting and machine harvesting. Single use sickles are used for harvest during hand harvesting. Good hygiene practices are followed and monitored during the harvest process at all touch points. Freshly cut herbs are transferred to our drying room on site immediately and prepared for air drying.
The same protocols are in place for machine harvesting where maintenance and repair of harvest machine and tractors are completed prior to harvest. All equipment, machinery and tools are disinfected according to food safety regulations.
Weed Management
Weed management is the most challenging aspect of organic farming. We do not use any chemical fertilisers, herbicides, or pesticides in any of our fields. In order to manage unwanted weeds in our fields, we benefit from manual labour, machine row hoeing and mulching techniques. Small emergent weeds are ploughed early in spring, followed by regular controls and removals throughout the season.
We take extra care prior to harvest to ensure the field is clear of all weeds and unwanted toxic plants i.e. Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PA) and Tropane Alkaloids (TA).
Drying
Each batch of freshly cut herbs are placed on fibre plastic mesh frames in thin layers in preparation for drying as they arrive. Harvesting and drying are continued simultaneously until all the batches are layered on drying frames ready for air drying under shade.
Each frame is individually checked throughout the drying processes for quality and safety. Low humidity and high temperature levels in our region shorten the drying duration and reduce risks of mold and yeast.
Cleaning
For whole leaves, the herbs are taken to quality monitoring and analysis to ensure they are safe for human consumption and are compliant with our standard quality specifications. However, for other herbs that require further processing, leaves are removed from its stems. This pre-cleaning step allows us to fine tune cutting and sifting processes later on in the processing stage. The stems are discarded and the separated leaves are taken into our processing facility for controlled cleaning.
We use Cimbria Heid brand Super Delta Cleaner machine with Trieur attachment. This high efficiency machine allows custom controls to deeply clean the leaves from dust, soil and all foreign materials while sorting into desired cut sizes. We have metal detector for ferrous and non-ferrous metals that check the processed leaves at its final stage for safety.
Quality Assurance
The finished leaves are sampled according to military sampling technique and sent to laboratory for in depth organoleptic, microbiological and pesticide analysis. Cleaned herbs are packed in three layers food grade Kraft bags and sealed by sewing, ready for shipment.
All our products are certified organic by Ecocert SA, France. We have our organic certificated in National Organic Program (NOP), European Organic Standards (EOS) and Turkish Organic Standards. Furthermore, we are FDA registered for exporting to USA. You can find below our current master certificates below.
