“I’ve found basil to be one of the easiest herbs to grow in the garden. One of my daughters convinced me to try it several years back and now I can’t imagine my summer garden without it and the wonderful flavor it brings to my kitchen table.”
I wrote that quote several years ago. I still grow basil ever year and love it, but this year the first line hasn’t been true at all!
I’ve planted basil three times and only have a couple of plants growing. After the first seed didn’t come up I tried a brand new packet, it didn’t come up either. Just not the year for basil at my house.
Basil is a warm weather plant, meaning it doesn’t like the chilly temps of early spring or fall mornings here in Western North Carolina. However, the plant is very easy to grow from seed (most of the time) and does exceedingly well in the heat of July and August.
Once the soil has warmed in May sprinkle your basil seed in a well tilled bed and cover lightly with soil.
Make sure to harvest basil plants on a regular basis to encourage new growth. When the plants begin to bloom, the flowers can also be removed to spur new plant growth.
Basil can be used for all sorts of culinary delights, from Italian dishes to spicing up a bowl full of fresh sliced tomatoes.
Here’s several recipe ideas for using fresh Basil:
- Cut leaves in slivers and sprinkle on pizza
- Use in lasagna and other pasta recipes
- Sprinkle basil leaves into your salad or add a leaf to your favorite sandwich
- Make fresh pesto
- Infuse vinegar to make your own basil vinegar
- Basil leaves are so pretty they can easily be used as a garnish
- Mix cut basil leaves with butter to make basil butter
- Basil tea
Along with being easy to grow, it is also a super easy plant to preserve for future use.
Simply pull basil leaves from the plant, lay them on a baking sheet, and pop them in the freezer until they are frozen. Place frozen basil leaves in a zip-lock bag and store in the freezer for future use. Whenever you need basil, simply take out as many leaves as you need. Basil leaves may also be dried either in a dehydrator or by air drying. Store dried leaves in an air tight container and use as you would any dried herb.
A simple way to prolong your fresh basil is to bring some of it inside before the cold north wind starts to blow.
If you have ample space and good sun exposure you can dig up an entire basil plant and bring it in doors where it will continue to grow. If you’re like me and don’t have the room nor much winter sunshine, try cutting several sprigs of basil and place them in a jar of water and sit on a sunny windowsill. Change the water every week or so and you’ll be amazed at how long the basil continues to grow in the water leaving you to enjoy fresh basil during the cold months of winter. An added benefit of growing basil indoors in a glass of water is the bright spot of color it brings to the room.
Last night’s video: Canning Our First Runs of Green Beans.
Tipper
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Even if I grow nothing else, I always grow basil, dill, thyme, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, fennel & sage for cooking. Easy to grow, all but basil, dill & cilantro are perennials that I planted years ago & keep coming back(often still producing in November). Fresh herbs make such a difference in your recipes, especially in summer but also all through the year.
Important to keep picking basil, even if you’re not using it, as the leaves become more bitter with age. Keep your plant sheared to keep producing fresh tender new leaves.
You can also keep basil covered in oil in the refrigerator(keep completely covered in oil, (adding more as you use it) to keep it from turning black. The oil is also delicious!
I, too, have had difficulty in getting basil and sage to grow this year. I can’t remember how many times I planted but I think at least 5 times and finally a puny plant is trying to survive. I just can’t figure out what is going on with seeds this year. Our yellow crooked neck squash was planted 4 times and finally got a hill up and the squash bugs moved in and to make a long story short…..no squash this year. Cucumber are sad too. I got my seeds from Walmart but the date was good. Exasperated!
Same thing happened to my Zinnias!
Hi Tipper and Acorns. I never liked the smell of fresh Basil. Then I saw a recipe for Caprese Pasta Salad on the blog Southern Soul (Donya Mullins). Now I crave that salad made with fresh Basil. TY Tipper for the tip on freezing the Basil Leaves. I’ve tried to sprout it but the leaves on mine always turn black. I think it is too cold in the trailer for it. The ac blowing probably. In less than 700 sq feet I don’t have room for a plant. I enjoyed everyone’s stories here. I keep Y’all in my prayers, as well as Papaw Tony and his family, also everyone up Wilson Holler. Please keep Ed and me in your prayers. I love y’all.
One of many great memories I have spending time down south with my Grandmothers. My one Grandparents house had a big wrap-a-round porch and we loved sitting out on it and breaking beans. I was a young girl at that time and even in to my teens it was something I loved doing with my Grandmother and Mother. My parents always had a garden and they worked together canning and putting up beans so green beans was always the star of a meal, especially in the winter:) Daddy always liked cornbread broke in pieces in a glass with cold milk. It was a treat for Daddy and I like it pretty good too. But I must say I LOVE green beans! Praying for Norman and Papaw Tony.
Dee, I do not like unsweetened cornbread and cold sweet milk- I LOVE it! If I have cornbread with any of my meals, I will finish the meal off with cornbread and milk, I call it my dessert. As you said I also LOVE fresh green beans cooked with country ham not deli ham. Someone mentioned a few days ago about cooking them slow for a long time, I cooked some fresh beans, ham and taters last week for about 8 hours on low in a slow cooker, I call it crock pot. They looked just like the picture of the greens beans a few days ago. This will be my way of cooking them from now on. I also remember sitting with family on the porch breaking beans and my mother, grandmother, mother and father in law each putting up over a hundred quarts of green beans each year. Green beans were a big part of our food supply each year.
thank you Dee, God bless you very much
I have always grown sweet basil in my gardens. Honestly it was more because I love the smell of fresh Basil as I worked in the garden. I planted rosemary for the very same reason. I have used it in cooking, making tea and I dried it to use in soups or other dishes I made during the winter. However, more than the great taste, I just love the smell of it. I would come home from doing errands and before walking in the house I’d walk by to rub my hands on the leaves of both basil and rosemary just so I could smell them. Both their wonderful scents would calm and relax me. During winter I kept Basil plant in my living room where there was enough sunlight shining through my window to keep it alive. The taste of basil is great, but the smells are so lovely it relaxes me no matter how stressful my day has been. Sadly, this year I didn’t plant any. Maybe that’s why I’m just not excited about working in my garden this year, I didn’t plant basil or rosemary.
Morning everyone. For years if I don’t grow anything I will grow a basil plant. I even grew 3 in the California mountains on my table. One wall of the cabin was a 2 story window, the upper floor was a loft so the herb got a lot of sun. I had an extra heater going for them. They hung on but finally “Croaked”. I have tried the 5 years we’ve been here. Each year is a struggle to grow them. Too hot, too sunny, something eating them. This year it’s the rain, the never ending rain. Have you ever seen the rain coming down on a sunny day? I did, yesterday. Usually I make pesto out of the basil. This year I bought lots of ramps and made pesto. Not the same but I knew I would have trouble growing basil. I have 2 in small pots. I move them around everyday to better locations. Why do I do this? I like basil. This year parsley is giving me trouble too. Oh well. Ann from Arkansas.
I don’t think I’ve ever tasted basil by itself. I’ve never grown it or seen it grown. I’ve seen it in the wilted section of grocery stores but theirs certainly don’t look appetizing. I have sprinkled it on pizza but didn’t notice a difference, however that was the dried or freeze dried stuff in a bottle.
What’s pesto? I’ve heard the word but know how it’s made, what’s in it, or what you eat it with. That might be something worth trying. Do you have a recipe that I’ve forgotten or wasn’t paying attention to?
Pesto is greens/basil, garlic, nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, and spices ground up together. Lots of variations on making it 🙂
I’ve heard tell (;-)) that you have lots of pine trees up in the hollows, so it’s not for lack of availability if you’re not gathering cones for pine nuts (“pinoli”). I don’t know which species produce the better and more palatable nuts around your way, but no pine nuts are dangerous to eat. It’s just that they might taste “off” if they’re not the right species and you haven’t prepared them right. They’re good for putting on cookies, as well as being part of a pesto.
I love a bruised leaf or two in a glass of ice water. Especially nice in this hot weather.
We grow basil too and I love drying it and use it in a lot of dishes and soups that I make. I also grow parsley and oregano. I love adding my dried parsley to any potato dish for color. You can dry carrot tops and use as a parsley replacement. I use dried oregano in anything tomato based, usually just a pinch. However when I make homemade pizza crust I add oregano with a little bit of garlic and onion powder. It adds so much more flavor to our pizza!!
I also love basil and grow it every year! It always grows prolifically for me too. I love all of the ideas of how to use and preserve it here. Thank you so much! I also love to make caprese salad with it. It’s SO good! I think you’d really enjoy that with your love of tomatoes if you have never tried it. 🙂
Basil has always been a kitchen windowsill sort of herb in my house. Good luck in future years.
PS: if you have a Basil plant going, just take a piece (before it starts going to seed) put in water. Takes about a week for roots to appear. When you have a good growth, pot it up and treat it tenderly for about 10 days: no direct sun, keep moist, filtered light. In other words, don’t break its legs then ask it to run a marathon.
Carole in Vermont
I never knew any of my family to grow any herbs. Maybe they did grow sage when we use to raise and butcher our own hogs.
Ammons, I did talk to my doctor about the gout. He said he wanted to wait until we could see how I did with the changes he had made in my medicines that hopefully will help with my dehydration problem. He thinks me getting dehydrated may be causing the gout. He did give me something to take in case I had a gout flare up. Yesterday’s lab test was to check for dehydration and the acid level in my urine after making these changes. I will see my doctor on the 28th and get the results. Remind me and I will let you know how I came out.
If you have a gas oven with a standing pilot light, you can start basil in the oven. Basil needs warmth to germinate. I can get it to sprout in 2 days.
Basil is one of my favorite herbs, but I have never grown it in the garden. It’s amazing how many ideas you have for using it. You certainly had a giant bowl of green beans for canning last evening. They looked so bright green and perfect. When my mama worked up her green beans, she always held onto a small paring knife so she could easily cut off any spots. She was very particular about that. like Matt, my dad always took care of the canning part. They had a giant open canner and they canned them over a wood fire in the back yard. Dad always handled that part. He didn’t want mama to get burned with hot water or fire. They would fill the closet shelves in the back bedroom with many jars for the winter. Mama always loved to take you to the closet and show how beautiful all of her green beans looked.
A good way to serve basil is to slice tomatoes, put on a plate and slip mozzarella cheese between the tomato slices, sprinkle chopped basil over it and drizzle balsamic vinegar over it. It looks pretty and is very good, especially in the summer when tomatoes and basil are fresh from the garden.
I love growing basil! I have never tried from seed, but now I think I will try next year thanks to you. I’m in NW Florida. I usually get one plant (it’s usually a few) and divide it in my bed. I usually have so much I have to give it away. Last year I cut it up pretty fine and put it in ice cube trays, covering with olive oil. Then put the cubes in a zip lock bag. I love adding it to soups, stews and sauces this way.
Great idea. Will give the basil cubes a try.
Along with Tippers suggestion of freezing leaves.
My basil in South FL bolts so quickly in the heat that preserving is important to get the most out of the plants.
I grow basil every year too, this year I’m growing Thai basil. The flavor is delicious and we enjoy making Thai food, so it gets added for that amazing flavor it brings to the dishes. I dry basil each year but leave the leaves whole instead of crushing them up. They hold their flavor much longer. There’s not any type of basil we don’t like, they all taste so good!
pray for me please, things are still not working out at the dentist, supposedly they are trying to get together and everybody get on the same page, I asked them,how many teeth are going to pull, Medicaid is already told me I can’t get all of them pulled, they said I could get nine, now the dentist is saying they’ only going to pull three, I sent them an email yesterday, I told them they all needed to get on the same page, as one person tells me I need to go to the hospital to get this done and the other person tells me to come on and get it done, that going to the hospital scares me, please pray for me thank you and God bless you and your family in Jesus name
Norman, I’m so sorry. I will keep praying.
thank you very much, God bless you
Norman, I am so sorry you are having to struggle to get things done. You are in my prayers.
thank you Pat, God bless you
I am so sorry this has stretched on so long, Norman, without you getting the help you need. Praying for you.
thank you Allie God bless you very much Norman Chester Dahlonega Georgia
Prayers!in Jesus Christ name Amen!
thank you very much
Norman, I don’t often say it, but I pray for you and for the other members each day. My prayers for you is to get the help you need, but I also worry and hope you are not having toothaches with your teeth. I know from firsthand experience how painful toothaches are. For many years as a child, my family didn’t have the money to pay for me to go to a dentist, by the time I did start going, some of my teeth were in pretty bad shape. Now I still go regularly every 6 months for checkups, by doing this I usually have no trouble and only have to pay for cleaning them
thank you Randy, all my teeth need to be removed about 16 of them, I have some pieces left, God bless you Randy