Sweet Basil Growing Tips and Recipes
Sweet Basil is planted usually as an annual herb and requires a lot of sunshine and well drained soil. The seeds should be covered with a thin layer of soil and kept moist while germinating. Basil can be grown inside the house but it is best if it receives sun from a south window.
When the plants are 12" to 18" high, they should be harvested regularly to keep new growth coming on. When flower stems form, although a few of them can be left to bloom, some of them should be pinched off to promote the formation of more leaves.
The leaves can be used when picked, or they can be frozen or dried.
Table of Contents
TO START GROWING YOUR OWN HERBS
A quick and easy way to start your indoor herb garden. Click on the pictures for full descriptions. These are great gift ideas
DRYING AND PRESERVING
Harvesting
Harvest before flowering. If you've been harvesting all season, your plants probably haven't had a chance to flower. But non-hardy herbs will start to decline as the weather cools, so late summer is a good time to begin drying your herbs.
Cut in mid-morning. Let the morning dew dry from the leaves, but pick before the plants are wilting in the afternoon sun.
How To Dry Herbs
Cut healthy branches from your herb plants.
Remove any dry or diseased leaves
Shake gently to remove any insects.
If necessary, rinse with cool water and pat dry with paper towels. Wet herbs will mold and rot.
Remove the lower leaves along the bottom inch or so of the branch.
Bundle 4 - 6 branches together and tie as a bunch. You can use string or a rubber band. The bundles will shrink as they dry and the rubber band will loosen, so check periodically that the bundle is not slipping. Make small bundles if you are trying to dry herbs with high water content.
Punch or cut several holes in a paper bag. Label the bag with the name of the herb you are drying.
Place the herb bundle upside down into the bag.
Gather the ends of the bag around the bundle and tie closed. Make sure the herbs are not crowded inside the bag.
Hang the bag upside down in a warm, airy room.
Check in about two weeks to see how things are progressing. Keep checking weekly until your herbs are dry and ready to store.
Marie Iannotti
About.com
HERB GARDEN PRODUCTS
QUICK AND EASY BASIL RECIPES
- Quick and Easy Basil Recipes
- Quick and Easy Basil Recipes at AllRecipes.com
- Better Homes and Gardens
- 51 Basil Recipes at Better Homes and Gardens.com
- Fragrant Red Curry with Fresh Summer Vegetables & Sweet Basil
- Fragrant Red Curry with Fresh Summer Vegetables & Sweet Basil
MORE BASIL RECIPES
BASIL CHICKEN RICE RECIPE
THAI FOOD basil chicken fried rice
http://www.thaifoodtonight.com for more Thai cooking video recipes. In this episode Dim and Cathy Geefay cook Thai basil chicken fried rice . Thai recipes, Thai ingredients, Thai cooking instructions included
Runtime: 7:50
260359 views
10 Comments:
More Basil Information - Basil Websites
- Basil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Basil From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Basil (Ocimum basilicum) | Plants
- This Herb Guide features information on growing and using basil.
- WHFoods: Basil
- Non-profit foundation providing reliable, scientifically accurate, personalized information for convenient and enjoyable healthy eating.
- Growing, Selecting And Using Basil, HYG-1644-94
- Basil is an annual herb belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae (Labiatae) and like others in this family, basil can be identified by its square, . . .
- botanical.com - A Modern Herbal | Basil, Sweet
- Providing botanical, folk-lore and herbal information, plus organic herbs, and herbal products.
- Basil
- North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. Basil is a popular herb known for its fla. . .
Leave a message, if you'd like
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Swisstoons wrote...
I love basil. In addition to being delicious, it is said to enhance the....uh.....whaddya call it....the uhhhhh.....uhhhhhhh.....MEMORY! Rolling this lens to my Laftovers lens where it will find a magnet featuring....uhhh....BASIL. (Also, giving stars and favoriting.
poutine wrote...
I love touching basil leaves and smell them. It has the most wonderful scent.
Pantherart wrote...
Nice lens I lens rolled this to all my herb lens http://www.squidoo.com/basic-herb-garden gave you 5 stars
Coe wrote...
I had sweet basil growing in a shallow pot on my deck this summer. It was great to be able to pick a few leaves and throw them in soups and stews! When sweet basil flowers, it does need to be pinched back 5 or 6 leaf nodes down from the flower bud.
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