Basil's Bounty

photo by zoyachubby

It's basil season. YAY! I absolutely love this herb for so many reasons. Flavor, of course, is the first reason. Tangy, sweet, pungent, it's the perfect addition to salads, sauces and even breads and pastas. But there are some other really cool uses for basil that I'll get into a little later. You can use it dried, but it's so much more flavorful fresh.

Growing basil is not that difficult, but does require some space if you like using it for a lot of different recipes. My mother-in-law grows hers outdoors in the summer and she actually has an entire section of her garden blocked off for it so she can make copious amounts of her fantastic pesto, which we freeze and eat all winter. Basil pesto (or Pesto alla Genovese - from Genoa) freezes really well! We spoon it into little plastic espresso cups and freeze them covered with aluminum foil, then we just take out the servings we want to use, usually one or two for two people, depending on how full we've filled the cups. We use the sweet Italian basil with leaves as pictured above. There is a "curly" basil, but the leaves are larger and a little "curly" and they have a milder flavor.

Getting off track, sorry...

To grow basil indoors or in pots so they can be brought indoors when it gets colder I like a shallower longer pot/planter so I can fit more plants. The roots don't go that deep, so an overly deep planter is not really necessary. This year I just scattered the seeds around on potting soil (the planter was almost full) and lightly covered them with soil. I would use damp soil, because if you water directly after planting the seeds might float to the top and won't germinate - oh no!

The seeds should germinate rather quickly (about a week to 10 days after sowing) which is nice for that immediate gratification those of us who have a less than green thumb. When your seedlings start looking stronger weed out the weaker ones and leave the stronger plants to grow. You can do one of two things at this point: leave very few plants to grow bigger with bigger leaves, or (this is my preferred method) leave a greater number of smaller plants. I prefer this simply because the smaller leaves are more tender and have a more concentrated flavor - I think at least - and smaller leaves are by far the better ones to use for things like pesto and tomato bruschetta. In Genoa they use only the smallest leaves to make their pesto, so when in Rome - or when in Genoa in this case!

Basil grows well in the sun, but if you live in a relatively hot place like I do (it gets over 100° regularly) I recommend placing your pots or planting in partial shade otherwise the delicate leaves will burn. Also, always plant or place out of the wind, believe it or not the wind will also burn the leaves. I almost lost all my plants this year due to an unexpected wind storm. Luckily with a little TLC they came back pretty strong. 

If you really want to give your plants a boost use a light fertilizer about once a month. Another quick tip is to pinch off the flowers as they come in. This will send most of the nutrients to the remaining leaves and should result in a fuller plant with better leaf growth. (Translation: more pesto!)

Now for some cool other uses for basil – it is a natural insect repellent! Namely flies and mosquitoes. It also promotes fresh breath. Proof: my puppy has, as might be expected, kibble breath most of the time, luckily he also loves basil leaves. Just a few leaves as a "treat" - yeah, he's pretty easy to please - leave his breath a lot fresher and his kisses much easier to take!

So, even though we are well into basil season I'm planning on sowing a few more seeds and I hope you'll give it a try too! 

My next post will be dedicated to the recipes I have for basil so stay tuned...